Most economists see structural transformation as one of the main routes to Africa’s sustainable development. What it means is changing the share of agriculture, manufacturing and services in an economy. It is a central aim of the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

With this aim in mind, economists and policymakers need to know what determines structural transformation. They have flagged factors like demand for goods and services, trade policies, financial development, institutional quality and economic integration.

But researchers haven’t closely examined the way economic integration through trade and finance influences structural transformation.

I therefore set out to study African countries’ integration with the rest of the world and the effect of that integration on their structural transformation. This study provides fresh evidence about whether integration is good for Africa. It also unearths the right levels of integration necessary to increase structural transformation.

Trade and financial integration are both about countries exporting …

COVID-19 has prompted widespread discussion of the resilience of food systems and how efficiency and competitiveness have been previously understood. Recent decades have seen the growth of increasingly complex food value chains. These are underpinned by just-in-time delivery systems, a growing share of food products sold through supermarkets, and increasing concentration of ownership among powerful, large food manufacturers.

The pandemic has further emphasised the need for a more diverse and inclusive food system, in which small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play a key role.

As part of a larger project investigating challenges faced by agro-processing SMEs, we conducted qualitative telephone interviews with 16 SME maize milling and dairy firms during lockdown to gauge the effects of the pandemic.

As essential businesses, food manufacturers continued to operate through lockdown, and it might be assumed COVID-19’s impacts on this industry were minimal. This was not the case. While aggregate production levels …

With more than 11 million confirmed cases and over 530,000 deaths globally, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a devastating impact around the world.  While many countries continue to grapple with the ongoing surge of new cases, the pandemic has offered the opportunity to reflect on the current achievements and challenges of our healthcare systems.

For one, the novel coronavirus has created an unprecedented disruption for healthcare systems, which have had to balance between maintaining ongoing operations, scaling-up infectious disease programmes, supporting healthcare workers, and managing financial stress while supporting their communities. At an institutional level, the pandemic has forced our hospitals, clinics and other health institutions to quickly scale up their clinical, facility and support protocols to provide efficient and meaningful care to those in critical need.

But for health institutions, like Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS), the concept of pandemic response planning is not only built into our …

On the 10^th of July 2020, Helios Holdings Limited announced a merger with Fairfax Africa Holdings Corporation to form Helios Fairfax Partners Corporation – a pan Africa focused alternative investment manager.[1] On the same day, Eversend, an African fintech startup also announced over a $1M raise through crowdfunding.[2] Prior to that Helios announced a $100M investment from the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) into their fund IV.[3] On the 1^st of July 2020, our portfolio company, www.hotelonline.co announced the acquisition of two travel tech companies.[4] On 30^th June 2020, www.msfafrica.com announced the acquisition of fellow fintech Beyonic based in Tanzania.[5] On 23^rd June, 2020 www.acumen.org announced their exit from KopaGas of Tanzania as part of the $25M acquisition by Circle Gas.[6] Then on 22^nd January 2020, www.mypaga.com announced the acquisition of Apposit an Ethiopian software company as the entry strategy …

Rarely does any so-called “world leader” impress me. Some of them probably mean well in that superior, “I know better than you do what’s good for you” kind of way.

But in the big scheme of things, they are all elected for very short periods of time in office. Australian Prime Ministers get only three years at a time. US Presidents get four, maximum eight years.

In my view, that means they have little or no realistic chance to effect meaningful change for the good and leave their mark, unless they attempt something radical and reckless in the short term, pandering to certain interest groups.

Therein lies the problem. It takes much longer to effect meaningful change.

To cut to the chase, the list of world leaders, or former world leaders who served in my own adult life-time, whom I admire, is pretty short.

There are two:

• Nelson Mandela.