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Opinion
- Half of OPEC Member Countries are African and this includes the continent’s most populous country, Nigeria, and the largest by area, Algeria.
- OPEC also counts Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Libya as Member Countries.
- Additionally, two African countries are part of the historic ‘Declaration of Cooperation,’ between OPEC and non-OPEC producing countries, namely Sudan and South Sudan.
Since assuming the office of OPEC Secretary General almost two years ago, I have had the privilege of visiting every African OPEC Member Country, as well as several other African countries. Every visit has reaffirmed my firm conviction that the future is bright for Africa and that the oil industry can play a constructive role in that future. Our Organization stands ready to offer any support it can to help this great continent realize its awesome potential.
OPEC takes great pride in its strong and enduring African connections, heritage and identity. Half of …
- Africa is experiencing growth in the export of goods and services and its economics outline promising opportunities for further growth.
- As trade volumes continue to rise and digitalization shapes e-commerce, customs, port, and border administrations must adapt quickly to ensure smooth clearance processes, accurate tracking, regulatory compliance, and timely delivery.
In today’s fast-paced world of trade, the demand for efficiency and transparency has never been more pronounced. Digitalization and cutting-edge technologies have continued to streamline trade processes fostering a more efficient trading ecosystem.
Annually, the European Commission’s Customs Union manages a staggering €3.5 trillion in goods trade, highlighting how vital it is to have smooth customs and clearance control checks. In the past decade, Africa has experienced growth in the export of goods and services and its economics outline promising opportunities for further growth aimed at facilitation and integration.
As trade volumes continue to rise and digitalization shapes e-commerce, customs, …
- Artificial intelligence in Africa can potentially propel the fintech industry into a new era of financial inclusion.
- AI tools can analyse data from client discussions, producing legal documents in simple language and at a fraction of what it would typically take to draft a contract.
- Banks, for example, can make their services more affordable to their customers by rolling out AI-powered chatbots to handle routine queries while sparing them from having to travel to a bank branch.
It’s difficult to imagine a time before the widespread adoption of mobile technology in Africa – particularly where financial services are concerned. For millions of unbanked people, transactions were limited to cash, postal services or even the barter system.
Now, in much the same way as mobile payments completely disrupted the status quo, AI has the potential to propel the fintech industry into a new era of financial inclusion. And perhaps most exciting …
These days, technology has changed our life, how we respond to everything including how we buy and sell products and services. Fewer clicks on our smartphones or computers now and we can book a cab, a hotel room, a cinema ticket, buy salt, pizza, groceries and a lot of other products and services.
To do so, we often download apps or go to certain web platforms, create accounts by providing personal information and agree to the terms and conditions. We are then able to buy the products and services we are looking for.
When on the platform, done selecting the products or services we wanted, right before paying, we are most of the time requested to confirm that we agree to the “terms and conditions” or “terms of use” or “terms of service” of the platform. By clicking that we agree, we thus enter into a binding sale contract.
I …
Africa’s leading Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), MTN, Vodacom and Safaricom, have recently made bold plans to venture into the increasingly dynamic world of fintech. On 23rd June 2021, Safaricom launched its super app, which creates an ecosystem of mini-apps from the network operator as well as third-party apps that feed off the super app[1]. A month prior to this development, Safaricom, the leading MNO in Kenya announced plans to release an Application Protocol Interface (API) for the super app to enable third-party app developers to build more products and services on top of the super app[2]. This means the super app is going to be an app store that consolidates the reach of Safaricom.
In May, MTN also announced plans to become a tech platform to rival the likes of Apple and WeChat as part of their Ambition 2025 which is currently being implemented[3]…
On the eve of World Environment Day, the topic of climate change has become a major subject matter for the developed world and the developing world. Africa is by far one of the lushest continents being ripe for vegetation and the key enabler to save the planet. The UN Sustainable Development Goals seeks to promote sustainability via a global collective. In light of that, the Billion Tree Initiative is a new commitment by Synergetic Trees and one that is headed by its founder Dr. Bahadur Bahadur to drive global sustainability.
“Twenty-five years ago, people could be excused for not knowing much, or doing much, about climate change. Today we have no excuse.” – Desmond Tutu
Accordingly to Dr. Bahadur, CEO of Synergetic Trees (ST) is a global network of teams focused on carbon sequestration by planting and caring for trees in the long term. Carbon sequestration is any process …
I ended my May 2021 essay with the hypothesis “…leading fintechs might turn around and start acquiring the banks” and, sure enough, on the 12th of May 2021, the Competition Authority of Kenya in a gazette notice approved the acquisition of 84.89% stake in Century Microfinance Bank by Branch International Limited – a leading global fintech with operations in Kenya[1]. One of the signs of a maturing ecosystem is home grown ventures mature into unicorns[2], gazelles and zebras[3], increased mergers and acquisitions[4] and the entry of global tech giants hungry for a piece of the action – the subject of this essay. So, whilst the Branch acquisition was unexpected, it was unsurprising when Twitter announced on 14th April 2021 that they are setting up their Africa HQ in Ghana[5]. On the very same day Amazon announced an investment of …
By Emmanuel Macron, Paul Kagame, Cyril Ramaphosa, and Macky Sall
PARIS – The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that we can no longer treat seemingly faraway crises as distant problems. What happens anywhere can affect people everywhere. That is why addressing the impact and legacy of the pandemic in Africa is so important.
Although Africa has suffered fewer COVID-19 cases and deaths than other areas of the world, the pandemic’s impact on the continent could be more sustained, deep-rooted, and destabilizing for the entire planet. In one year, the pandemic has halted a quarter-century of steady economic growth, disrupted value chains, and caused an unprecedented increase in inequality and poverty.
But it is not only Africa that is at risk of losing its opportunity to emerge fully from COVID-19. The global economy could lose one of its future drivers of growth.
Africa has everything required to overcome the pandemic crisis …
In the months surrounding the birth of our own republic, from 1961 to 1963, a crucial, international organisation was also being born, to assure food safety across the globe.
As a partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and the World Health Organisation, the Codex Alimentarius Commission produces the Codex Alimentarius, which is Latin for the ‘Book of Food’. It contains internationally recognised guidelines, standards, codes of practice and recommendations on food safety, with just two goals: to ensure the health of consumers and fair trade in food.
Yet, today, both are under threat.
Over the 60 years since the Codex was launched, the commission has been led by the world’s top scientists, drawing on every global study to set food safety standards that include assessing pesticides for their impact on human health. To do that, Codex sets Maximum…
