africa Archives - Page 5 of 33 - AfricaBusiness.com

28Feb

By Paul TomNo Comments

South Africa News

Tips for Successful Homeschooling in Africa

In many African nations, homeschooling is becoming a popular choice for both nationals and ex-pats. It guarantees the quality of education and allows parents to guide the curriculum. If you’re considering homeschooling your children, be sure to keep these tips in mind. Find Out the Rules for Homeschooling in Your Country While homeschooling is legal and appreciated in South Africa and most other African nations, you should always check the educational requirements and guidelines where you live. The Department of Education is the best starting point. If your child is currently attending a public or private school, request their educational records and a final grade report. This will help you determine the appropriate place to start with your own curriculum. Choose the Right Curricu...

11Feb

By Paul TomNo Comments

Business

Why Africa Is One of the Fastest Growing Consumer Markets in the World

For over a century, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa was solely centered around the extraction and export of natural resources. Today, the momentum has shifted, and global investors are going to Africa more for its consumer-based power rather than for its physical properties. As such, mining and petroleum now account for a minority share of long-term capital inflows. Investors are focused on retailing, services, and telecommunications. But how did the trend shift to a fast-growing consumer market? Factors include: Increasing affluence Population growth Rising urbanization rates The rapid spread of mobile phones and access to the internet Africa has been thought of as the “last market,” and the continent’s consumers are becoming increasingly valuab...

6Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Africa is leapfrogging into the future of retail

The bi-annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI), which is a study of the global retailing landscape has revealed Africa is poised to move away from traditional retail models and become the fastest-growing, richest, and most sophisticated market in the world. Prashaen Reddy, a partner at management consulting firm Kearney says that this is thanks to the explosive growth of young, urban, and digitally savvy consumers; increasing mobile phone penetration; the creation of digital payment and shopping networks; favorable governmental regulations and spending initiatives; and significant investment by both foreign and domestic companies. In the most stable times, retailers expanding their global footprint face a series of difficult decisions. Yet in the wake of COVID-19, together, these f...

24Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Interview, Senegal News

The United Arab Emirates, a new strategic player in Africa

Created in 2014, at the initiative of President Macky Sall, the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security will be held on December 6 and 7 in the Senegalese capital, in the presence of around a hundred decision-makers from the continent, including several dozens of Heads of State - notably those of Niger, South Africa, Guinea-Bissau - and Governments as well as Ministers, and internationally renowned experts. With the significant challenges that await Africa in this period of exit from the pandemic, the Forum will allow decision-makers to deepen themes such as new security threats in Africa, the impact of demography and climate change on security, the relationship between security challenge and emergence, or even the evolution of the balance of power and alliance games at work on th...

16Nov

By Virusha SubbanNo Comments

Ethiopia News, Guinea News, Main, Mali News

African Growth and Opportunity Act eligibility requirements under review in three African countries

By Virusha Subban, Partner and Head of Indirect Tax, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg On 2 November 2021, US President Joe Biden announced that three African countries would be terminated from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade preference program, unless they took urgent action to meet statutory eligibility criteria by 1 January 2022. The three countries listed were Guinea, Mali and Ethiopia. The US administration cited unconstitutional changes in governments in Guinea and Mali and human rights violations in Ethiopia, due to conflict in the country, as reasons for the termination. The statement announced the intention to provide all three countries with a clear benchmark and pathway towards reinstatement so that valued trading partnerships could be resumed. AGOA eligibility c...

12Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Angola News

Angola’s Special Economic Zone, provides new services to national and foreign investors with the inauguration of the GAI – Investor Support Office

The Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone (ZEE) launched a useful new tool for investors, the GAI (Guiché de Apoio ao Investidor), or Investor Support Office, which in addition to supporting the presidential directive to facilitate access for national and foreign investors, will eliminate bureaucratic obstacles that can hinder the actions of those who want to access Angola’s privatized assets or those businesses already established within the ZEE. The GAI will: - reduce the time needed to access and resolve matters relating to the Angolan public administration - contribute to a significant increase in the number of companies based in the ZEE - expand domestic production and the export of goods generated by the Angolan economy - increase foreign direct investment in the Republic of Ango...

25Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Agriculture

Fairtrade Farmers Increasingly Threatened by Climate Change, Warns ‘Alarming’ New Study

BONN, Germany – The intensifying impacts of climate change pose a serious risk to global agricultural production and directly threaten the livelihoods of millions of Fairtrade farmers around the world, a new Fairtrade study has revealed, adding that increased investment in climate adaptation and resilience measures are critical if plummeting incomes for Fairtrade farmers are to be prevented. Released ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, the report, titled Fairtrade and Climate Change and conducted by researchers from VU Amsterdam and Bern University of Applied Sciences, paints a bleak picture of the future of some of the world’s most beloved commodities, including bananas, coffee, and cocoa, and explicitly identifies how climate change will im...

22Oct

By Ogi Williams and Jacques Du PreezNo Comments

Energy

African Oil & Gas: Evolving the industry post Covid-19

By Ogi Williams and Jacques Du Preez The following paper provides excerpts from Johannesburg-based consulting firm In On Africa’s 2021 African Oil and Gas report. The post Covid-19 period has pushed Africa's oil and gas industry to adapt to a very different paradigm and one revolving around hydrocarbon divestment and increased renewable energy focus. As the pandemic and related financial fallout drove oil prices down and well beyond sustainable thresholds during 2020, projects across the continent were delayed or abandoned entirely. This has been compounded by the growing risks to financing posed by the global divestment movement, with some of the continent's largest financiers announcing a gradual draw down on hydrocarbon financing. One silver lining amid this uncertainty is the renewe...

21Oct

By Angelo TzarevskiNo Comments

Main

Increasing competition policy enforcement across Africa

By Angelo Tzarevski, Associate Director, and Zareenah Rasool, Candidate Attorney, Competition & Antitrust Practice, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg Competition policy continues to be viewed by regulators as a key driver of economic growth globally. Across Africa, competition policy enforcement is increasingly being employed as a tool to boost economic performance and promote the revitalization of trade and industry following the devastating impact of COVID-19. The effects of the pandemic have led to negative economic growth in a number of African jurisdictions, and have given rise to opportunistic, anticompetitive behaviours such as unreasonable price increases and price gouging, coordination amongst competitors, and other unsavoury business practices that erode competition. Over the pas...

17Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Energy

Energy transition-a new path to power in Africa

Africa currently sits on the cusp of a transition into a new energy paradigm, one in which technological and commercial innovations are delivering increasingly decentralised power to the people of the continent in new ways. A recent White Paper released by global management consultancy company Kearney outlines the overarching strategic considerations for African utilities to forge a path to sustainability amidst the backdrop of this global paradigm shift. Entitled A New Energy Path to Viability for African Utilities, the paper unpacks the broader macroeconomic trends that are shaping the transition. Kearney partner Igor Hulak explains the dual mandate shouldered by energy utilities in Africa, who play an integral role on the continent. “Availability of power is essential for eco...