Author: The Exchange

- We provide economic news and analysis on the investment arena in Africa, with a particular interest in doing business. Our key areas of focus include banking, capital markets, energy, mining, manufacturing and industrial development.

forex trading in africa

Forex Basics You Should Know About Online Trading

Forex Trading, or the foreign exchange, is the largest financial market. Every day, close to 6 trillion US dollars circulates between institutions and individuals. You do not have to be a finance professional to join in. Today, there is no shortage of Forex tutorials and other instructional content. Discover the most basic facts about the market and its workings, and become a trader in South Africa.

 

forex trading in africa

1.   How Profit Is Made

Trading is the monetization of knowledge. You should be able to predict movements of currency exchange rates, and open positions to garner profit. Any trend can work to your advantage, be it a rise or a fall. The outcome depends on the accuracy of your foresight. Fortunately, traders have plenty of helpful tools.

Every beginner must learn about fundamental and technical analysis. The first system teaches traders to base …

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Angel Fair Africa - The Exchange

Forty-three leading global investors from Africa, Europe, the US, and the Middle East have signed up to participate virtually in the 8th Angel Fair Africa on 5th November 2020.

The investors are from Angel Africa List (AAL), Africa Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (AVCA), America Capital Association (ACA), Women-In-Capital (WIC), Viktoria Business Angel Network, Brightmore Capital, amongst others. Anime Partners and MSM Property Fund are supporting the investor participation.

The ten selected ventures to pitch to these investors have gone through our one-month Africa Virtual Accelerator (AVA) @ https://www.africavirtualaccelerator.com/in.php. They are, ShopMeAway led by Racine Carr; Kalpay led by Ibrahima Kane; AgroInnova led by Amos Narh; Adi&Bolga led by Abimbola Oladeji; Kladika led by Muthoni Mwangi; Gift Pesa led by Pamela Muriuki; Ejoobi led by Simangele Mphahlele; Kweza led by Ropafadzo Musvaire, Afrijob Network led by Harriet Kariuki and Curacel led by Henry Mascot. Their participation …

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5 Specific African start-ups

COVID-19 has taken a massive toll on the world and our global society today. In this time of uncertainty, start-ups play an important role by bringing fourth market innovative solutions that intercept the challenges and negative impacts caused by the pandemic. Start-up hotspots come from all regions of the globe with unique values and cultures that improve their ecosystems.

Africa is a continent with the least developed countries in the world. There are 33 countries that are classified as least developed countries in the continent, some including Zambia, Benin and Angola according to the United Nations.

The other 21 countries are perceived to be either developed or developing, these include Algeria, Botswana and South Africa.

Despite Africa having the least developed countries, It has countries whose start-ups are expected to boost the continent’s global growth overtime. Here we’ll look at five start-up hotspots which have the potential to go global …

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Zambia Tanzania relations

Zambia – Tanzania relations

It’s no secret that Zambia’s economic situation has gone from bad to worse over the years. In mid-2018 the country’s debt reached 9.4 billion USD and has become worse as we stand in 2020, in just a period of 2 years (Ofstad & Tjønneland, 2019).

In May 2020, the Tanzania-Zambia borders were closed due to the pandemic, however, the reopening of trade between the two countries seems to be normalized as nations are now gung-ho in pushing cross border trade.

Zambia’s Economic Snapshot

 


source: tradingeconomics.com

The graph above shows Zambia’s development from the year 1990 to the year 2019. The country’s economy improved from the year 2011 to the year 2018, as one can see the national GDP output increasing as a result of its healthy inflation rate. In 2019 the country’s economy took a dive and started to falter given that it’s inflation rate …

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On October 1st, the re-opening of the Zimbabwe border will enable cross-border trade between the majority of Zimbabwe's SME's, enabling access to goods from South Africa.  

 Faced with the drastic impact of Covid-19, Zimbabwe is finally re-emerging from a state of complete lockdown.  

