African News Archives - Page 12 of 46

Investing in Africa: An Outlook on Nigeria and Ethiopia

2Apr

By Itumeleng MukhovhaNo Comments

African News, Ethiopia News, Main, Nigeria News

Investing in Africa: An Outlook on Nigeria and Ethiopia

Itumeleng Mukhovha, an associate in the Corporate/M&A practice at Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg One can easily assume that international investors are deterred from investing in Africa given the growing need to weather a global financial crisis, which has been distorted by Brexit, rising geopolitical tensions, tightened global liquidity conditions, leveraged loans and sketchy debts that continue to riddle bank systems, idiosyncratic governments and the bond yield curve that is trending toward inversion. However, this is not the case. Conversely, the global financial crisis and the desperate search for growth, yield and solvency has led investors to pay more attention to emerging markets in Africa, and in particular frontier markets with favourable growth paths, moderate debt levels an...

1Apr

By Jacques VermeulenNo Comments

African News, Ghana News, Kenya News, Main, South Africa News, Uganda News

Towards a world without waste

The invention of plastic has changed the world in so many ways – for both better and worse - that it’s hard to picture modern life without it. Instinctively, we might think a plastic-free world could only be an improvement, but that would be to ignore the extent to which plastic is interwoven in almost every aspect of our lives, including its role in the food economy. It has reduced food waste and packaging costs – contributing to food security - while enabling the convenience lifestyle of the modern working family. You only have to consider how the absence of plastic packaging would increase the risks of food product contamination and the spread of disease to understand the vital part it plays. Yet it’s also clear that the sheer volume of plastic pollution has become unsustainable. A 2017...

Improved housing doubles in Sub-Saharan Africa

1Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Botswana News, Gabon News, Main, Real Estate, Tanzania News, Zimbabwe News

Improved housing doubles in Sub-Saharan Africa

A new study led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Imperial College London and Malaria Atlas Project, University of Oxford has revealed that improved housing had doubled on the African continent between 2000 and 2015. The study published in the “Nature International Journal of Science” is the first accurate estimate of urban and rural housing quality in sub-Saharan Africa and was done using state-of-the-art mapping. While highlighting the positive transformation in the region, the prevalence of improved housing doubling from 11% in 2000 to 23% in 2015, the study also estimates that 53 million urban Africans (in the countries analyzed) still lived in slum conditions in 2015. Lead author Dr. Lucy Tusting, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine who co...

What Angola can learn from Nigeria as it creates remarkable opportunities for marginal oil production

15Jan

By NJ AyukNo Comments

African News, Angola News, Energy, Nigeria News

What Angola can learn from Nigeria as it creates remarkable opportunities for marginal oil production

The Nigerian experience with marginal oil field development had measurable success, with 24 licenses awarded to 31 companies, some as sole operators and others as joint-ventures With production declining and investment scarce, the Angolan leadership has put in place a number of new policies to reboot its oil industry and propel economic development. However, those changes take time and renewed deep-water oil and gas exploration for fresh reserves will take years to yield the desired results and stop the daily production crunch. In the meantime, the government is targeting what it already knows exists, the country’s multiple deposits of what has been dubbed marginal oil fields, which will go on sale this year during the Angolan Marginal Field Bid Round. Marginal fields are defined by ...

18Dec

By James HallNo Comments

African News, Main

African trade amongst African countries: with the groundwork laid, innovation and infrastructure investment are needed to unleash the continent’s economic potential

By James Hall Analysis in Brief: The benefits of boosting the low rate of trade amongst African countries are undeniable. The countries signing on to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) know this. However, inertia to break old trade barriers and against building value-added industries to replace foreign imports is the challenge to overcome. As exemplified by AirRwanda’s increase in direct flights between Lusaka and Johannesburg, intra-African trade benefits all participating countries. For instance, Zambia benefits as an intermediary between South Africa and Zambia along one of Africa’s busiest air routes. Likewise, Ethiopian Airlines is currently expanding its African scope to derive similar benefits. However, more cross-border movement of trade is required to match aviation’...

The trade of illegal weapons implicates senior government officials in Djibouti – Report

3Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Djibouti News

The trade of illegal weapons implicates senior government officials in Djibouti – Report

EXX Africa (EXXAfrica.com) published a special report on the arms trade in the Horn of Africa. The trade of illegal weapons implicates senior government officials in Djibouti, which suggests that the Doraleh port terminal, which is now under government control and suffers from porous customs checks, will increasingly be leveraged as an arms trade hub. However, the most significant flows of illegal weapons will continue to be moved in smaller dhows via the fishing communities in the south-east coast and via the Garacad port project. So far, and over the past few years, the DP World operated Doraleh terminal was not used for arms trafficking. However, local intelligence suggests that the terminal, which is now under government control, may in future be leveraged as a processing center for ...

9Aug

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Main

Farming module provides locally produced food all year round

A new, unique solution enables profitable ecological cultivation in urban environments Exsilio, a Finnish enterprise, has developed a high-tech solution for cultivating salad and herbs, among others, in urban environments. The solution comprises a redesigned container, where ecological local food can be cultivated efficiently. “Our solution is ideal for example for restaurants and institutional kitchens wanting to produce their own fresh ingredients. The modules also serve as an excellent complementary solution for farmers to expand their traditional greenhouses with”, explains Thomas Tapio, CEO of Exsilio. The 13-metre long farming module, known as EkoFARMER, is a unique market novelty. The unit forms a closed system that is delivered as a turn-key solutions that only require...

9Aug

By Vahid MonadjemNo Comments

African News, Business, Fintech, Main

Consolidation of the fintech ecosystem in Africa, Good or Bad?

‘Mobile money’ used to be a catch-all phrase, describing everything from consumer wallets to building agent networks, lending, and international remittances. However, African fintech has gradually matured into an industry with specialist roles, and more players in the market every year. This shift has seen more companies take on niche roles. This makes strong partnerships between various parts of the ecosystem crucial for the space’s long-term development. Creating valuable partnerships between fintechs: There are a huge number of fintechs globally and in Africa, but yet we rarely hear about partnerships between them. This is the current paradox facing the sector. In addition to the number of fintech companies, the widespread use of mobile wallets is enabling companies in other sectors...

24Nov

By Tim AldissNo Comments

African News

Development Impact Bonds: An Opportunity For Private Investors In Africa?

Africa is a land that provides much opportunity for growth and development in poverty elimination, education and empowerment of the masses. The recent ratification of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) brings much focus on investments required for African developmental targets. According to the African Infrastructure Country Diagnostic estimation, Africa is in need of at least $93 billion per year to achieve its developmental goals. So how is Africa to go about obtaining this level of funding? Scientific Independence Dr. Álvaro Sobrinho, who is a successful businessman and the chairman of the Planet Earth Institute NGO, is a prominent philanthropist and campaigner of Africa’s ‘scientific independence’. According to Dr. Sobrinho, Africa is endowed with many natural riches, but is ...

24Aug

By Steven CohenNo Comments

African News, South Africa News

Two things I wish I had known when I started a small business

By Steven Cohen, Head of Sage One International (Africa, Australia, Middle East and Asia) One of the questions other entrepreneurs most often ask me is what I wish I had known when we first started the Pastel business in 1990. Looking back over the past 26 years, I can distil my answer into two key lessons: hire the right people from the start and if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Any entrepreneur that sets out with these two pieces of wisdom is on a faster track to success. Getting the right employees on board When I think back on the trajectory of our business – from a small accounting software start-up to JSE-listed software and services group to part of a FTSE 100 company – one factor stands out as a key to our success. That is the role that key people have played i...