Author: Kevin Odero

The U.S., through the Orion Critical Mineral Consortium and Glencore, has secured its first major foothold in DRC’s copper and cobalt mines, directly challenging China’s two-decade vice like grip on critical mineral wealth powering the global green revolution. While China built roads, railways and deep political ties through infrastructure-for-resource deals, the U.S. is betting on a different model, that is using government-backed financing and offtake agreements to secure critical minerals without taking on the risks of direct mine ownership. Kinshasa is expertly playing both sides, leveraging U.S. interest to squeeze better terms from China, while keeping Chinese investment flowing. The…

Africa’s export trade with Asian partners is gaining momentum, driven by competitive pricing and supply-chain reliability, as uncertainty over U.S. trade policy and the future of AGOA erodes confidence in the transatlantic corridor, the latest Standard Bank Africa Trade Barometer reveals. For the first time, a significant number of firms in Africa now view Asia, led by economic giant China, as their most critical trading partner, the latest Standard Bank Africa Trade Barometer shows. This shift is accelerated by the tariff-heavy policies of U.S. President Donald Trump administration and the uncertainly surrounding the short-term nature of the renewed U.S. trade…

As remittances hit a record $5 billion, a new breed of knowledge worker in Kenya is bypassing traditional money transfers altogether, by keeping their pay cheques in U.S. dollars while staying put in Nairobi. In February 2026, the Central Bank of Kenya reported something remarkable. Diaspora remittances had crossed the $5 billion annual threshold for the first time, hitting $5.04 billion in 2025 before settling into a steady $411.3 million monthly flow. For decades, this data point has told a familiar story: Kenyans leave for overseas destinations, work hard and send money home. For about 4 million Kenyan in the…

As the Strait of Hormuz chokes and Brent crude spikes, African central banks face a cruel dilemma: halt the interest rate relief they had promised, or watch inflation surge anew. For households already stretched thin, the Middle East war is no longer distant geopolitics, it is the price of bread, the cost of transport and the fading hope of cheaper money. The timing of the escalating U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict could not be more punishing for Africa. Just as Africa’s central banks were preparing to declare victory in their two-year war against inflation, just as the South African Reserve Bank signaled…

The “fintech-ification” of African banking is accelerating with Sitoyo Lopokoiyit’s move from Safaricom PLC’s fintech arm M-PESA to Absa Group. We analyze why traditional lenders are raiding the telecom sector for leadership talent. As the architect of M-PESA’s super-app strategy crosses into traditional banking as South Africa-based banking giant Absa Group bets that Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, can reinvent relationship banking for Africa’s affluent customers. The move signals a broader industry reckoning: in the war for the customer interface, banks are no longer just hiring bankers. Sitoyo Lopokoiyit walks into Absa Group’s Johannesburg headquarters on 1st April 2026 carrying something no previous…

A 10.3% African inflation 2026 forecast demands a new strategy. The Exchange analyzes the Fisher formula for real returns and provides a playbook for African SMEs in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. For the better part of three years, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa have been engaged in a war of attrition. Founders and entrepreneurs have been facing an alliance of difficulties: a steadily eroding purchasing power, currency volatility and the relentless math of diminishing returns. As entrepreneurs navigate the first quarter of 2026, the battlefield is shifting. According to the latest data from the African Development…

Burkina Faso mining defies insurgency to hit 94-tonne production. An in-depth analysis of Iamgold’s $165m spend, IMF revenue forecasts and the 2026 expansion boom. Burkina Faso, a nation grappling with a debilitating Islamist insurgency and governed by a military junta that has ostracised itself from traditional regional blocs, is experiencing a mining boom that is fundamentally reshaping its fiscal reality and its geopolitical standing. Latest strategic communications from mining investment companies, verified by IMF data and industry reports, paint a picture of an industry defying the security odds. As of early 2026, the Burkina Faso mining industry is no longer…

Despite billion dollar commitments, data shows that financing female entrepreneurs Africa is decreasing. Leaders at the 39th AU Summit explored the reality of funding female founders and the gap between pledges and disbursements. As expected, the 39th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government unfolded with the usual pomp and colour, bilateral handshakes and declarations on continental unity. But for a critical mass of African leaders, policymakers, and investors, the real business of reshaping the continent’s economic future took place not in the main plenary, but in a series of high-stakes side events centered on a…

With debt at 132% of GDP and $485 million Eurobond due in March 2026, Senegal political outlook is now ‘the next major test for the international financial system.’ Can President Faye avert a default? Two years after Bassirou Diomaye Faye swept into office as Senegal’s youngest-ever president, the West African country stands at a precipice. The April 2024 election was hailed as a democratic turning point, a peaceful transfer of power that ended Macky Sall’s twelve-year rule and brought to power a pan-Africanist, sovereigntist government led by youthful Faye promising “systemic rupture.” Today, that rupture has arrived, but not in…

As the AfCFTA digital settlement platform evolves, a two-horse race  is emerging: Stablecoins vs. PAPSS, pitting a private-sector digital dollar alternative against a continental public-sector solution with SMEs caught in the middle, hoping for lower fees. Across the sprawling markets of Lagos, the textile shops of Johannesburg, and the cross-border trading posts of Malawi and Zambia, a quiet revolution is underway in how money moves. For decades, a small-scale trader in Nairobi sending payment to a supplier in Johannesburg faced a labyrinth of costs and delays: currency conversions into US dollars, intermediary bank fees, and settlement times stretching into days.…