• African Development Bank tells Japanese investors putting their money in the continent is profitable.
•  Japan’s Foreign Direct Investments in Africa declined from $10 billion in 2016 to just $4.7 billion in 2020 during Covid-19, before picking up to $6 billion in 2021.
•  According to AfDB, Africa accounts for only 0.003 percent of Japan’s $2 trillion global Foreign Direct Investments.
• Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced during the TICAD 8 Summit in Tunis last year $30 billion for Africa, including support for startups.

Africa is keen to increase Japanese investment in the continent, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has indicated amid growing interest from other countries including China, Europe and the US.

The move comes after a slump in Japan’s Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in Africa, which declined from $10 billion in 2016 to just $4.7 billion in 2020 during Covid-19, before picking to $6 billion in 2021.

According to AfDB, …

• Project Management Institute’s recent Talent Gap report shows 2.3 million people will be needed each year to fill all project management-oriented (PMO) positions that are expected to open by 2030.
• To remain competitive, companies will need to hire problem solvers and relationship builders who can help drive change and deliver strategic value.
• During this decade, sub-Saharan Africa will witness a 40 percent growth in PMO employment opportunities.

African economies could be headed to a severe shortage of skilled project managers to implement critical infrastructure investments across the continent.

According to Project Management Institute’s most recent Talent Gap report, 2.3 million people will be needed each year to fill all project management-oriented (PMO) positions expected to open by 2030.

To remain competitive, companies will need to hire problem solvers and relationship builders who can help drive change and deliver strategic value.

During this decade, sub-Saharan Africa will witness a 40 percent …

• Three Africans have been named the Global Citizen Prize Award winners 2023, a yearly award that recognizes and celebrates the unsung activists who are fighting the good fight, going above and beyond to tick things off the world’s most important to-do list: the United Nations’ Global Goals.
• Kenya’s Wangari Kuria, Rwanda’s Ineza Umuhoza Grace and Zimbabwe’s Nkosana Butholenkosi Masuku were  recognized for  profoundly impacting their local communities across food security, climate change, civic space, and sexual and reproductive health, in the fight to end extreme poverty, demand equity, and protect the planet, in line with Global Citizen’s campaign to End Extreme Poverty NOW. 
• The award recipients will be honored at a ceremony taking place during the Global Citizen NOW summit at The Glasshouse in New York City on Thursday, April 27.

Three Africans have been named the Global Citizen Prize Award winners 2023, a yearly award that recognizes and …

• A Boston University report published on Thursday  ,indicates that a Debt reductions of US$500 billions must be written off to assist developing countries that are most at risk of default get back on a better financial footing
• Developing nations’ sovereign debt rose by 178% due to the global financial crisis, reaching US$3.9 trillion by 2021
• Fitch Ratings reported a substantial amount of sovereign debt defaults this year, whereas the International Monetary Fund reported that 25% of developing nations and sixty per cent of developing nations are in or approaching debt distress

Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are dealing with two issues that are reducing productivity and undoing decades of economic progress: increasing levels of debt and an uptick in the frequency and intensity of climate shocks.

Countries now have declining public finances, low resilience to climate shocks, and constrained ability to fund adaptation due to the cumulative nature of these …

• Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris toured Tanzania, Ghana, and Zambia. As the United States seeks to weaken China’s and Russia’s alliances with African countries
• In the past, the United States and Europe viewed Africa as a problem to be solved, whereas China concentrated on business, becoming the region’s biggest partner
• Its Part of a Strategic scramble for rare-earth minerals to power the world’s green revolution—cobalt, copper, and nickel, all of which are abundant in several African countries and are essential to electric cars and renewable technologies

Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris toured Tanzania, Ghana, and Zambia. As the United States seeks to weaken China’s and Russia’s alliances with African countries, she is the 18th and most senior American official to tour the continent this year. 11 African nations have been visited by American representatives since January.

First wife Jill Biden and U.S. Treasury …

• Global deal activity down 27.5 percent Month-on-Month (M-o-M) and 46.7 percent Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y) in January 2023.
• All the deal types under coverage witnessed massive double-digit decline
• According to the data, a total of 3,667 deals* were announced globally during January 2023, which is a decline of 27.5 percent compared to 5,055 deals announced during the previous month and a massive 46.7 percent Y-o-Y (Year on Year) decline over January 2022. 

Mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and venture financing deal activity is off to a slow start in 2023 globally as the first month of the year itself saw a significant contraction in deals volume according to the latest data from GlobalData, data and analytics company. 

According to the data, a total of 3,667 deals were announced globally during January 2023, which is a decline of 27.5 percent compared to 5,055 deals announced during the previous month and a massive 46.7 …