Author: Opinion

Christoph Fitih, Director Sales: Africa at Parallel Wireless, predicts that open minds and fair trade will play a leading role in revolutionising the African telecoms market into the next decade

As the new decade dawns, the telecommunications industry (specifically mobile), has finally woken up to the fact that its economics need to change, especially with the advent and expected widespread uptake of 5G. Much of this realisation has been driven by a need to move away from the consolidation of the RAN industry that has seen Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia dominate the space and in the process, creating a closed, almost anti-competitive market.  The development of OpenRAN, which in 2019, really gathered momentum, has really changed the playing field.

OpenRAN by its very nature has also facilitated a more open and collaborative approach among a host of service providers who have collectively, developed more innovative solutions to the rapidly developing …

Dr. Esther Njoroge-Muriithi is the Vice President and Regional Director for Smile Train Africa.

When we speak of inclusivity in healthcare, cleft lip and palate surgery is often considered a footnote in the priorities given to healthcare financing. Many children with clefts around the world live in isolation, making it difficult to make friends and go to school, but more importantly, have difficulty eating, breathing, and speaking. As we seek to achieve Universal Health Coverage, the long-term benefit of treating a single cleft at an early stage can bring in as much as $50,000 to the economy. This economic benefit therefore deserves to be considered a priority as governments address pediatric surgical care.

The Fourth meeting of the Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery (GICS IV) which took place in Johannesburg from 17^th-18^th January 2019, brought together providers and implementers of surgical services for children, along with health, …

When the Kenyan budget was read back in 2018 in the month of June, expectations were high for the insurance industry that the budget would create an enabling environment to do business.

Various proposals had been fronted from our organisation on what we would want to be included in the budget, among them the recognition of the various industry associations, ours included, and how they would be encompassed into the Insurance Act. However the proposals were not what we expected and the main issue that came out in the Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2018 was that it would be criminal to handle insurance premiums from then on by amending Section 156 of the Insurance Act. What is important to remember is that Section 156 of the Insurance Act talks about premiums handling.

To quote subsection (3) “A premium collected by an agent or a cheque received by him shall be deposited …

By Emmanuel Mutuma

The recruitment industry has completely evolved over the past 20 years. New technologies have transformed the way employers recruit and manage talent. From paper CVs to job boards, applicant tracking systems and online assessments, a lot has changed over the years.

While advancements in technology have offered some solutions to challenges that employers faced a decade ago, the industry is ever-evolving and recruiters today are dealing with new challenges when hiring the best talent. It cannot be gainsaid that all top companies struggle to get their workforce planning correct, not knowing when to ‘buy, borrow, build or bind’ the skill.

This can be very costly, from time, money and emotional perspectives. Studies show that a wrong hire, rushed recruitment, or the exit of a high-performing employee costs an organisation three times the annual salary of that position on average. This is a terrifying expense. Recruiters must, therefore, …

Looking at Africa and only pushing for aid is not in the interest of the everyday Africans.

It is about the egos of the elites and latte intellectuals who believe they have the solutions to why the continent is still poor.
As Africa’s population and economies surge, greater opportunities for development are presented, societies change, and the aspirations of everyday Africans are increasingly requiring urgent attention.
On the other hand, Germany’s energy transition anticipates a vastly more efficient and interconnected energy system in the future, one that I believe, young African technology entrepreneurs can certainly learn from and accelerate the growth of the energy sector.
With technology start-ups with the intention to build sustainable power solutions emerging across the continent particularly in the power sector, Germany can look to this market on how it can invest in Africa while providing energy and  technology solutions and African entrepreneurs can embrace German …

African competition law on the continent is the subject of notable growth. An increasing number of jurisdictions have adopted laws and regulations, established authorities, secured membership to regional antitrust regimes and ramped-up enforcement of suspected violations of prevailing competition laws at both domestic and regional levels.

Since 2018, domestic competition legislation has been enacted in Angola and Nigeria.  In Angola, these legislative developments have been bolstered by the establishment of the Angolan Competition Regulatory Authority, which recently became operational.  In Nigeria, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law in 2019, establishing the Competition Commission and Competition Tribunal to enforce the legislation.  Madagascar adopted a new law, which modifies certain aspects of its competition laws.  This is yet to be published in the official gazette, but also demonstrates an impending change (which is consistent with the general wave of development in relation to competition regimes on the …

South Sudan is leaving its violent past behind as the country finally heads towards lasting stability.

Boasting the third-largest oil reserves in sub-Saharan Africa, South Sudan is the only mature oil producer in East Africa. The country is one of the oldest producers on the continent, with substantial proven reserves of close to 3.5 billion barrels of oil and 3 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Dr Arkangelo Okwang Oler, Director-General for Planning, Training and Research at South Sudan’s oil ministry, spoke at the recent Africa Oil & Power 2019 conference in Cape Town,  reassuring investors that now is the time to invest in the country.

According to Dr Oler, South Sudan’s oil production has increased and once they have fully accessed a new oil field, 5A, they can expand production. He says, “We’re currently processing 178 000 barrels but this is without 5A, once this agreement is processed we should …

Today, as the world commemorates World Anesthesia Day, we hope deliberations from the 7th All Africa Anesthesia Congress in Morocco will yield progressive results on the ground in order to live up to our commitment of leaving no-one behind.

Passy, a 7-year-old girl from Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo lies unconscious on the operating table at CBCA Bethesda Hospital in Goma, ready to have her cleft palate treated for free, courtesy of Smile Train. Haggai Musinene, the anesthetist in the room monitors Passy’s breathing, intensely switching his eyes between the screen and Passy’s chest before Dr. Obady Vitswamba, the lead surgeon could touch her. It’s Haggai’s green light to Dr. Obady that gets things going. 45 minutes later, Dr. Obady lays his instruments down and Haggai patiently monitors Passy as the anesthesia wears off. Passy, groggy from the medication is whining, but Haggai calms her down as …

There has never been a better time to invest in Africa, says South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

He said the continent’s governments are committed to creating the necessary enabling environment for business to flourish. Calling on the investor community to “harness the climate of reform” sweeping the continent and “take advantage of its momentum,” he said: “there has never been a better time to invest in Africa”.

Ramaphosa was speaking at the Financial Times Africa Summit in London, where other speakers included former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

The launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area will “bring together into a single market 54 nations of some 1.2 billion people and a combined GDP of over $3 trillion,” Ramaphosa said.

He compared its significance for Africa to the 1992 Maastricht Treaty which created “a new era of European cooperation and integration”. This follows the enabling African Continental Free Trade …

Sierra Leone’s abrupt cancellation of an iron ore mining license last week has raised concerns about a resurgence of resource nationalism across the continent.

The action is the latest in a string of disputes between governments and mining companies in Africa, which is home to rich resources of iron ore, copper, gold and diamonds.

Gerald Group, a metals trader, said last Tuesday that its license to mine the steelmaking ingredient was cancelled “with immediate effect” by the government, and it would pursue claims for more than $500 million in compensation.

A number of African governments are working to right what many see as historic imbalances in favour of foreign companies rooted in colonialism and to readdress contracts signed at earlier stages of certain economic cycles.

Commodity prices have rebounded since the end of the China-driven boom in 2015, with the increased use of metals, including cobalt and copper, in renewable …