Author: James Ndwaru

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has selected Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) over bids from Morocco, Algeria, Senegal, Botswana, and Egypt. The East Africa joint bid, commonly called the “Pamoja AFCON Bid,” has won the hosting rights for the 2027 AFCON as Morocco takes the rights for the 2025 showpiece.

CAF president Patrice Motsepe announced the news on Wednesday morning, 27 September, shortly after the body held an executive committee meeting in its headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. Recommendations from several nations boosted the East Africa Pamoja AFCON Bid. In a move that will elate East African sports enthusiasts, the CAF Executive Committee chose the Pamoja Afcon Bid.…

A new commentary from the International Energy Agency (IEA) on the upcoming World Energy Outlook 2023 has revealed that despite improvements, global access to electricity still needs to catch up to the pace required to meet SDG 7. The commentary supports discussions from the recently concluded United Nations’ SDG Summit on 18-19 September 2023. It is also part of the IEA’s support of the first global stocktake of the Paris Agreement, which will be finalized in the run-up to COP28, the next UN Climate Change Conference, at the end of 2023.…

In a recent announcement during the US-Africa Business Roundtable in the United States, Kenya’s President William Ruto revealed that Safaricom, a leading telecommunications company, is establishing a strategic partnership with Apple Inc. The Safaricom-Apple partnership will integrate the widely-used mobile money platform, M-Pesa, with Apple’s ecosystem. This integration will expand M-Pesa’s mobile financial services globally.
President William Ruto announced the deal after he toured Silicon Valley in San Francisco Bay, United States, on 16 September. The Kenyan leader is fast gaining popularity across Africa and globally. He has led from the front in marketing Kenya as a conducive ground for foreign business to thrive.…

A considerable gap exists between symbol and substance regarding an African climate change approach. Foreign leaders often nod to how Africa accounts for only four per cent of global emissions but bears the brunt of the devastating climate change effects. Rising temperatures, extreme weather conditions, and ecosystem disruptions threaten millions of Africans’ livelihoods.

For many communities across the continent, the climate threat is already existential. With 18 per cent of the global population, Africa has 16 of the 20 countries most vulnerable to climate change, according to Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative.…

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 threw oil and gas markets into disarray. Consequently, the world experienced the first real global energy crisis during the uneven economic recovery from the COVID-19 epidemic. Russia’s inclusion in the OPEC+ group has hampered international attempts to manage the situation. This has made it harder to handle the significant inflationary effects of rising global fuel prices, particularly in developing nations.

Global fuel prices have risen exponentially in the last few months. The rise is hugely significant, as it has seriously aggravated the global cost-of-living crisis. African economies have particularly been on the receiving end. The continent has suffered from disrupted supply chains and a slowdown in the global economic outlook. Thus, rising energy costs complicate matters even further.…

For many Kenyans, life was unbearable during former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s reign. But just one year after President William Ruto came to power, life is getting more onerous. High taxation, the depreciation of the shilling against the dollar, and record-high fuel prices have highlighted the last few months. This has painted a grim picture of Kenya’s future and shattered citizens’ hopes for economic reinvigoration.
On September 14, 2023, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) announced record-high fuel prices for the September-October regulation cycle. A litre of super will now retail at Kes 211.64, diesel at Kes 200.90, and Kerosene at Kes 202.61. This represents an increase of Kes 16.96, 21.32, and 33.13, respectively, in the new prices announced last midnight.…

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is now widely touted as the African Union’s (AU) most audacious project. The framework ties together the most significant number of member countries of any trade agreement since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995.

The AfCFTA had become topical even before its formal launch. Members of the business community eagerly awaited the full implementation of the AfCFTA. But two years since its formal launch, how far has the AfCFTA ushered in the ‘new era’ of African integration it promised?…

The insurance sector has progressively curated products to cushion the different aspects of living, individuals and corporations. As such, agricultural insurance has been identified as an essential tool in assisting farmers, herders, and governments to mitigate some negative financial impacts of adverse natural events. Many countries have used insurance to help manage agricultural risks. The usefulness of agricultural insurance in risk mitigation is not in question.…