Tag Archives: africa

N’Gunu Tiny on Why social entrepreneurship supports local communities throughout Africa

Transformative tech and social innovation expert N’Gunu Tiny talks about how social entrepreneurship helps communities in Africa. N’Gunu Tiny, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Emerald Group, is an expert in transformative tech and social innovation. His book Impacting Lives will be published in Fall 2021. Before the pandemic, Africa was surging ahead with local and national […]

The New Creative Sector Workspace – Adapt, Innovate and Thrive Creative Africa Nexus Virtual Event

The Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX), a programme put in place by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to support Africa’s creative and cultural industries, announces a series of virtual forums in the lead-up to the Intra-African Trade Fair 2021 (IATF2021). On 25 February at 15:00 CAT, digital innovators and experts from across some of Africa’s key […]

African dealmaking decreases, the Africa’s Free Trade Agreement expected to boost recovery

Dealmaking activity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) dropped in the second half of 2020 (H2 2020), when compared to the second half of 2019 (H2 2019) and year-on-year, deals were also down in both volume and value when compared to 2019. According to Baker McKenzie’s analysis of Refinitiv data, M&A transactions dropped in SSA in H2 […]

Leading financial firms call on governments to step up action on climate risk reporting, boost adaptation finance

UNEP’s Adaptation Gap 2020 report released last week found that with annual adaptation costs in developing countries alone estimated to reach $130-300 billion per year by 2030, public and private finance for climate change adaptation must be stepped up urgently. Financial institutions have the power to direct investment and project finance to help the world […]

Five Tech Megatrends that can Transform African economies in 2021 and beyond

Photo Credit: Scott Webb (Pexels.com)

The world has been experiencing massive digital disruption with the relentless rollout and adoption of disruptive and innovative technologies. Embracing digital disruption is daunting, since it is extremely unsettling with the rapid change brought about within societies and the severe impact on unskilled labor. Even if the African continent will not be spared by digital […]

Angolan Legal Reform Shows How Africa Can Use Oil and Gas As a Springboard Towards Job Creation— But Only if It Looks Beyond the Obvious Options

For decades, many of Africa’s oil- and gas-producing states followed a predictable pattern. They treated their oil and gas primarily as raw materials that could be sold abroad for a quick profit, rather than as a means of supporting efforts to make more lasting changes in the economy of the nation as a whole. This […]

What the U.S. Political Transition Might Mean for Africa Generally and Its Oil and Gas Sector in Particular

2021 could be the beginning of a much needed reset for US relations with Africa and its various countries and regions. To date, most African governments have responded positively to the results of the recent U.S. presidential election, with many African leaders offering their congratulations to Joe Biden. That is no surprise: Donald Trump’s presidency […]

The US approach to Africa under Biden

Along the east coast, north from Durban are huge sugar cane fields. Author: (WT-en) Fluglotse2000 at English Wikivoyage aka. User:Africaspotter Wikipedia.org

By Virusha Subban, Partner specialising in Customs and Trade at Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg The United States (US) President Elect Joe Biden and his new administration are expected to take a multilateral approach to foreign policy, easing tensions and increasing engagement with allies. Trade issues are also expected to be a top priority for the Biden administration and under […]

Commitment to sustainability opening doors to post-pandemic capital in Africa

City centre of Cape Town in South Africa. View from the nearby mountain Lion’s Head. Photo Credit Wikipedia

By Wildu du Plessis, Head of Africa, Baker McKenzie The industrials, manufacturing and transport (IMT) sector is being hit hard by COVID-19 disruption, but commitment to sustainability could very well lead the sector to recovery. This is according to Baker McKenzie’s report “Sustainable Success: Exploring environmental, social and governance priorities for industrials through COVID-19 and beyond” which […]

Will a future Biden Presidency be better than Trump for Africa?

