- Afreximbank first quarter 2025 net profit surges by 21% to $215 million
- As US tariffs sting, AfDB’s Adesina calls for bold realignment of African trade
- Africa’s leapfrogging from oil and gas is not the quick energy fix the world seems to think it will be
- Dry weather spell sours Kenya’s first quarter tea exports
- Tanzania’s X blockade signals deepening purge on opposition chiefs ahead of elections
- Fresh reforms to unlock Burkina-Ghana trade opportunities
- Integration vital in unlocking Africa’s $180Bn digital trade economy
- Tanzanian Prof Janabi nominated to steer WHO Africa Region office
Africa
- Mattei Plan seeks to mobilize investments to tackle hunger, scale up agricultural output, and reduce the drivers of forced migration by investing in climate-aligned infrastructure.
- Central to Mattei Plan is the $170 billion Rome Process/Mattei Plan Financing Facility (RPFF), a multi-donor special fund designed to support infrastructure projects aligned with climate goals.
- The deal also seeks to inject up to €400 million into private equity funds over the next five years.
Italy is increasingly positioning itself as an important player in Africa’s development journey with the rollout of the Mattei Plan—a bold initiative aimed at catalyzing economic transformation across the continent.
Named after Enrico Mattei, the visionary founder of Italy’s national oil company ENI who championed equitable North-South cooperation, the Mattei Plan represents a reimagined partnership model that prioritizes shared prosperity, sustainable development, and strategic collaboration.
At the heart of this initiative is the African Development Bank (AfDB), which Italy …
- In a stinging critique, Doanh Chau, President of Vietnam Gas says Kenya and Africa is not short on talent or resources—it is suffering from a chronic failure in leadership, vision, and execution.
- He says Kenya and Africa’s woes stem from unreliable electricity to misplaced infrastructure priorities and a governance culture geared more toward optics than results.
- Doanh Chau: “Leaders talk big, but systems don’t move,”. For Chau, African leaders should stop performing for the next donor visit or global conference and start building strong institutions that work for their people.
A hard look at Kenya, and Africa by extension
In a sharply worded critique following high-level meetings in China, Doanh Chau, President of Vietnam Gas, offers an unflinching examination of Kenya’s leadership and, by extension, the broader challenges facing Africa. His central point? Africa is not short on talent or resources—it is suffering from a chronic failure in leadership, …
- African coffee entrepreneurs are turning the Gulf region into the next big destination for the continent’s bean exports.
- With its deep-rooted coffee culture and growing appetite for specialty and ethically sourced brews, the Gulf is turning into a premium destination for African exports.
- Amid fluctuating Arabica prices, Gulf buyers are beginning to turn their attention to high-quality Robusta—and African producers are ready to deliver.
In January 2025, the World of Coffee Dubai trade show once again underscored the United Arab Emirates’ emergence as a serious player in global coffee trade—and Africa was at the center of this evolution. The event offered more than just exhibition space; it served as a launchpad for African coffee entrepreneurs to introduce their brands to a high-potential, high-growth region: the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.
For entrepreneurs like John Francois of Asili Coffee in Ghana and Willy Kanyinda Kadima of Cocoi Café in the …
- Kenya has been selected to host the Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation Summit and Challenge for the period 2025-2027, offering its young professionals an opportunity to showcase insights and innovation in the sector.
- Kenya’s goal is to showcase and uplift the innovators that are building tomorrow’s travel industry and can help transform tourism in Africa.
- The June 26-27, 2025, conference is poised to attract over 1,000 trailblazers in the industry, 80 thought leaders, and at least 100 senior tourism executives.
Kenya is cementing its position as a tourism powerhouse in Africa by championing innovation and empowering innovative entrepreneurs in the growing industry. As the country prepares to host the Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation Summit and Challenge for the next three years, players in the industry are preparing to showcase insights and innovation-powered ideas that are driving tourism in Kenya and across Africa.
Nairobi’s opportunity to host the Africa Youth …
- Over 6.7 million people out of which 40 per cent are children, have been displaced across conflict-affected provinces in DRC.
- UN warns children are facing summary executions, sexual violence and abduction and recruitment by the warring factions.
- 45 children, who were cared for in a day transit centre in Goma to have been killed, UN reports.
An increasing number of children in the war ton Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are facing summary executions, sexual violence amid increasing abduction and recruitment by the factions involved in the escalating conflict.
In an update Thursday by the UN Child Rights Committee, children in violence saddled zones of North and South Kivu to the East of the vast country are coming face to face with grave catastrophe.
The UN agency warned that increasingly, armed groups are targeting displaced children and those left helpless in the streets that have been run over by militias.…
- Through various AfDB financing programmes across Africa, a total of 61M people have gained access to clean water since 2015.
- Another 33M people have benefited from improved sanitation while 46M Africans have gained access to ICT services, even as 25M people gained access to electricity.
- Next up for AfDB is the push to connect 300M Africans to electricity by 2030, and measure Africa’s vast green wealth as part of the continent’s GDP.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) positively impacted over 515 million lives over the past 10 years, the lender’s President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has revealed. While addressing Heads of State and Government at the just concluded 38th session of the African Union Summit, Dr. Adesina said the bank has positively impacted 231 million women during the decade under review.
While sharing his scorecard before the august gathering, Dr. Adesina noted that AfDB‘s initiatives have led to 127 million …
- Sudan is accusing Kenyan government of violating the principles of good neighbourliness by hosting US-sanctioned Rapid Support Forces (RSF) meeting.
- Nairobi now stands accused of endorsing continued perpetration of genocide, massacre civilians on an ethnic basis, attack on IDP camps, and acts of rape by RSF.
- Khartoum is also accusing authorities in Kenya of encouraging the division of African countries.
The simmering tensions between Kenya and Sudan have taken a dramatic twist after Nairobi allowed a key event for the political group aligned with sanctioned Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to proceed on Tuesday. US-sanctioned RSF has been fighting the Sudanese army for the control of the country for over a year now.
On Tuesday, authorities in Nairobi gave the greenlight for a key meeting by RSF leadership to proceed at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. This event was a precursor towards the establishment of a new political group drawing together …
- Looters have wiped out with an estimated 7,000 tonnes of critical humanitarian food supplies in Bukavu City.
- Bukavu, the second largest city in DRC fell to Rwanda-backed M23 rebels at the weekend just weeks after the militia took over Goma in the escalating conflict that worsened in January.
- According to aid organizations, the war in eastern DRC has caused a shortage of humanitarian routes and is now threatening the smooth delivery of essential services in the mineral-rich region.
Food aid in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) took a devastating hit over the weekend, with 7,000 tonnes lost to looting, further deepening the crisis as M23 rebels escalate their attacks. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has condemned the looting of thousands of tonnes of relief supplies in the city of Bukavu in the eastern DRC after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels swept in at the weekend, reportedly meeting …
- Afrobarometer survey shows that most countries have lost the gains they had recorded in poverty reduction between 2000 and 2015.
- An estimated 81% of the people report going without a cash income while 66% lack medicine or medical care.
- Data from 39 African countries surveyed in 2021/2023 suggests that increased corruption may play a role in resurgent lived poverty.
A growing number of Africans are trapped in the crushing grip of poverty, with the latest Afribarometer survey revealing a sharp rise in populations struggling to afford food and other basic necessities. The survey indicates that severe deprivation has reached its highest average level in 25 years.
Afrobarometer survey shows that most countries have lost the gains they had recorded in poverty reduction in the first decade and a half of the 21st century. The Afrobarometer is a Pan-African, non-partisan survey research network that provides reliable data on African experiences and …