Author: The Exchange

Custom administrations that embrace agentic AI will see faster clearance, higher revenue protection, and, most importantly, operational autonomy. Until recently, the modernisation of customs processes was a race to digitise paperwork and automate manual workflows. With that phase largely complete, we are entering a far more consequential era: the shift from automated systems to agentic ones. We are moving toward systems that not only follow rules, but also largely configure themselves, adapt to regulatory shifts in real-time, and interact with human experts through natural language. From software engineering to policy engineering The fundamental bottleneck in traditional customs systems is the “translation gap.” When a…

Digital policing systems can help officers track cases, analyse crime patterns and improve response times; however, technology alone cannot solve deeper problems in law enforcement. North-West University (NWU) legal expert Advocate Justice Khoza say the expansion of these technologies is raising new questions about privacy, accountability and constitutional rights. South Africa could adopt elements of smart policing, but any such move would need to comply with constitutional requirements and ensure that new systems do not undermine rights or create inequality in access to policing services Governments across the world are turning to digital policing systems to improve crime detection, manage…

Agribusiness group rebounds from 2024 loss with Sh387.5 million after-tax earnings as it diversifies markets and products to counter Red Sea disruption. Kakuzi Plc, the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed superfoods grower and one of Africa’s largest exporters of avocados, macadamias and blueberries, has staged a sharp financial recovery, posting a Ksh387.5mn ($3 million) after-tax profit for the full year to December 2025. The result marks a turnaround from the Ksh131.6mn ($1 million) loss recorded in 2024, underscoring the resilience of Kenya’s export-oriented agricultural sector even as global supply chains remain under pressure. The company’s board has rewarded shareholders with a first…

Smartphones have opened unprecedented avenues for people across Africa to participate in global financial markets. According to GSMA’s Accelerating Smartphone Adoption in Africa report from January 2026, smartphone ownership penetration across the continent was around 24% of the total population in 2024, with adoption expected to rise further as device affordability improves and mobile services expand. This growing base of mobile users underpins a shift in how people access online services, including financial trading. For decades, access to currency trading was concentrated in institutional dealing rooms or among individuals with significant capital and international banking connections. That reality has shifted…

Many African livestock breeds are at risk of extinction due to indiscriminate crossbreeding with exotic breeds, which erodes their unique genetic traits. Africa’s rich livestock genetic resources hold untapped potential to drive productivity, climate resilience, and sustainable development, according to a new open-access reference, African Livestock Genetic Resources and Sustainable Breeding Strategies: Unlocking a Treasure Trove and Guide for Improved Productivity. The book, officially launched today by the African Animal Breeding Network (AABNet) in partnership with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH), and the African Union’s Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources…

For a platform first released in 2005, MetaTrader 4 (MT4) might seem like a relic of the early retail trading era. Yet, in 2026, MT4 remains one of the most widely used trading environments in the world. You might think that the platform’s relevance stems from nostalgia, but how wrong you would be.  Since its launch, MT4 has outlived market cycles, regulatory shifts and multiple waves of “next generation” trading platforms that promised to replace it. The platform is still running millions of live trading accounts worldwide, supported by hundreds of brokers and relied on daily by retail forex traders.…

Absa Group has announces several strategic executive appointments to strengthen leadership capability across the lender, following the finalisation of its refocused Group Pan-African Strategy. Highly experienced multi-industry leader, Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, is appointed as Chief Executive: Personal and Private Banking. Prabashni Naidoo transitions to Group Chief Governance Officer in a newly reconstructed role that includes Legal, Compliance and Group Secretariat. Rushdi Solomons is promoted to Group Chief Internal Audit Officer. Pan-Afrcian lender Absa Group has unveiled several strategic executive appointments to firm up its leadership capability across the markets, tapping M-PESA Africa CEO Sitoyo Lopokoiyit to serve as its Chief Executive:…

Sport tourism is big business. Yet Africa has historically underutilised it. The sooner the continent strategically harnesses these opportunities, the better. Africa’s sport sector currently contributes roughly 0.5 per cent of continental GDP, and industry analyses project that the sports economy could reach US$20 billion by 2035. Football. The Beautiful Game. The World Game. It is no overstatement to say that our continent adores football, with an estimated 59 per cent of Africans watching the sport more than once a week. Africa’s sporting picture is, however, much more inclusive than that. Athletics enjoys a large following, especially in East Africa…

2000 km protected route connects Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC, unlocking faster, resilient cross-border connectivity for enterprises and carriers. New route complements the Paratus Group’s broader East–West fiber backbone, which stretches from Maputo to Swakopmund and interconnects with the Equiano subsea cable, ensuring low-latency, high-capacity redundancy between Africa and Europe. With a population of more than 200 million people and one of the continent’s fastest-growing regional economies, East Africa is experiencing rapid expansion across sectors including fintech, manufacturing, mining, energy, agriculture and ICT. Pan-African telecommunications and network services provider Paratus Group has today switched on a major new fiber…

Marking International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, a new global report outlines the opportunities and challenges of litigating FGM cases. FGM is internationally recognised as a serious human rights violation involving the partial or complete removal of external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. The practice is associated with severe physical and psychological problems, and stems from gender inequality. Courts are emerging as a critical frontline in the fight to end female genital mutilation (FGM). Over the past two decades, international recognition of FGM as a human rights violation has grown, alongside a shift toward criminal bans. According…