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- Kenya-Ethiopia Trade Relations: Legislators Advocate for Policy Alignment to Boost Ties
- Visualising the state of debt in Africa 2024
- Abu Dhabi radiates optimism as over 300 startups join AIM Congress 2024
- TLcom Capital Raises $154 million in Funding to Boost Its African Growth
- Africa’s $824Bn debt, resource-backed opaque loans slowing growth — AfDB
- LB Investment brings $1.2 trillion portfolio display to AIM Congress spotlight
- AmCham Summit kicks off, setting course for robust future of US-East Africa trade ties
- Why the UN is raising the red flag on the UK-Rwanda asylum treaty
Africa
- AfDB asks policymakers to put in place an orderly and predictable way of dealing with Africa’s $824Bn debt pile.
- According to AfDB, Africa’s ballooning external debt reached $824 billion in 2021.
- AfDB president says there is urgent need for increased concessional financing, particularly for low-income countries.
Africa’s immense economic potential is being undermined by non-transparent resource-backed loans that complicate debt resolution and compromise countries’ future growth, African Development Bank (AfDB) President Dr Akinwumi Adesina has said.
Adesina at the Semafor Africa Summit taking place on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank 2024 Spring Meetings, highlighted the challenges posed by Africa’s ballooning external debt, which reached $824 billion in 2021, with countries dedicating 65 per cent of their GDP to servicing these obligations.
He said the continent would pay $74 billion in debt service payments this year alone, a sharp increase from $17 billion in 2010. “I …
- Meg Whitman, US Ambassador to Kenya, highlights key investment opportunities in Kenya, particularly in the creative industry and clean energy.
- She noted that Kenya has the potential to become the Singapore of Africa through vertical business integration, job creation, innovation, and foreign direct investment.
- AmCham Business Summit 2024 seeks to strengthen bilateral trade and investment between the US, Kenya, and East Africa.
The fourth edition of the regional American Chamber of Commerce Kenya (AmCham) Business Summit, has officially kicked off in Nairobi, Kenya, under the theme, ‘Catalyzing The Future of US-East Africa Trade and Investment’.
This year’s forum underscores AmCham Business Summit as the premier platform for strengthening bilateral trade and investment between the United States, Kenya, and East Africa.
Hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), the two-day Summit has brought together delegates from the United States of America, East and Sub-Saharan Africa in efforts to deliberate and …
- UN faults UK-Rwanda asylum treaty citing concerns on potentially harmful impact on global responsibility-sharing, human rights, and refugee protection.
- Spearheaded by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the legislation mandates judges to deem Rwanda as a safe third country.
- With deportation flights slated to start in July, the move is sparking weighty debates over the ethical implications of outsourcing asylum responsibilities.
This week’s passage of the “Safety of Rwanda” Bill by the UK Parliament has triggered alarm bells within the United Nations (UN), with two prominent leaders, Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, raising concerns over its potentially harmful impact on global responsibility-sharing, human rights, and refugee protection.
Spearheaded by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the legislation mandates judges to deem Rwanda as a safe third country, paving the way for the deportation of thousands of migrants who have sought refuge …
Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC (KenGen) says it has surpassed a crucial stage in the ongoing USD 6.2 million geothermal drilling contracts in Ethiopia.
According to the firm’s Managing Director and CEO Rebecca Miano, a team of KenGen engineers have so far crossed the 450 meters of drilling depth of the first of eight geothermal wells for the state-owned electricity producer, Ethiopia Electric Power Company which commenced in May this year.
“The first 450 meters is the most difficult phase of the entire geothermal well drilling process which can go upto a depth of 3,000 meters,” Miano said.
“This particular one is being done under peculiar circumstances including unforeseen delays occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic,” she added.
The CEO added that they will be drilling at a rate of about 50 meters per day going forward and therefore expect to complete the remaining part on schedule in about two months.…
Economic transformation in Zimbabwe requires the nation to look carefully at where the rest of the world is going. The rest of the world is in the middle of the third industrial revolution driven by technology and services. These two comprise what is now known as the knowledge economy and represent a clear departure from the significance of the primary/extractive and secondary industries. These same industries are what have anchored the economy from the time the southern African country became a nation. Technology and services are where the greatest value can be appropriated, and it is in technology and services where the key to exponential growth in productivity lies.
The most magnificent thing about technology and services is that it pervades every sector of the economy and we have seen it converge with just about every area of the economy in recent times. The concept of the internet of things …
Oude Meester the alcoholic spirits brand once carried an advert many years ago that described the life trajectory of a successful businessman or businesswoman in a leading South African business weekly. In that advert was a picture of a bottle of brandy and its image was a timeline of the journey a businessperson takes starting right at the bottom when his or her entrepreneurial journey begins having started a business, grows that business, listing it on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and then culminates in that individual running for president of the country.
The advert drew its context from the times. Back then Cyril Ramaphosa and Tokyo Sexwale, political stalwarts within the establishment of the African National Congress had taken sabbaticals from the political sphere and had gone on to achieve notable success in the private sector. Both men had expressed ambition for the presidency. Only one of these men succeed …
The lockdown occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic saw new e-commerce users rise by 5 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 when compared to the active base the previous year.
This is according to a report by VISA, which attributes this to a preference of e-commerce to fill the void left by the closure of face-to-face retail, which was implemented across many parts of the world, including the region, to fight the viral disease.
The ‘e-commerce developments across Su-Saharan Africa’ report also notes the economic shocks that followed COVID-19 have reduced spending power across the world, including in the region, but the closure of physical stores has provided a growth opportunity for digital payments and e-commerce itself.
Where, how to invest in Uganda’s e-commerce
As such, VISA projects that e-commerce sales will grow to US$7 trillion across the globe by 2024, with the Asia Pacific, specifically, China, India, and Southeast Asia, …
Private sector players in the region have expressed optimism in making steps towards the recovery of Covid-19.
This follows a commitment by the East African Community Secretariat to prioritize strengthening public-private sector partnerships between the private sector in the region and the EAC Partner States governments, to jointly invest in vaccine manufacturing in the region.
The EAC Secretary-General, Dr Peter Mathuki said that there was a need for a coordinated approach in handling COVID-19 in the region and emphasized the need for local production of vaccines.
“EAC is working on strengthening partnerships between the private sector and EAC Partner States’ governments, to jointly establish an investment in vaccine manufacturing, to ensure the region can produce and avail vaccines to East Africans. Truck drivers transporting goods across the region should also be included among the priority groups who need to be vaccinated,” Dr Mathuki said.
Mathuki also noted that the EAC …
Kenyan-based low-cost carrier Jambojet has announced plans to begin operations to North Kivu Capital, Goma in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as to the Kenyan coastal island of Lamu.
In a statement, the carrier says the move is part of its expansion program, at a time when the coronavirus pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on the aviation sector in the region as well as across the world.
The company said its inaugural flight to Goma will be on 10th September 2021, starting with 2 frequencies weekly, with flights expected to grow to 4 frequencies weekly, flying on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.
The airline announced that it will be flying to Lamu 4 times weekly, starting 15th September 2021.
Commenting on the announcement, Jambojet Board of Directors Chairman Vincent Rague said the expansion plan has been in motion for 3 years.
“Three years ago, …
