africa Archives - Page 8 of 33 - AfricaBusiness.com

6Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Science, Tech

Africa’s largest inter-university hackathon brings students together on Zindi for data science, for good

UmojaHack Africa 2021 was an unprecedented success, bringing more than 1000 students from 126 universities across Africa to compete on Zindi in a virtual machine learning hackathon on the weekend of 27-28 March. More than $10 000 USD in prizes were awarded to data science students from 9 African countries, and more than 8500 submissions were made to solve three real-world machine learning challenges on Zindi. Students from 21 African countries joined the event, representing Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. They participated in three different machine learning challenges: a financial resilience prediction challenge, a logistics challe...

Vertis Aviation adds Africa-based Challenger 604 to portfolio

14Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Africa Travel, African News, Ghana News, travel

Vertis Aviation adds Africa-based Challenger 604 to portfolio

Switzerland-based Vertis Aviation, is expanding its footprint in Africa with the addition of a Bombardier Challenger 604 to the Vertis Charter Management Programme, VCMP. This is the second aircraft to sign up to the VCMP in as many months and represents the first Challenger 604 that the Argus Certified Broker will exclusively market for charter. Based in Accra, Ghana the Challenger 604 seats up to 11 passengers, and also welcomes small pets when in a travel carrier. Equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity, a full galley, divan and club seating the spacious cabin provides a productive and comfortable environment. Vertis anticipates the home-base location in West Africa and the range – the Challenger 604 can fly nonstop across the continent – will stimulate demand from regional and international ...

10Mar

By Baker McKenzieNo Comments

Main

Challenges remain for Industrials, but calculus shifts

Disruption arising from COVID-19 has accelerated trends already apparent in the industrials market –– particularly digitalisation and trade volatility –– and transformation has gone from a “nice to have” to a necessity, according to the latest findings from Baker McKenzie. The law firm surveyed 700 company leaders in six industrial sub-sectors in early 2020, and again at the end of the year after the pandemic had taken hold of the global economy. In Africa, challenges in the industrials market were exacerbated by the pandemic, and highlighted by the requirements for seamless trade, strong supply chains, digitisation and sustainability, that were necessitated by the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA), as well as by the post pandemic market environme...

Africa needs Pragmatic Free Market policies to attract capital into Gas markets

1Mar

By NJ AyukNo Comments

Energy

Africa needs Pragmatic Free Market policies to attract capital into Gas markets

Speaking at the International Petroleum (IP) Week on February 25, 2021, I commended Nigeria for its efforts in driving gas monetization, but we have to be clear that our industry and hardworking people remain frustrated by the delays and inability to pass and sign the Petroleum Industry Bill. There needs to be that fierce sense of urgency of now especially in the era of the energy transition. The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) needs to be passed as it allows energy companies to turn their attention to producing energy that drives our economies. It will allow politicians to focus on other pressing matters like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) and security issues. Africa is well-placed to become a key global supplier of LNG. Mozambique, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Senegal, and ...

Cisco Small Business Partner Summit to Explore Growth Opportunities Across MEA

1Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Events, Tech

Cisco Small Business Partner Summit to Explore Growth Opportunities Across MEA

Changing Market Conditions and Strategic Priorities for the Sector to be Showcased During Regional Event Cisco’s Small Business Partner Summit is taking place virtually this week, outlining the importance and growth potential of the small business sector across the Middle East and Africa. Small businesses account for 44% of all IT spending and continue to outpace traditional enterprise growth. On Tuesday 2nd March, summit attendees will be provided with insights into Cisco Designed – a tailor-made portfolio which delivers simple, secure and flexible products, available at competitive price points to help small businesses to thrive. Participants will also learn about Cisco’s Partner Programs, incentives and rewards to expand their own business offerings, while simultaneously empowering smal...

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

9Feb

By Veselina DzhingarovaNo Comments

Business, Ghana News, Kenya News, Mauritius News, Nigeria News, Sierra Leone, Startups, Tanzania News

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 developments across all sectors. And COVID-19 isn’t slowing the emergence of social entrepreneurship that is creating ways out of poverty and empowering Africa’s people. From technology to healthcare, grassroots organisations and local communities are fighting to improve local economies. Social entrepreneurship is the key to encouraging this level of development throughout the continent. Social entrepreneurship is...

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

9Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Events, Rwanda News, Tech

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 creative sectors including fashion, film, music and XR, will share their experiences and successes from the year of COVID-19, and for a post-COVID world that will be forever changed. This first event will kick-start the conversation in the build-up to the Creative Africa Nexus Programme that will take place at the Intra-African Trade Fair 2021 (IATF2021) from 6 - 12 September in Kigali, Rwanda. Designed specifically for African creatives lo...

29Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Egypt News, Ghana News, Kenya News, Main, Mauritius News, Nigeria News, South Africa News

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 2020, down 4% compared to H2 2019 with 329 deals in the period. Deal value fell by 17% to USD8.9 billion in the second half of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. For the full year 2020, transactions dropped by 8%, with 625 deals in 2020, and deal value dropped by 33%, with deals valued at USD17.4 billion in total for 2020. However, as Africa gears up for its post-pandemic recovery, it appears that the opportunities presented by the recent launch of fr...

25Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Events, South Africa News

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 adapt to climate change but they need to first understand and measure the risks and opportunities for their businesses. Ten financial institutions convened by UNEP FI are calling on governments to encourage adaptation finance by making climate risk disclosures mandatory, ensuring the availability of robust data, and developing standards to guide the finance industry. The financial institutions are the European Bank for Reconstruct...

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

15Jan

By Richard LiNo Comments

African News, Agriculture, Fintech, Main, Medicine

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

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 disruption, Africa cannot afford to be left out of these global technology (Tech) trends. If technology is wisely implemented, developing African countries are able to hop on the digital bandwagon to rapidly undergo a digital revolution that can boost their respective economies. While disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence, additive manufacturing, augmented and virtual reality, and others are becoming more and...