Author: Giza Mdoe

• Rwanda and Kenya lead E. Africa in the list of most entrepreneurial countries in Africa.
• All other five East African countries do not make Africa’s top 10 list.
• Fintech remains the leader in entrepreneurship  growth in Africa.

Entrepreneurship is growing at a tremendous rate across Africa and is to date the most powerful catalyst for economic growth and creation of employment for youth.

According to the UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the UN Development Program Ahunna Eziakonwa, digital innovation is the leading enterprise in Africa.

Entrepreneurship, a solution to poverty

The diplomat also recognizes the diversity that Africa’s vastness offers numeurous opportunities but on the other hand creates new challenges to ‘creating universal solutions for issues such as poverty and food security, because each country has its own capacity for innovation.’

“I think one of the flaws in development practice in the past has been taking Africa almost as …

Tanzania’s third five-year development plan focuses on creating employment for its fast-growing youth population. The country plans to increase the employability of its graduates and youth in general through a comprehensive skills development program. According to a report, Tanzania’s five-year development plan will cut unemployment from 9 per cent in 2019 to 8 per cent by 2025/26.…

• The World Bank plans to ease lending terms to increase liquidity.
• Increased disposal income will help reduce global poverty.
• Countries required to highlight financial inclusivity plans.

The World Bank is “taking bold new steps to increase its lending capacity”, a move that will likely trigger various implications for individuals, businesses, and economies across Africa.

In July, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged further reform of the World Bank and other multilateral development banks. Yellen said capital increases will be an option once these institutions make changes to increase their capacity to assist nations in addressing climate change and other issues.

At the same time, the World Bank President Ajay Banga stated, “We are moving quickly. While we are constructing a better bank, a larger bank will eventually be required.”

Increased lending by the world’s biggest lender will mean increased liquidity all around the world. What this means is that you …

• One in five people in Africa suffers from hunger.
• With the rising population, action is necessary to ensure access to healthy and sufficient food.
• AfCFTA can serve as a strong incentive for farmers and other participants in agri-food value chain.

Africa’s population is expected to hit two billion by 2050 yet her food security systems remain a fleeting mirage largely due to delayed financial commitments. Granted, in the past two decades, most African governments have placed great emphasis on transforming their food systems but it progress has been rather slow.

Financing of food systems

Currently one in five people in Africa suffers from hunger. And with a population of 1.1 billion people, it is imperative to take immediate action to ensure access to healthy and sufficient food by 2050. So how will Africa achieve this momentous goal? Experts say all the moving parts are in place, all except one, the …

• The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) says food production across Africa is stubbornly low.
• Households across Sub-Saharan Africa spend roughly 23% of their total income on food.
• The Collapse of the Black Sea Initiative, the bombing of an ammonia pipeline, and a key dam in Ukraine spell doom for Africa’s food production systems.

Reducing hunger and increasing food production in a persistently low-income environment will be one of Africa’s biggest problems in the next ten years, a new report by FAO says.

The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2023-2032 report attributes the challenge to increasingly volatile weather patterns due to climate change. At the moment, food production in many countries across Africa is stubbornly low.

During the period under focus, the report predicts that imports into the region will surge. And this will negatively impact the economic welfare of the continent’s 1.1 billion people.

Households across SSA spend roughly 23 per cent …

• Digital switchover: Successful businesses do not just use digital, they become digital.
• African youth face a gloomy future if not empowered through systems riding on digital economy 
• There is a need for increased political will for Africa to tap into power of digital shift in accelerating growth

The concept “digital transformation” has gained popularity in the business sector, but what does it actually mean? Successful companies embrace digital technology and transform into it.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a weird sci-fi movie but a real game change for companies and entire countries. “Today, all digital transformations are AI transformations, too” so if your company is talking about digital transformation, it should also be talking AI.

It should be noted that digital transformation is not just buying a few new computers or installing a program so persons in a company can communicate, share information, and exchange data, etc, No. Digital …

• Energy, skills gap and poor infrastructure remain huge hinderances to realizing tech-enabled economic growth in Africa.
• Investments in technology can offer an accelerated pathway to inclusive productivity growth in Africa. However, many economies are struggling to make progress.
• Modern technology offers chance to foster entrepreneurship and innovation while attracting foreign direct investments.

New technology has fostered growth in all industries for all centuries and Africa is banking on tech-enabled economic growth albeit with struggles. For economies to have an edge over their peers, technology plays a vital role

Technology can help businesses grow on one hand and especially emerging technology has the potential to create jobs.

“The first half of 2023 has seen a resurgence of enthusiasm about technology’s potential to catalyze progress in business and society,” says Micheal Chui in his report: Technology Trends Outlook 2023.

“Investment in most tech trends tightened year over year, but the potential for …

• Zanzibar is fast-tracking the start of direct flights to and from Saudia Arabia.
• Trade between Zanzibar and Qatar more than doubles in the last decade.
• New UAE consulate in Zanzibar spearheading investment pacts between the two countries.

The island of Zanzibar is championing a renaissance in trade with talks on securing agreement for direct flights to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This comes only months after Saudi Arabia introduced direct flights to the country’s commercial capital of Dar es Salaam.

The direct flight from Saudi Arabia effectively cuts travel time and reduces travel costs by more than half. Travel time from Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam to King Abdulazz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia is now roughly 4 hours 40 minutes. Previously, travelers were spending 10 hours to complete the journey.

Tanzania Works and Transport Minister Makame Mbarawa said the direct flights will serve to boost international travelers’ …

• Tanzania is seeking a slice of the global vanilla beans market that is set to reach $2.11 billion this year.
• The East African country is ranked the 27th largest exporter of Vanilla in the world. 
• An enormous trend toward convenience foods driven primarily by urbanization is driving vanilla market globally.

Tanzania vanilla farming value chain is aligning itself to tap into growing consumer preferences as people move to experiment with novel food products to satisfy their taste buds.

The global food industry is producing new food products with functional and nutritional features, and Tanzania’s vanilla value chain intends to meet the rising demand from consumers and producers.

Value of vanilla in global market

What’s your favorite ice cream flavour? Whether it is ice cream, yogurt, milk, cake, or brownies, vanilla is one of the most common and favorite flavours. Did you know that vanilla flavour is extracted from a black-coloured …

• China signs deal to reopen closed uranium mining site in crisis-hit Niger.
• Niger further agrees to give Chinese Company an oil pipeline deal.
• China to build an industrial park for manufacturing, real estate, mining.

China has signed a deal with troubled West African nation of Niger for the reopening of a controversial uranium mining site. Before China, there was France, and now the question is, will Chinese leave Niger in a better condition than the Frenchmen?

China is actually looking to score a broad-based investment deal that will include the construction of an industrial park, and an oil pipeline among other investments. The industrial park is also to be the site for the development of the uranium mine in question or maybe a site for enrichment, the details of the deal are not yet clear.

Niger China uranium mining

Jiang Feng, the Chinese ambassador to Niger, made the revelations recently. …