Author: James Wambua

As oil prices surge 50% to over $100 per barrel amid a supply chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the AfDB warns of a lost decade for vulnerable economies in Africa, while a few unexpected winners emerge. As of March 24, 2026, the bank recorded that 29 African countries have seen their currencies depreciate against the U.S. dollar since the conflict’s escalation. Two years after the global inflation shock of 2024, Africa is once again staring into the fiscal abyss. But this time, the trigger is not a pandemic or a European land war. It is a widening Middle East…

Afrobarometer says citizen perceptions of economic conditions, trust in institutions, and lived realities directly shape consumer behaviour, investment climates, and long-term business performance. Africa’s private sector leaders and investors have been urged to treat public attitude data as a core strategic asset rather than an optional extra. According to Afrobarometer, the continent’s leading public opinion research network, citizen perceptions of economic conditions, trust in institutions, and lived realities directly shape consumer behaviour, investment climates, and long-term business performance. While speaking at the CEO Conclave and Investors Forum 2026 in Nairobi, Felix Biga, Chief Operations Officer at Afrobarometer, told delegates: “The…

East African fintech 4G Capital plans to scale ‘touch-tech’ lending model as it eyes $1 billion lending milestone and prepares for Series D round. Since its establishment in 2013, 4G Capital has disbursed over $800 million in loans to over 755,000 borrowers in Kenya and Uganda. The fintech has issued 6.8 million loans, supporting entrepreneurs a majority women founders to grow their businesses and build more resilient livelihoods. East Africa’s micro and small enterprise segment, which accounts for over 80 per cent of jobs in the region, has long been starved of formal credit. While the traditional banks deem informal…

This year’s U.S.-Africa Energy and Minerals Forum in Houston signals a strategic shift toward integrated energy and critical minerals investment, strengthening U.S. partnerships across Africa’s resource and industrial value chains. The U.S.-Africa Energy and Minerals Forum (USAEMF) has relaunched with a dedicated focus on critical minerals, marking an important evolution in its role as a platform for U.S.-Africa commercial engagement. Building on its foundation in energy, power and industrial projects, the forum’s expanded scope positions it at the center of investment conversations shaping the future energy economy. Scheduled for July 21–22, 2026, in Houston, Texas, USAEMF comes at a time…

Safaricom-backed Ziidi Trader, a first-of-its-kind mobile investment platform removes paperwork, cuts costs, and lets users trade shares in seconds all through the phone in their pocket. By leveraging existing M-PESA identities, the app eliminates the most daunting hurdle for first-time investors: opening a formal CDS account. With foreign investors dominating trading at the Nairobi bourse, Ziidi Trader aims to catalyse local participation and give everyday Kenyans a stake in the nation’s economic growth. In what is being hailed as a seismic shift for financial inclusion, Ziidi Trader, a new mobile-first stock trading platform is poised to turn every M-PESA user…

Diezani Alison-Madueke faces an eight-count indictment for bribery and conspiracy to bribe under the UK’s anti-corruption laws. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The case stems from parallel investigations launched by the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI in the mid-2010s, and the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) from 2015. Alison-Madueke was arrested in London on 2 October 2015 on suspicion of bribery, corruption and money laundering linked to her time in office. The long-awaited criminal trial of Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum Resources, will finally begin on Monday, 19 January 2026, at the Old Bailey…

As U.S. aid suspension takes effect due to theft allegations, famine looms for millions in Somalia and South Sudan, exposing Africa’s food security weaknesses. Warehouse demolition in Somalia and elite capture in South Sudan are the latest reminders that the Horn of Africa is moving toward humanitarian catastrophe. In the fragile Horn of Africa and neighbouring regions, a perfect storm is brewing: conflict, climate shocks, and now abrupt U.S. aid suspensions are placing millions of the continent’s most vulnerable populations on the precipice of famine. As the Trump administration enforces a “zero-tolerance” stance on alleged waste, theft, and diversion of…

Flutterwave’s initiative offers new and existing users more flexibility and faster, secure money transfers from the U.S., UK, and Europe source markets to key African countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, and Cameroon. The fintech has also secured the return of all major cards including Amex, Discover on Flutterwave’s platform as the fintech seeks to secure a greater pie of the U.S- Africa remittance flows. Deal further builds on recent Flutterwaves’ collaborations with Polygon and Circle Payment Network. Payments platform Flutterwave has announced the expansion of its flagship remittance solution, Send App, across the United States (US), which by far…

G20 Summit boycott especially by U.S. President Donald Trump and geopolitical tensions continue to overshadow South Africa’s historic year at the helm of this world forum. China has confirmed Premier Li Qiang, not President Xi Jinping, will be leading Beijing delegation for the Saturday and Sunday forum in Johannesburg. Pretoria hopeful that outcomes of the South African summit will be ambitious and leave a lasting legacy for the cause of the African continent and the Global South beyond South Africa’s historic G20 presidency. While piling debt, spiraling inequality, and the need for funds to check climate degradation dominate the agenda…

Interpol’s June to August operation in Angola, Zambia and Ivory Coast leads to the recovery of over $97.4 million. Sleuths from 18 countries in Africa worked with UK investigators to tackle scams cutting across inheritance scams, ransomware and compromise emails tailored to swindle businesses. In Angola, 20 Chinese, who were allegedly mining cryptocurrency among those arrested. Interpol has arrested 1,209 suspected cybercriminals between June and August this year barely a year after bursting another 1000 individuals over the same criminal activity, unravelling the growing footprint of the evolving crime in African cities. According to an update by Interpol last week,…