africa Archives - Page 12 of 33 - AfricaBusiness.com

10Apr

By Johan BurgerNo Comments

Trends and Events in Africa 2018

by Johan Burger 2018 has been an interesting year for Africa, with various events and trends becoming visible. 2016 saw the effects of the slowdown of China’s economic growth due to its rebalancing of its economy and the end of the commodity price super cycle. 2017 brought some relief. In Africa, 2018 demonstrated a number of continued trends, but also some new events. The NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies publishes a weekly newsletter. These were studied to pick up on the trends prominent in 2018. Some of these trends are more elaborate than others. Trend 1: Foreign Investment in Africa Africa has been the recipient of foreign investment form a variety of foreign countries. In addition to the normal investors such as China, Japan, India, etc., we are also seeing new entrants or countries...

Friday@Noon on Manufacturing in Africa: 2018

10Apr

By Johan BurgerNo Comments

Business, Ethiopia News, Kenya News, Main, Rwanda News, South Africa News, Uganda News

Friday@Noon on Manufacturing in Africa: 2018

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. Manufacturing in Africa Manufacturing and industrialisation are the current buzzwords for transforming Africa’s economies. In order to reduce any dependence on the extraction and sale of raw commodities, it does make sense to diversify Africa’s economies. African economies do seem to struggle with growing and developing their manufacturing sectors and to increase this sector’s contribution to their GDP’s. In addition to the challenges stated below, we do find that cheap imports from abroad complicate the process even more. These cheap imports range from cheap steel products from China (upsetting steel manufacturing in ...

Friday@Noon on Economic Development in Africa: 2018

10Apr

By Johan BurgerNo Comments

Angola News, Botswana News, Kenya News, Main, Nigeria News, Rwanda News, South Africa News, Zambia News

Friday@Noon on Economic Development in Africa: 2018

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 year 2018 saw numerous cases of economic development on the African continent. This would include trade, etc. Africa The US$2 trillion-plus Sub-Saharan Africa economy continues to strengthen from a low point in 2016, thanks to domestic policy adjustments and improved global economic activity. Growth is projected to increase from 2.7% in 2017 to 3.1% in 2018. With the exception of SSA’s two biggest markets (Nigeria and SA), the rest of SSA has grown at 5.3% on average in the period spanning 2010-17, but with wider heterogeneity across countries. Hence, there are plenty opportunities for dedicated investors. The regi...

Friday@Noon on Agriculture in Africa – 2018

10Apr

By Johan BurgerNo Comments

Agriculture, Angola News, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia News, Ghana News, Kenya News, Mozambique News, Nigeria News, Rwanda News, South Africa News, South Sudan, Tanzania News, Uganda News, Zimbabwe News

Friday@Noon on Agriculture in Africa – 2018

by Johan Burger This paper addresses events and trends in the agriculture sector in Africa for 2018. It is based on the media articles addressed in the Friday@Noon weekly newsletters of the NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies in Singapore. These are by no means meant to constitute an exhaustive list of developments. General Agriculture in Africa has been identified as a sector with the capacity to stimulate economic growth on the continent. What is necessary, is the industrialization of the sector, with a strong focus on improving the inputs, e.g. better quality seeds, fertiliser, irrigation and modern farming techniques. Transforming the sector into a lucrative one, is an important step to convince various stakeholders to see farming as a good business opportunity. The industrialisation of...

Friday@Noon on Foreign Investment in Africa: 2018

10Apr

By Johan BurgerNo Comments

Business, Egypt News, Energy, Main

Friday@Noon on Foreign Investment in Africa: 2018

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. Africa has been the recipient of foreign investment form a variety of foreign countries. In addition to the normal investors such as China, Japan, India, etc., we are also seeing new entrants or countries that are making a comeback. The countries identified below are also not meant to be the only investors, but have been noted in the general media. China in Africa China has been quite active in Africa for the past number of years. In addition to participating in infrastructure development contracts, it has also been financing a lot of Africa’s debt. It is still Africa’s largest trade partner. A prominent development is...

10Apr

By Johan BurgerNo Comments

Djibouti News, Eritrea News, Ethiopia News, Main, Somalia News, Sudan News

Friday@Noon on the Horn of Africa: 2018

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 Horn of Africa has increasingly become the scene of activity, driven not only by players in the region, but also from abroad. For the purposes of this paper, Sudan will be included as part of the Horn. Sudan In 2018, and before, we have seen Russia, Britain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE becoming active in Sudan. The question is whether this is a short-term phenomenon or are we seeing a trend that will grow in the future? As it is, China is Sudan's biggest trade partner, importing oil from Sudan while exporting low cost items as well as armaments to Sudan. China’s footprint in Sudan has grown exponentiall...

10Apr

By Johan BurgerNo Comments

Ethiopia News, Main, Mozambique News, South Africa News, Sudan News, Tanzania News

Friday@Noon on Mining in Africa: 2018

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. Various mining initiatives and challenges occurred during 2018. Below is a snapshot of some of it. This is by no means an exhaustive list. Tanzania Tanzania wants to take more of the profits from its vast mineral resources by overhauling the fiscal and regulatory regime of its mining sector. It adopted new regulations, which now make it compulsory for foreign-owned mining groups to offer shares to the government and local companies. A contractor, sub-contractor, mining company or other allied entity must maintain a bank account with an indigenous Tanzanian bank and transact business through banks in the country. The in...

10Apr

By Johan BurgerNo Comments

Energy, Kenya News, Main, Namibia News, Rwanda News, Zambia News

Friday@Noon on Infrastructure in Africa: 2018

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. General Africa has vast infrastructure needs. According to the AfDB, Africa's infrastructure requirements are estimated to be between US$130 billion and US$170 billion, far higher than the previous estimation of US$93 billion a year. The AfDB’s 2018 Annual Report said the new estimates left a financing gap of US$108 billion. Given this, and urgent needs in health, education, administrative capacity, and security, Africa has to attract private capital to accelerate the building of critical infrastructure needed to unleash its potential. African countries do not need to wait until all financing gaps are filled before the...

3Apr

By Johan BurgerNo Comments

Botswana News, Ethiopia News, Kenya News, Main, Mozambique News, Nigeria News, South Africa News

Friday@Noon on Regional Integration in Africa: 2018

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. Regional integration has become a high profile intervention and is seen as the route to economic integration and increasing intra-African trade. Some commentators are of the opinion that Africa must secure its own share of global economic growth and sustain the economic growth of Africa itself. The greatest opportunity for doing this, is Africa’s ability to trade and do business with itself. Improvements to fiscal policies, governance and regulatory frameworks, along with a move to diversify economies away from Africa’s traditional commodities-biased economies, present great opportunities to foreign investors. Africa’s...

Friday@Noon on E-commerce in Africa: 2018

3Apr

By Johan BurgerNo Comments

Business, Egypt News, Kenya News, Nigeria News, Tech

Friday@Noon on E-commerce in Africa: 2018

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 Egypt its biggest market on the continent, and it’s turning to Egypt’s vast network of unlicensed vendors for help. Jumia wants a 10-fold growth in revenue from Egypt and a 6-fold growth in the number of products offered on its platform by 2021. To achieve that, Jumia is urging the government to regulate informal retailers by offering them tax incentives and cheap loans that would allow them to market their goods online. The informal economy ac...