by Johan Burger The NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies publishes a weekly newsletter on issues relevant to Africa. This paper is based on issues addressed in the newsletter. The growth and continuation of e-commerce in Africa has received various boosts during 2018. Africa’s leading online shopping platform, Jumia, reported in 2018 it wanted to make […]
Online marketplaces such as Jumia, Souq, Uber, and Travelstart could create around 3 million new jobs by 2025 across Africa. These digital platforms, which match buyers and providers of goods and services, could also raise incomes and boost inclusive economic growth with minimal disruption to existing businesses and workforce norms. These are among the findings […]
“Whole communities and towns can become 100% energy independent” “Mini grids could very quickly sort out a lot of the biggest challenges that South Africa is having with its energy supply at the moment” says Dr Sam Duby, Africa Director for TFE Energy and mini grid expert. He adds: “deregulation would open a market for […]
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 […]
by Johan Burger The NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies publishes a weekly newsletter on issues relevant to Africa. This paper is based on issues addressed in the newsletter. A trend of earlier years in which we saw the further growth and development of the renewable energy sector, has continued in 2018. Renewable energy is becoming […]
By Johnstone Oltetia, Interim CEO Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC) There are two essential parts to achieving affordable housing: building decent, low-cost homes, and developing a housing finance market that enables low-income earners to buy those homes. For, without finance, almost no home price is low enough to be affordable on an average salary. For […]
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 […]
Biggest-ever DevConf opens with warning on ethics in new world of computing Quantum computing and AI and machine learning are dramatically changing the face of computing, presenting the risk of a range of unintended consequences. This is according to Cliff de Wit, former chief innovation officer at Microsoft and now the CTO and co-founder of […]
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 […]
By Thomas Rex, SVP at Fingerprints It’s an interesting time for the humble payment card. Card payments have steadily risen in the last two decades, but innovation of the card has slowed since the launch of contactless over ten years ago. Until, that is, the recent entrance of the biometric payment card. But what’s the […]
Angola, a country which has been within the grasp of heavy war for decades. Angola got her independence in the year of 1975. But another dark era was waiting for them. Just after achieving their independence in 1975, the civil war began lasted till 2002, which means for almost 27 years! But the best part […]
Mr. Elhiraika said Africa’s growth is projected to remain strong, moderating around 3.2% in 2018, but expected to recover to 3.4% in 2019 and 3.8% in 2020 African countries need policies that can help build resilience, raise potential growth and inclusiveness if the continent is to achieve the sustainable development goals and aspirations of Africa’s […]
By Doros Hadjizenonos, Regional Director – SADC at Fortinet Staying ahead of today’s accelerated cybercrime trends requires adding artificial intelligence (AI) to an organisation’s network security strategy As the threat landscape continues to evolve rapidly, it now includes increasingly sophisticated, zero-day malware that traditional security approaches can no longer keep pace with. As a result, […]
Living in a Sub-Saharan can be a lot harsh. In a country full of barren lands it can be hard to relocate a source of protein, making a product like chicken hard to come by as the people of general cannot afford it, making it available to only a specific line of affluent people. Why […]
By Adriano Rioja Ciprian, Associate Attorney, Centurion Law Group (http://CenturionLG.com) In yet another landmark reform for its hydrocarbons sector, Angola released in February 2019 a new Presidential Decree detailing the country’s oil licensing strategy for the next six years. Published in February 2019, Presidential Decree No. 52/19 is a continuation of the Lourenço administration’s efforts […]
Easy of Doing Business in Thekwini (Durban) Easy of Doing Business in Cape TownSouth Africa is a country of a mixed economy. It has a relatively high gross domestic product than other countries in Africa. Despite having a mixed economy and high GDP, South Africa has a problem of poverty and unemployment. Business is a […]
By Annamarie Bindenagel Šehović Analysis in Brief: Global health security lies at the intersection of Europe and Africa, between inherited state-based intervention and a new regional, global approach. Given this, it is vital to redefine health security and it is imperative that this new definition include cross-border populations. Likewise, knowledge exchange in both definitional scope […]
Hotels in Addis Ababa are known for their great service and generosity. The nation is blessed with an array of flora and fauna. In addition, the country has lots of sunshine throughout the year. Consequently, the most fashionable tourism catchphrase of the country is “13 months of sunshine”. Lots of travelers stopover Ethiopia each year […]
Angola’s economic troubles began in 2014 when global crude oil prices dipped and severely hampered the government’s ability to generate revenue João Lourenço has been president of Angola since 26 September 2017. About one year later, he cemented his hold on power by taking over the chairmanship of the ruling Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA). […]
The festive season in Africa also marks the highest season in the tourism industry, as demand for getaway destinations in the continent surges. According to a Hospitality Report Africa – 2018/19, IATA’s most popular airline destinations in Africa in terms of traffic are South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Nigeria, Tunisia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mauritius and Tanzania […]
Demand to outstrip supply – major investment opportunities Cape Verde could be on the brink of a hotel development wave if the government fulfils its promises to improve infrastructure and transport links. It aims to attract more than a million tourists a year by 2020, far more than the current hotel supply can cope with, […]
Africa’s travel and tourism industry continued to record impressive growth in the past year. The continent hit a 63 million high in international tourist arrivals in 2017, as compared to 58 M in 2016 (+ 9% vs 2016); according to a Hospitality Report published in December 2018. The growth record is slightly above the global […]