Africa’s fashion industry is a potential gold mine with the capacity to grow into a billion dollar industry. The fashion industry worldwide is estimated to be worth over $1.5 trillion. With the resources and creative minds in Africa, there is enormous capacity to take a more significant piece of this pie. Africa’s fashion scene is anchored on a vibrant culture and the mix of color, texture, and bespoke designs that make African fabric. From the traditional to the contemporary, African designers have an impeccable creative eye.  

The industry has gained recognition on the international stage. For instance, African designer Deola Sagoe has dressed famous music stars like Rihanna. This points to the significant potential that can be realized to transform the fashion industry into a lucrative economic sector.  

Young people must be groomed to realize the untapped potential that lies in the sector. It is particularly pertinent for young …

The last decade (2010-2020) was an important experiment in African tech ventures moving out of the “labs” and becoming real businesses that saw investors backing them with so much capital that from 2014 to 2019, the total number of VC deals doubled every year until the advent of COVID-19, which disrupted global economic activities in 2020.[1] However, 2020 saw some notable exits including World Remit’s acquisition of Sendwave for $500M[2], Network International buying DPO for $288M[3] and Stripe taking over Paystack for $200M[4] to enter the African market as Egypt’s Fawry gain unicorn status.[5] The IPO of Fawry the third Africa tech venture reach market capitalization of over $1 billion to after Jumia[6] and Interswitch[7] was overs subscribed 30 times. 2020 ended with another notable exit, with two initial shareholders in Ghanaian fintech startup, Zeepay, exiting from an initial investment of about …

Ten African heads of state and government, as well as the president of the African Development Bank, were handed awards for their instrumental role in the realization of the African continental free trade area. 

“As Africans, we are proud of the extraordinary effort made by our leaders towards the success of the AfCFTA.” Hailemariam Boshe, former Prime Minister of Ethiopia and Ae Group Patron

A consortium of African stakeholders banded together to show acknowledgment for the efforts undertakes towards realizing Africa’s dream. The stakeholders included AeTrade Group in collaboration with the African Union Commission, the African Business Council, the Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and the East African Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture.

The heads of state that received recognition included:

• Felix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo 
• Egyptian President Ahmed Fattah Al-Sisi; 
• His Majesty

African countries cannot leapfrog their way into industrialization. Yes, there was a telecommunications jump largely bypassing landlines to mobile phones in the early 2000s, but internet penetration is still low at 36%. Other sectors of many African economies are stagnating. For instance, electricity is a foundational requirement for industry, manufacturing enterprises, for doing business, for running hospitals, schools, and for improving the quality of life at home. Yet over 600 million Africans still lack access to reliable and affordable electricity. This further depresses business productivity and generating their own power increases the operating expenses of companies. More broadly, the objectives of the landmark African Continental Free Trade Area to boost intra-African trade are severely hampered by the limited transportation options to facilitate the affordable and efficient movement of people, goods, and services from one country to another. The lack of adequate water and sanitation presents overwhelming and adverse health …

Vaccine diplomacy will take centre stage for the global political economy in 2021. It is rapidly emerging as an important tool in the arsenal of global superpowers as they seek to expand their geostrategic influence amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Affordable and equitable access to Covid vaccines has the potential to shape the global economic recovery, and speedy and effective rollout represents a huge opportunity to redraw global power maps and reshape strategic alliances. Naturally, the stakes are high, and the competition is intense to achieve both first-mover advantage and scale.

Africa will emerge as a theatre of competition. But with limited financial resources and a lack of bargaining power the option set will be limited for African countries as they try to procure the vaccine. This lopsided power dynamic, which has entrenched them firmly at the back of the vaccine queue, is being described as vaccine apartheid. John Nkengasong of …

As the country seeks an industry revival, Angola Oil & Gas 2021 will serve as the official meeting place and investment destination for industry stakeholders.

Angola, as the second-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, holds approximately 8.2 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. Contributing to 50% of gross domestic product and nearly 90% of national exports, oil represents an invaluable resource to the domestic economy. The country also holds the fourth-largest proven natural gas reserves in Africa – approximately 343 billion cubic meters – along with significant renewable potential in solar and wind. In a bid to offset declining hydrocarbon production, the Angolan Government has implemented several key initiatives focused on spurring new exploration activities, increasing foreign direct investment and incentivizing local participation within the industry. Accordingly, Angola is set to become a prime investment destination in 2021, as it seeks a year of revival for its prolific oil and …