African Business - World leading source of analysis & debate on African economic issues

China's Xi Jinping pledges 1 billion Covid vaccines for Africa at FOCAC 2021

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (R) arrives for the COP26 UN Climate Summit

Trade & Investment

Watch: Africa Investment Forum postponed due to Omicron

Latest News

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Trade & Investment

IATF 2021: Building Bridges for a Successful AfCFTA

Trade, technology and tourism were all on the agenda as policymakers discussed how Africa can bounce back from the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting economic crisis.

By Jack Dutton
PARTNER CONTENT

Finance & Services

Unlimited market size for service-providers helping banks to digitise, Skaleet Chairman says

By adopting Skaleet’s digital wallets banks can offer an innovate service to their customers and monetise the revenue stream. In theory, the size of the market is unlimited, says Yves Eonnet.

By Tom Collins
Trade & Investment

Diplomacy can still avert Ethiopian disaster

There is no military solution to a conflict which threatens Ethiopia’s delicate patchwork of ethnic groups. The parties must return to negotiations.

By David Thomas
Finance & Services

Huge potential to boost Arab-Africa trade

Arab-African trade has enormous potential but is held back by a number of bottlenecks. The Second Arab-Africa Trade Forum in Cairo revealed new ways to take trade forward.

By Tom Collins
Trade & Investment

Leave Ethiopia now, UK government tells citizens

The British government has urged its citizens to leave Ethiopia on commercial flights as the country's civil war draws closer to Addis Ababa.

By David Thomas
Trade & Investment

Review – China and Africa: The New Era by Daniel Large

China's New Era is the era of Xi Jinping, and Xi's policies towards Africa are increasingly driven by politics rather than economics, says David Large in his new book "China and Africa: The New Era".

By Stephen Williams

The African Business Weekly News Roundup

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Insights

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The failure that was Cop26

What assistance comes will be piecemeal, inadequate, and decline in substance as the climate crisis increases in intensity. Africa must continue to demand more.
Op-ed by Gyude Moore
‘We do not invest in the coal value chain’ says co-managing director of AIIM

Vuyo Ntoi, co-managing director of African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), talks to us about the firm's investment plans going forward.
Vuyo Ntoi in conversation
Pandora Papers show that Africa must lead on capital flight

African governments are not doing enough to challenge illicit financial flows, say Professors Carlos Lopes and Ricardo Soares de Oliveira.
Op-ed by Carlos Lopes
International appetite for African startups hits new record

Despite the setbacks endured as a result of the global health crisis, Africa’s venture capital (VC) ecosystem is brimming with potential, says the CEO of AVCA.
Op-ed by Abi Mustapha-Maduakor

InFocus:

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Partner content

Sustainable Agriculture in Africa

Stories, initiatives, new ideas and solutions to drive sustainable agriculture in partnership with OCP.

In partnership with
- OCP Group ranked 4th worldwide by the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA)
  
  Its position in fourth place out of 350 companies shows that the OCP Group meets the highest performance criteria of the World Benchmarking Alliance's food and agriculture benchmark.
- OCP Group joins ESPP to keep exploring new innovative ways to recycle phosphorous
  
  Membership of the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform (ESPP) will allow OCP to continue its work in optimising and managing phosphate while exchanging knowledge with other major industry players.
- OCP joins experts to discuss agriculture at EU-Africa Business Forum
  
  Ilyas El Fali, advisor to the chairman of OCP Group, described how the Group is helping to make land use more sustainable at a forum of the EU-Africa Business Summit in Marrakesh.

Dossiers

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The future of energy in Africa – special report
Tough choices face African policymakers as they weigh up the economic benefits and environmental costs of exploiting fossil fuels.
Africa's Top 100 Banks in 2021
In this year’s survey of Africa’s Top 100 Banks, profits have fallen but total tier 1 capital has risen 10.9% to $124.5bn.
Fintech in Africa – special report
In our special report on the rise of fintech in Africa, we speak to some of Africa’s most progressive banks and fintech providers.

Latest podcasts:

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Stéphan Eloïse Gras: Macron’s boost for Francophone tech

Digital Africa executive director Stéphan Eloise-Gras talks about the potential of Francophone tech and France’s €130m plan to support startups
Editors’ Roundtable: Coup chaos in Guinea spooks miners

This week we talk about the economic and political implications of the coup in mining hub Guinea that removed President Alpha Condé, we review the success of the NBA's Basketball Africa League in Rwanda, and take a look at the booming fintech unicorns of West Africa.
Dr Knox Chitiyo, Associate Fellow,Chatham House Africa Programme: Political Economy and Business Environment of Zimbabwe

Dr Chitiyo talks us through the recent political and economic history of Zimbabwe and the outlook for the country's investment environment.

