Constructed under the East African Community regional development project, the road is key to the much aspired regional integration and opens doors to the ports for Africa’s landlocked countries like Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC.

Owing to its importance, the African Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) are among the project funders as well as the Tanzanian government itself through its own internal revenue.

Complete with spar roads, the highway will open up enormous economic potential of each region it passes. On the other side of the border, the Kenyan government has also begun work on the connecting 40km project Mtwapa-Kilifi Road, part of the overall 460km Malindi-Tanga-Bagamoyo East African corridor development project.

Fitch has added that the impossibility to borrow on international capital markets has triggered further downgrades in the credit ratings of the Sub-Saharan countries.

Angola and Gabon have witnessed their credit ratings upgraded in recent months. The upward trend refers to the surge in oil prices globally, which has boosted the finances of the two countries.

Several countries projects to experience rapid economic growth as the tourism industry recovers from the pressure exerted by the COVID-19 pandemic and more mineral sources continue to be discovered in the continent.

Taking into account the 2022 International Day of Women and Girls in science; it’s imperative to assess the state of Africa’s water security which needs to be urgently addressed.

Africa is bearing the brunt of the climate change crisis, yet had no hand in its creation only contributing a paltry 4 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions; spelt by the numerous natural disasters from floods, drought and famine, locust infestation to tropical cyclones, which have put significant water stress in the continent.

In a series of initiatives, African leaders are spearheading strategies for resolving the quandary pertinently its impact on Africa’s water security and sanitation. Nearly 63 per cent of urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa lack access to basic water and sanitation.

The Vienna World Conference on Human Rights in 1993 was forced to address women’s rights as a human rights issues because of the violence and sexual abuse against women occurring in Yugoslavia at the time.

The Fourth International Women’s Conference was held in Beijing in 1995 made human rights and women’s participation in decision making at all levels key. One of the recommendations was for the countries to have gender desks in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies including Security Services. It cautioned against the specific establishment of Women’s Ministries as these would take gender issues to the periphery as that ministry would be saddled with all matters gender-related.

The conference also discussed the eradication of poverty, women in armed conflict and violence against women.

This comes after the National Treasury exempted the digital lender from a law limiting individual shareholding in microfinance to 25 per cent.

In a gazette notice signed by the Cabinet Secretary National Treasury, Ukur Yatani, the San-Francisco based fintech has been exempted from Section 19 of the Microfinance Act (for 4 years through 2025).

Currently, individuals or single entities are barred from holding more than a 25 per cent stake in a microfinance institution.

However, economic growth and the rapid expansion of digital and mobile services are set to change this. 

With the African middle class growing across many African nations, the target market for insurance products is growing.

The report highlighted that there has been a significant rise in demand for digital solutions, as smartphone and affordable internet penetration deepens across the continent, providing opportunities for InsureTechs to step in and offer innovative products.