As America is voting for its next President, all African countries are contemplating their future engagement with either incumbent President Donald Trump or an incoming new President Joseph (Joe) Biden. Indeed, whoever gets in the White House this coming November 4th will re-define America’s relationship with Africa. Contrary to his immediate predecessors, over the last […]

N’Gunu Tiny on Why social innovation in Africa is so important

N’Gunu Tiny, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Emerald Group is an expert in Transformative Technology and Social Innovation. The population of Africa is set to increase to 2.4 billion over the next 30 years. And across a continent that is finding itself after decades of uneven economic growth, there is an urgent need for […]

Africa needs the space industry to go forward

Space

The African continent is bound to become increasingly more dependent on the space industry for job creation, poverty alleviation and sustainable resource management. These were some of the findings in a paper recently published by an expert in the field of Earth Observation and Geo-Information Sciences. The paper titled “The status of Earth Observation (EO) […]

It’s Time For Africa To Invest In Education, Science And Technology

Africa produces just 1.1% of global scientific knowledge. There are 79 scientists per million Africans. According to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS) estimate for 2019 Africa’s funding for Research and Development is 0.4% of the continents GDP which is far below the global average of 1.7% and the lowest in the world. In 2006, […]

Telemedicine in Africa as a concrete way to solve some problems

Telemedicine. Photo Credit: Edward Jenner (pexels.com)

Tools for innovation: mobile applications, medical specialized websites for medical personnel, scientists, and for educating people in the field of medicine, crowdfunding fundraising campaigns, mobile medical cars and other innovations The use of telemedicine can greatly help in solving the problems of medicine in African countries. The creation of special telemedicine websites within a specific […]

The Impact of COVID-19 on China’s Belt and Road Initiatives in Africa

View from the Carlton Centre, Africa's tallest building. Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. Photo Credit: Adamina (www.flickr.com).

A new report by Economist Corporate Network, supported by Baker McKenzie and Silk Road Associates, BRI Beyond 2020 (report), shows that the ripple effects of COVID-19 are affecting the nature, pace and scope of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) activity in Africa, mostly for the short term. The report also explains how the virus has led […]

15 Things to Do on a Safari in Uganda

Golden Monkey Tours

Uganda is a land locked country found in East Africa. It’s bordered by Kenya in East, Tanzania in the south, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the west and Sudan in the north. The country is gifted with amazing wildlife, relief, drainage and interesting culture among others. The fact that Uganda has a lot to […]

Different Accommodation Options in Tanzania

Tanzania conjures images of unique outdoor adventures and intimacy with nature’s finest. With so many places to see and things to do, it’s not surprising that this amazing country continues to dazzle travelers from all over the world year after year. And don’t worry about accommodation either, as the country is lined with options that […]

5 Global Marketing Trends For African Startups To Follow

VC4A

Entrepreneurs across the globe strive to grow their brands into international enterprises. The startups who succeed in expanding beyond their domestic boarders follow the top global marketing trends. As an entrepreneur in Africa, you need to do the same in order to reach consumers in other countries. If you optimize your strategies, you can beat […]

Africa, 2nd fastest growing tourism region in the world

Travel Jumia

Jumia launches the 3rd edition of the Hospitality Report Africa, shows travel & tourism contributed 8.5% to the continent’s GDP in 2018 Travel and tourism remained one of the key growth drivers of Africa’s economy, contributing 8.5% of the GDP in 2018; equivalent to $194.2 billion. According to the 2019 Jumia Hospitality Report Africa, this […]

Pushing the boundaries of African hospitality

According to the annual African Hotel Chain Development Pipeline Survey from W Hospitality Group, there are 75,000 branded rooms in 401 hotels in the pipeline across Africa On the occasion of the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) (https://www.AHIF.com) this week, Filippo Sona, Managing Director, Global Hospitality Drees & Sommer (https://www.DreSo.com/), asks whether Sub-Saharan Africa is […]

Mixed-use is the key to funding hotel development in Africa

A new report from JLL, the world’s largest professional services firm specialising in real estate, has revealed that people seeking to finance a new hotel project in Africa will be much more successful if their hotel is part of a mixed-use development. JLL’s research into global property transactions reveals that in the first half of […]

Why Zanzibar is the Best Beach Destination in Africa

Bweeju Beach. Why Zanzibar IS The Best Beach Destination In Africa

Also referred to as the Spice Islands, Zanzibar is more than just an itinerary. The unique features of this enchanting island and UNESCO World Heritage Site makes it a dream destination for any tourist looking to have a hell of a time living the easy life and just chilling. The swaying palm trees, coral reefs, […]