- Acquisitions that reshaped Zimbabwe’s banking sector in 2023
- The developed world’s broken promises: How can Africa finance the energy transition?
- Global and African partners pledge $175m to Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa
- UAE’s Masdar to develop 150MW solar plant in Angola to power 90,000 homes
- Intra-African Trade Fair exceeds targets with $43.8 billion deals signed
- Tanzania at COP28
- AfDB partners with Prince’s Trust International to address youth unemployment in Africa
- AstraZeneca pioneers AI solutions for reforestation in Africa
Opinion
- The 2009 Copenhagen Accord was not a binding promise but set up a durable framework for future talks.
- One of these solutions is for African countries to use crude oil, natural gas, and other hydrocarbons to develop their resources and use the revenues to finance energy transition.
- In the process, they should also seek to meet several other complementary goals, such as building gas-fired plants that can provide cleaner power than existing coal.
From an African perspective, one of the most important things to come out of COP15, the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, was the formal recognition of the fact that lower-income countries were not in a position to bear as much of the cost of the energy transition as their higher-income counterparts.
That recognition was spelt out in the section of the Copenhagen Accord that included a pledge from the world’s highly developed states to …
- The Russian invasion of Ukraine has proved highly disruptive to world energy markets.
- There is still a distance between Africa and the rest of the world in terms of what the continent can do to establish closer ties to energy markets in Europe and elsewhere.
- Now is the time to offer tax incentives, fast-track projects, show more transparency in processes, and do everything possible to minimize investor risk.
It’s undeniable that the Russian invasion of Ukraine proved highly disruptive to world energy markets. This geopolitical clash led to the imposition of Western sanctions on the export of Russian oil and fuel and the imposition of a price cap on Russian crude by the G7 group.
It also led to the redirection of world oil trade flows. Asian countries such as China and India, for example, began absorbing considerably more Russian oil and fuel than they had done previously, and many …
- The promises made to uplift Africa and its people have failed to provide equitable justice. The trend continues.
- While Africa can play a pivotal role in the global fight against climate change, it should not come at the cost of its own economic development.
- Every climate finance dollar flowing into the continent must find its way into sustainable measures of mitigation and adaptation.
At Africa Climate Week, the resounding call of a child echoed through the packed hall, stating, “We will hold you to your promises.” This declaration not only reflected the sentiment of the child but also resonated with the aspirations of the entire continent.
As civilisation thrived, the continent went from being the cradle of civilization to the dump yard of urbanization. The promises made to uplift Africa and its people have failed to provide equitable justice. The trend continues.
Africa Climate Summit 2023
The promises made to …
South Africa’s poultry sector is currently undergoing serious challenges. The ongoing load shedding and power disruptions have put tremendous pressure and additional costs on the industry, which makes producing poultry products extremely expensive. One company (Astral Foods) has spent an additional $47.56 million (R919 million) due to load shedding alone. This has had a significant impact on the profitability and sustainability of the company. To make matters worse – South Africa’s poultry sector has been hit with a significant avian influenza epidemic.…
- Contrary to the general belief that Nigeria is the giant of Africa, incessant violence and armed conflicts have drastically reduced the influence of Nigeria on the continent.
- Despite its huge resources, Nigeria still suffers from poverty, inequality, unemployment, insecurity, corruption, high fuel and commodity prices, and other political and economic hardships.
- The biggest threats to Nigeria’s stability include bad governance, electoral mal-practices, corruption, economic hardship, inflation, terrorism, kidnapping, and ethnic divisions.
It is one of Africa’s behemoths. A country with vast resources and immense complexities. Boasting the largest economy of all states in Africa, Nigeria has long been considered one of the jewels in the crown of this continent. But, the country’s future and that of its more than 210 million people is looking bleak, which holds only dire consequences for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Nigeria’s high rate of inflation
“Current daily developments in political, economic, …
- The Cortex Hub and Angel Fair Africa have reached the milestone of a decade of nurturing innovation, fostering entrepreneurship, and connecting African startups with investors.
- The initiative aimed to create an innovation hub in the Eastern Cape to unlock the latent potential of the region’s emerging talent pool and drive technological innovation and break down barriers hindering growth.
- It was initiated by the author, who had previously worked in the ICT field during the apartheid era and had a personal interest in driving technological advancement and economic empowerment in the region.
In a landscape defined by the ebb and flow of African entrepreneurship, milestones are more than mere time markers; they stand as beacons of progress. This year, we gather to celebrate an extraordinary achievement as both The Cortex Hub and Angel Fair Africa reach the impressive milestone of a decade. A decade of unwavering dedication to nurturing innovation, fostering …
Despite the worldwide call commanding the global business community to divest from fossil fuels and shrink their carbon footprints in the name of net zero, international oil companies (IOCs) still recognize Africa as their next frontier.…
- A resilient health system is one that can deliver high-quality care for its patients under pressure – which could be economic, social, or environmental.
- Achieving this requires us to proactively strive to keep people healthy, rather than waiting until they fall ill to intervene.
- Without equity, our efforts to build a greener, healthier Africa will fall short.
Climate change is no longer a theoretical challenge to be solved by future generations; it is a reality that communities across Africa are already experiencing in the form of higher temperatures, droughts, changing rainfall patterns.
Despite contributing the least to global warming and having the lowest greenhouse gas emissions, Africans face exponential collateral damage from climate change, posing systemic risks to its water and food systems, increasing the risk of disease and straining already fragile health systems.
Nexus of climate and health
As part of a series of regional meetings in the run …
- For businesses, adopting circular economy principles means less cost in hauling waste to dump sites.
- Circular economy means gaining new sources of revenue from selling by-products in manufacturing and using less energy.
- While circular economy concepts make intuitive sense to most investors, the opportunities have yet to be fully explored.
According to a new academic study published in the Frontiers in Sustainability, there are five areas of opportunities where businesses and investors can uncover wealth-building opportunities while improving the environment.
This study “Toward a preliminary research agenda for circular economy adoption in Africa”, by lead author Elke Nijman-Ross, reviewed 275 publications and analyzed the survey results of 38 circular economy experts to uncover the consensus for identified opportunities for further exploration of the circular economy in African countries including Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, DRC and Mozambique in East Africa.
The concept of a circular economy, described by …