Only recently, Zimbabwean authorities have started reopening the economy in stages, as the country grapples to create economic momentum. A day after the Zimbabwe recorded a rise in COVID-19 recoveries on the 15th of September 2020, the Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa announced a raft of relaxation protocols. Business operating hours where extended to 18:30 pm up from 16:30 pm, the national imposed curfew was reduced from 6pm -6am to 8pm - 6am.   

The government went further and approved the resumption of inter-city travel in a move to open up the economy following nearly six months of restrictions due to

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Zimbabwe has over the years made headlines for many reasons politically and economically. The country has undergone severe hyperinflation, dollarization, de-dollarization, and recently pseudo re-dollarization. The capital markets have not been spared by this financial rollercoaster as evidenced by the little financial capital raised on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. Plans are at advanced stages for a new bourse to be based in Victoria Falls. 

Understanding Zimbabwe's Currency Matters and its impact on stocks 

At the height of Zimbabwe's economic crises, ordinary citizens became poor trillionaires and many corporates shut down or halted operations as they failed to cope with the situation. In 2009 the introduction of the multicurrency regime ushered in a period of stability that saw relative economic progression.  

Companies and individuals could plan and work towards specific targeted goals that had been impossible in the hyperinflationary period. The multicurrency regime was abandoned

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The African art market has been on an exponential upward growth trajectory prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, but most recently is teetering on the brink of precipice, thrusting many artists in a conundrum; the status quo, only to be likened to painting a hollow canvasAccording to the Clare McAndrew’s report, ‘The Art Market 2020’,90% of art dealers had projected an increase in sales, heading into 2020, but the global pandemic has been diminishing this optimism and momentum. The latest Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report, indicates that global art sales achieved a total of $64.1 billion in 2019, 5% decrease from the 67.4 billion of 2018.  

The African art scene has long remained unseen, but the last five years have been profoundly fundamental in the growth of this budding industry. It has brought about a renaissance; crossing over a

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The role played by education in addressing some of the challenges faced on the African continent cannot be underplayed. Not only does a good education have the capacity to improve individual livelihoods but also economic progression at a macro level.  

The majority of the continent grapples with similar challenges including, poverty, exclusion, wars, HIV/AIDS, poor infrastructure among others. It stands to reason that there is a critical need for investing in Africa’s education to begin to make strides in addressing some of these issues.  

While education can be considered a social service and therefore a government-related key result area, there is scope for non-government entities in the education sector. 

Also Read: Future of Work: Africa should rethink its education, skills

The Business of Education in Africa. 

According to UNESCO, Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of education exclusion in the world. More than 20% of children

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The World Bank, in 2020, announced that the Nigerian economic may see a dip into recession, the worst the African country has seen in 40 years. This was largely due to the effects of the fall in the global price of oil, a commodity the nation's economy is heavily reliant on, and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, that nearly crippled not just Nigeria’s, but the global economy.  

But these challenges were not the only catalysts for Nigeria’s imminent recession, issues around insecurity, infrastructural deficit, trade barriers, and power supply challenges all form a crude mix that has managed to drive the country down this very path.  

Since the election of the Buhari’s administration in 2015, a lot more focus has been placed on driving local content and boosting local production, particularly in the agriculture sector. This was also in line to make the Nigerian economy

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In a 2019 Human Development Index1 (HDI) issued by the UNDP, countries with low human development include Liberia, Guinea Bissau, Sudan, Niger, Nigeria, Mauritania, Lesotho, Senegal, Togo etc. The Human Development Index is measured through three dimensions: long and healthy life, access to knowledge and decent standard of living. The major importance of the HDI is to enable countries to calculate the overall level of development and what sectors in the economy need more funding and attention. What this means is that countries with low HDI tend to suffer with high rate of unemployment, low Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), high mortality rate, poor infrastructures and so on. The key importance of the HDI is to drive economic diversification and economic growth. Beyond economic growth, it is also important to adopt development strategies that would solve the issue of social needs and increase inflow of investments.  

A major reason 

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