Trending
- Kenya, Tanzania braces for torrential floods as Cyclone Hidaya approaches
- EAC monetary affairs committee to discuss single currency progress in Juba talks
- Transport and food prices drive down Kenya’s inflation to 5% in April
- Payment for ransomware attacks increase by 500 per cent in one year
- History beckons as push for Kenya’s President Ruto to address US Congress gathers pace
- IMF’s Sub-Saharan Africa economic forecast shows 1.2 percent GDP growth
- The US Congress proposes extending Agoa to 2041, covering all African countries
- Millions at risk of famine as fuel tax row halts UN aid operations in South Sudan
Africa
- Kenya and Tanzania, already reeling from nature’s fury, now confront the looming threat of Cyclone Hidaya.
- Cyclone Hidaya’s trajectory places the eastern coast of Tanzania squarely in its crosshairs as neighbouring Kenya braces for floods.
- The relentless deluge gripping East Africa finds its origins in the El Nino weather pattern.
Millions of people in Tanzania and Kenya are on edge as Cyclone Hidaya, a formidable tempest, barrels toward the region, exacerbating the havoc wrought by ongoing heavy downpours and catastrophic floods that have claimed hundreds of lives across East Africa.
Kenya and Tanzania, already reeling from nature’s fury, now confront the looming threat of a cyclone poised to unleash further devastation, with forecasts predicting a grim landfall later on Friday, May 3rd.
At the moment, Cyclone Hidaya’s trajectory places the eastern coast of Tanzania squarely in its crosshairs, with fears mounting over its potential impact on neighbouring Kenya. As …
- US Congress members ask Speaker Mike Johnson to invite President Ruto to address the assembly.
- President Ruto will be visiting the US on May 23 to mark 60 years of US-Kenya diplomatic ties.
- If invited, President Ruto would become the first Kenyan Head of State to address a joint session of US Congress.
In a historic plan highlighting the deepening ties between the United States and Kenya, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul (Republican – Texas) and Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (Democrat – New York) have jointly sent a letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (Republican – Los Angeles, asking him to extend a formal invitation to President William Ruto of Kenya to address a joint session of Congress during his upcoming visit to the US, slated later in May.
“This year, we are celebrating the historic 60-year anniversary of the U.S.-Kenya diplomatic relationship. Such an invitation …
- The IMF has identified South Sudan, Burundi, and the DRC as East African Community member states poised for significant economic growth in the 2024–2025 period.
- GDP growth in Burundi is projected to increase from 4.3 to 5.4 percent and in the DRC from 4.7 to 5.7%.
- Kenya leads regionally with a projected GDP of $104 billion, ranking 7th overall among the continent’s largest economies.
The economic outlook for East African Community member states South Sudan, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is poised for significant economic growth in the 2024–2025 period. This prognosis by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) comes despite these nations grappling with conflicts, marking them as among the most fragile in the region.
In its latest regional economic outlook report for Sub-Saharan Africa, the IMF forecasts a noteworthy 1.2 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth for South Sudan, from 5.6 to 6.8 percent, despite …
Global data centre spend was expected to reach an impressive total of $208 billion by the end of 2020.
Demand, thanks to expanding business footprints and the move to the cloud and alternative infrastructure solutions, has pushed the market into overdrive with an estimated 628 hyper scalers expected to rise by 2021.
The edge, artificial intelligence, cloud IT infrastructure investment, machine learning, and the rise of emergent technologies are shifting the data centre into high gear, and centre stage.
But what if the data centre fails? What if demand overtakes infrastructure? Downtime can incur huge costs, put an organisation’s reputation on the line, and can have unexpected knock-on ripple effects throughout the company and its infrastructure.
Therefore, it is essential to tick two particularly important boxes when investing in a robust data centre strategy – reliable power and comprehensive loadbank testing.
As data centre usage continues to rise exponentially alongside …
Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was on Monday, February 15 confirmed as the World Trade Organization (WTO) director-general.
Her appointment came after the last remaining rival candidate, South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee, withdrew from the race, allowing her to become the first woman and the first African to lead the global trade body.
She will take up her post on March 1, initially for a term that runs until August 2025.
The Geneva-based body has been without a permanent director-general since Roberto Azevêdo stepped down a year earlier than planned in August.
However, as she takes over, much is expected from her.
Trade spats
Despite WTO being established in 1995 with the aim of promoting open trade for the benefit of all, the organization has struggled to prevent trade spats among member states, most notably the United States and China.
The organization negotiates and administers rules for international trade and tries …
Oil and gas projects are very complex due to a variety of challenges that need to be overcome. Risk management and financial burden are some of the hottest issues currently on these projects.
Now imagine you add Covid-19 and insurgent movements near the project area.
“The French oil and gas company Total is considering setting up a logistical base for its Mozambican operations, not only in part of Mozambique, but on the French Indian Ocean possession of Mayotte, according to a report (…)” as per the digital news portal Club of Mozambique.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise at all.
Being part of the French territory, Mayotte offers the best option for Total as a preferential hub for their project in Mozambique. France operates a military base in Mayotte, in the form of a detachment of its Foreign Legion, making the island a super safe place.
Mayotte is very well …
Africa is a budding continent. A resource-rich continent with a young population and one of the highest growth rates. The continent has a 1.2 billion large market and an increasing middle to upper-middle class. Conflict is not as prominent as yesteryear, and though still trudging slowly, democracy is on the rise on the continent.
The continental focus is on strengthening trade, improving infrastructure, health, and building on the past decade’s growth towards Agenda 2063. A part of Africa’s expansion is partnering through trade initiatives to overshadow the legacy of aid.
The United States has been a part of pushing this agenda forward. Holders of the top job in America have, in one way or the other created an Africa-specific program in infrastructure, health, and other developmental programs. Programs that extend beyond aid like AGOA and ProSper Africa proved to be a step in the right direction.
Continuing on programs such …
The largest global free trade area by countries is poised to transform Africa’s economic prospects and it could not have come at a more interesting time.
For reasons I won’t get into in this article, the world has witnessed a tremendous rise in populism, protectionism and nationalism. Popular choices in key economies have shifted the status quo bringing into question well-established political and economic powerhouses. With the arrival of the pandemic, trust in governments across the world has diminished and weak leaders in developed economies have found theirselves exposed.
In my view, these elements ironically created a perfect storm for the launch of AfCFTA, the African Continental Free Trade Area. Global trade is going through deep changes either for fears of infection or due to concepts of self economic preservation in smaller developed countries. Border enforcement across the world is shifting on a daily basis and there’s a real …
The Central Bank of Nigeria has banned all cryptocurrency transactions as of February 5th 2021 citing terrorism concerns. The central bank is of the view that cryptocurrency transactions are been used to fund terror groups.
As a result, it has ordered all banks as well as non-bank financial institutions and all other financial institutions that deal in cryptocurrencies or facilitate payment for cryptocurrencies to stop with immediate effect.
The development comes after the Central Bank issued a warning back in January cautioning against the use of cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrencies are volatile and risky since unlike in regular banking transactions, these are transactions that are irreversible. Further still, transactions are anonymous so you do not know who you are dealing with and also, there are no regulators for cryptocurrency dealings, it is all just you and a host of other people that you do not know trading online, to call it …
