Frontline conservation organisations joined the private sector and law enforcement in South Africa this week in a conference to tackle illegal wildlife trade across the region. Attended by leaders from government, business, law enforcement and NGOs, the two-day event came hot on the heels of recent commitments from the US Treasury to form a United […]
Category Archives: Main
Authored by ONE in Africa Executive Director Serah Makka & ONE in France Director Najat Vallaud-Belkacem After the withdrawal of French forces from Mali and more recently from Burkina Faso and responding to the – rightly – growing demands of his Sahelian and sub-Saharan allies, President Macron has called for a new relationship with Africa. […]
By Varda Berenstein Listen to any political speech in Europe and the West, and you’ll hear over and over again, repeated to the point of cliché: “Our children are the future.” Young people are held up as the great hope for social, cultural, political, and economic development. They will ‘save the planet’. Their energy and […]
Nigeria: What next for West Africa’s powerhouse? With elections approaching, change is afoot in Nigeria. Keen to pursue new opportunities and drive the country forward, what does the future hold for one of Africa’s largest economies? Following her recent visits to the country, Marie El-Hawat, Associate Director, Anglophone Africa at British Arab Commercial Bank (BACB) […]
African News, Main
United States and Africa: increased engagement regarding trade creating opportunities in the African free trade area
By Virusha Subban, Partner Specialising in Customs and Trade, and Head of the Tax Practice, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg There was more good news for the successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement in December 2022, when a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the United States (US) Trade Representative and the […]
African News, Main
Africa’s economic growth to outpace global forecast in 2023-2024 – African Development Bank Biannual Report
Africa is set to outperform the rest of the world in economic growth over the next two years, with real gross domestic product (GDP) averaging around 4% in 2023 and 2024. This is higher than projected global averages of 2.7% and 3.2%, the African Development Bank Group said in Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook (http://bit.ly/3iLJF4C) […]
By Yaron Tchwella, CEO of the Mitrelli Group The Roman author, Pliny the Elder, noted in antiquity: “There is always something new out of Africa”. And as we look forward, everything in and about Africa is fascinating. It is a continent renewing itself, developing, growing, and innovating – faster than any other. Africa’s population currently […]
By Pitamber Kaushik As the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, continues to hike its lending rates aggressively in order to rein in persistent inflation, the stress exerted by the bulking US Dollar continues to send ripples throughout the world. Being the predominant medium of international exchange, serving as the world’s principal […]
By Philippa Owen, ESG Lead at GraySwan After several days of focused negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh, this year’s COP27 closed with a sense of comfort that the needs of emerging and developing markets have not been overlooked. The agreement to create and implement a loss and damage fund to rescue and rebuild physical and social […]
Africa is making progress towards industrialization, with 37 of 52 countries becoming more industrialized over the past eleven years, according to a recent report. The African Development Bank, African Union, and United Nations Industrial Development Organization teamed up to produce the report, which shows that some African countries are making significant strides in developing their […]
In countries where mobile money adoption is successful, GDP per capita growth could reduce poverty by around 2.6%. Successful deployment and adoption of mobile financial services is associated with positive GDP growth in developing markets, according to new research from Vodafone Group, Vodacom Group, Safaricom, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Mobile financial services […]
The 10th annual AFRICA HEALTH CONGRESS will be held at Gallagher Estate from 26-28 October. This year’s Congress is expected to include representatives from 56 countries and offer free CPD conferences. A possible topic of interest at this year’s event is discussed in the content below. This article looks at the reasons why African radiology […]
Ever think that a series shot in Korean and overlaid with questionable dubbing – with no famous actors to speak off – would achieve global cult status and go on to become one of Netflix’s most-watched shows ever? Well, that is exactly what happened in the case of Squid Games, Netflix’s 2021 series about a fatal contest centred around […]
Business, Main
How Companies Can Leverage Linguistic Talent in Africa as Part of a Corporate Social Responsibility Program
(NEW YORK) – The future of business, and how businesses run, is always evolving. An Aflac CSR survey shows that 77% of consumers prefer to buy from socially responsible brands, and 73% of investors say corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts contribute to their investment decisions. One area where organizations can make a positive social impact […]
By Jana Botha, VAT Consultant, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg There have been significant developments in indirect tax within Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in the past year. The vast majority of developments have been based around VAT amendments and policies, as well as general budget updates for 2022 across SSA. This article includes key developments from Ghana, Kenya, […]
While challenges remain, continental free trade will further boost Africa’s trade partners By Virusha Subban, Partner specialising in Customs and Trade, and Head of the Tax Practice, Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg Trade between China and Africa is growing. The General Administration of Customs of China recently noted that bilateral trade between China and Africa amounted […]
Algeria News, Energy, Main, Nigeria News, Rwanda News
How tracking methane helps fight climate change
By Antoine Rostand, President and Founder of Kayrros The need to track and reduce greenhouse gas emissions has never been more urgent. According to the IPCC, “without increased and urgent mitigation in the coming years, leading to a sharp decline in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, global warming will surpass 1.5C in the following decades, […]
The European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) are considered to be a global standard for the protection of personal information. Across Africa, many existing data security and protection laws were modelled on the regulations of the EU’s first data privacy legislation – the EU Data Protection Directive (1995), which preceded the GDPR. Current […]
By Balkissa Ide Siddo, Director of Public Policy, Africa, Meta Since the start of the twenty-first century, technology has been at the heart of enhancing communication and human contact. The internet has not only enabled people to communicate with family and friends all over the world in real time, but powered businesses and creativity across the […]
Exclusive Interview With Oluwasola Obagbemi, Corporate Communications Manager, Anglophone West Africa, Meta Oluwasola Obagbemi talked about why the #NoFalseNewsZone campaign is needed, what reliable information is, how to determine lies, and how to solve problems with the spread of fake news. 1. Why do you need to conduct a #NoFalseNewsZone campaign now? The #NoFalseNewsZone campaign […]
By Lerisha Naidu, Partner, Angelo Tzarevski, Associate Director, Sphesihle Nxumalo, Associate and Zareenah Rasool, Associate, Competition & Antitrust Practice, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg Baker McKenzie’s latest Africa Competition Report 2022 provides a detailed analysis and overview of recent developments in competition law enforcement and competition policy in 32 African jurisdictions and regional bodies. The Report outlines how, over […]
Circular agriculture is termed a food system that is in harmony with nature and meets social needs simultaneously. With the growing population in Kenya, the food supply has been in high demand and this has come at the expense of the environment. Farmers have shifted to using more intensive farm chemicals causing land erosion and […]