Tech54

Your guide to African Startups and Innovation

In the November issue of African Business, out now, we look at whether Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s economic model is coming apart. For years, policy has been defined by pro-market orthodoxy and a concentration of business interests in the hands of oligarchs. But what happens when the model is no longer able to create jobs or raise incomes?

Read it now and subscribe!

InFocus:

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Partner content

African Development Bank

In partnership with
- AfDB demands more support for Africa
  
  At the African Development Bank’s 56th Annual Meeting, policymakers issue a clarion call for jabs, loans and a new world order.
- AfDB jumps into Australian capital market with $464m ‘kangaroo’ bond
  
  The African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched an AUD$600m (USD$464m) five-and-a-half-year ‘kangaroo’ social bond, its first return to Australian fundraising since 2018. A kangaroo bond, sometimes known as a matilda bond, is a foreign bond issued in the Australian market by n…
- AfDB beefs up Mozambique LNG project
  
  African Development Bank approves a $400 million loan to support Mozambique’s ambitions to become one of the world’s largest LNG exporters

From Across Africa

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Trade & Investment

Hamdok’s deal with military puts Sudan’s future in the balance

Despite reinstating the civilian elements of Sudan's transitional government Abdalla Hamdok's deal with Sudan's military has drawn widespread condemnation from pro-democracy organisations.

By Tom Collins
PARTNER CONTENT

Trade & Investment

Africa’s Best Places awards to recognise Africa’s most outstanding destinations

Recognising Africa’s Best Places will inspire pride in African places, enhance their competitiveness, grow tourism and investment, and ultimately contribute to the greater development of the continent.
Finance & Services

Review: Where Credit is Due by Gregory Smith

Gregory Smith's "Where Credit is Due" examines the history of African debt, drawing lessons on how it can be successfully used to draw in investment and promote development.

By Tom Minney
Agribusiness & Manufacturing

Museveni’s economic model teeters as frustration mounts

Ugandan economic policy under President Yoweri Museveni has been defined by adherence to a rigid pro-market orthodoxy. What happens when the model is no longer able to generate the growth required to create jobs or raise incomes?

By Liam Taylor
Technology & Information

Women challenge male domination in African tech

Women constitute only 30% of professionals in Africa’s tech industry, but a number of programmes are preparing female students to assume their rightful place at the heights of the new economy.

By Pelumi Salako
PARTNER CONTENT

Finance & Services

Skaleet helps banks benefit from changing money transfer regulation in Africa

Skaleet is helping banks in Africa to adopt interoperable digital systems that meet strict regulatory requirements. CFO Benjamin Blondeau explains the advantages for banks

By Tom Collins
Finance & Services

Covid-19 boosts uptake of digital technologies in Africa

From mobile money to high-speed broadband, the pandemic has accelerated the continent’s enthusiasm for digital technology.

By Tom Minney
Energy & Resources

New challengers crowd into Africa’s oil space

Africa is undergoing a major change in its upstream oil and gas sector as majors depart and hand over assets to smaller, more localised firms that can exploit ageing fields.

By James Gavin
PARTNER CONTENT

Agribusiness & Manufacturing

IDC creates fund for African farming sector

Kgampi Bapela, Head of Agro-Processing and Agriculture at the IDC talks to Miliswa Cawe ahead of IATF in Durban, South Africa about key issues affecting the Agriculture sector.
Trade & Investment

Disaster risk management must be at centre of climate fight, say experts

On the sidelines of COP26, African Risk Capacity issues a clarion call for climate management and disaster management to go hand in hand.

By David Thomas
Finance & Services

Boom time for mobile app startups in Tanzania

After a relatively slow start, Tanzania is charging ahead with digital transactions as an increasing number of startups offer a multitude of services to the country’s population of nearly 60m.

By Faustine Ngila
Technology & Information

Telecoms giant Econet launches Cassava Technologies to parent major brands

The new London-headquartered Cassava Technologies will act as parent to major Econet companies including Liquid Intelligent Technologies and Africa Data Centres.

By David Thomas

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Partner content

African Guarantee Fund

African Business brings you the latest news and updates from the African Guarantee Fund (AGF), the pan-African non-bank financial institution that promotes development by assisting financial institutions to scale up their SME financing.

In partnership with
- IFU provides $20m capital increase to the African Guarantee Fund
  
  The capital increment will increase the AGF's capacity to unlock financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Africa.
- Felix Bikpo: "If the AGF cannot support the SME sector now then it should not exist"
  
  Outgoing CEO of the African Guarantee Fund Felix Bikpo tells us how the AGF is mitigating the economic fallout of Covid-19.
- African Guarantee Fund and Afriland First Bank partner to finance SMEs/SMIs, support women entrepreneurship and promote green businesses
  
  African Guarantee Fund has issued a loan portfolio guarantee amounting to USD 10 million to Afriland First Bank to support SMEs, women entrepreneurs and green economy in Cameroon.