Author: The Exchange

Google’s funding aims to strengthen AI research, support African languages, improve food systems, expand digital skills, and build research capacity. Under food security, telco will bring together researchers, and nonprofit organizations to co-develop AI tools for early hunger forecasting, crop resilience, and tailored guidance for smallholder farmers. The funding will also support the development of high-quality datasets, machine translation models, and speech tools. Tech heavyweight Google has outlined a wave of AI support across Africa, representing $37 million in cumulative funding — including previously committed but unannounced funding — to research, talent development, and infrastructure. The funding package includes funding…

Global warming: Animal populations are being ravaged not just by thirst and starvation, but by human intervention as fragile ecosystems buckle under climatic stress. From East Africa to the edges of the Amazon, the line between ecological collapse and human survival is becoming dangerously thin. Without reform to conservation policy, future droughts will trigger similar cycles of death and desperation. Drought, intensified by global warming and compounded by human action, has taken a devastating toll on wildlife across Africa and the Amazon between 2023 and 2025. According to a sobering new United Nations report, animal populations are being ravaged not…

Africa Tech Festival 2025, set for November 11-13 in Cape Town, will feature 25 top speakers, including UN, Mastercard, and OpenAI leaders, to drive Africa’s digital transformation. The event’s four tracks—AfricaCom, AfricaTech, AfricaIgnite, and The AI Summit—focus on responsible innovation, inclusive investment, connectivity, and policy harmonization. With a refreshed brand, the festival aims to foster collaboration and shape the continent’s tech future through diverse, high-impact discussions. Cape Town is set to host the Africa Tech Festival 2025 from November 11 to 13, unveiling a dynamic roster of 25 headline speakers poised to shape the continent’s digital economy. This showcase, a…

A week to Goma takeover by M23 rebels, Rwandan officials informed UN experts that President Kagame had decided to imminently take control of the city and Bukavu as well. UN says there has been “rapid military build-up” by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. Both Uganda and Rwanda have emerged as significant exporters of critical minerals including coltan yet they do not have significant deposits on record. A leaked report from the United Nations has fingered authorities in Rwanda and Uganda, alleging that the M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) receive…

To counter disease outbreaks, Africa CDC is leading experts in co-developing a continental framework for decentralizing laboratory services to enhance early warning surveillance and timely confirmation of diseases. Initiative also includes training personnel, establishing a national sample transport system, and conducting lab mapping to improve surveillance. Experts note that laboratory detection is the first line of defense in identifying potential outbreaks. A new push is underway to decentralize disease diagnostics through the deployment of modern laboratory services across Africa as part of a wide plan to speed up the continent’s response to disease outbreaks. According to Africa CDC, under the…

Satrix has listed its MSCI World Feeder ETF on the Nairobi Securities Exchange at $5.89 (KES 761) per unit, enabling Kenyan investors to access global equity markets. The ETF, tracking the MSCI World Index, aims to diversify portfolios and enhance the NSE’s global visibility. This move, supported by Absa Bank Kenya, marks a significant step in internationalizing Kenya’s capital markets. Satrix, a giant in South Africa’s index-tracking investment sector, has announced the secondary listing of its MSCI World Feeder ETF on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) at $5.89 (KES761) per unit. This development, unveiled on July 16, 2025, opens a…

The June 27th, 2025, US-brokered Congo-Rwanda peace agreement establishes a critical minerals’ plan for traceability and governance, potentially allowing more transparent trade and fewer chances for smuggling. DRC loses an estimated $1 billion annually to illegal mineral exports—much of it smuggled off through Uganda and Rwanda, which have become key exporters of gold and coltan yet they have minimal reserves. As global powers posture for influence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the recent U.S.-brokered peace agreement between the DRC and Rwanda reveals a larger, less visible agenda: securing unfettered access to one of the world’s biggest critical…

AfDB’s funding will have a direct and tangible impact on the daily lives of Johannesburg residents by strengthening basic services and expanding economic opportunities. Financing validates the growing view among investors and development professionals alike that, when well-managed, African cities can and should access capital markets on their own terms. In June 2025, a quiet but important decision marked a real turning point in African urban finance. The African Development Bank’s Board of Directors approved a ZAR 2.5 billion ($139 million) corporate loan for the City of Johannesburg, marking the first time the Bank has extended financing without a sovereign guarantee…

Mineral processing firm Buenassa in the DRC is developing the country’s first integrated copper and cobalt refinery. In Mali, Russia’s Yadran Group and a Swiss investor are collaborating with the government in a deal to process up to 200 tonnes of gold per year. In Angola, a $5M plant, which is expected to be operational by the end of 2025, will produce 50 kgs of gold per day. Mineral-rich African nations are fast-tracking the development of refineries and processing plants in a bid to reduce raw exports, boost local beneficiation, and capture greater value from their mineral wealth. This continent-wide…

FAO is breathing new life into Tanzania’s avocado value chain through innovation, strategic investment, and inclusive growth. Tanzania owes much of this success to its smallholder farmers, who cultivate nearly 90 per cent of the country’s crop. Avocado exports surged by 74% between 2021 and 2023 — leaping from 15,432 tonnes to 26,826 tonnes. In Tanzania, a quiet green revolution is taking root—one avocado at a time. Under the banner of the One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) initiative, Tanzania is championing the avocado as a flagship crop to drive sustainable agricultural transformation. The initiative, which is backed by the…