Browsing: Africa

With the sixth edition of the Global Business Forum Africa event series set to run this year from October 13–14, 2021 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), businesses from Africa are increasingly looking at Dubai as a gateway for them to expand into markets across the GCC, Asia, and Europe.

Dubai’s focus on the African continent has been evident through GBF Africa, which aims at bringing the trade and investment community back together to explore bilateral trade opportunities between Dubai and Sub-Saharan Africa.

This year’s Forum is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

UAE has served as a hub that global businesses have used to launch and run their operations in the African continent for a number of years now.

According to  Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Director of …

The deployment of biometric payment cards in the Middle East and Africa is set to go up.

This is after Zwipe, a Norwegian biometric technology company announced its partnership with Abu Dhabi-based NymCard to launch biometric payment cards in the two regions.

Established in 2009, Zwipe focuses on developing and commercializing secure, fast and easy to use biometric authentication solutions with opportunity for broad application across key verticals like payment, access control and government identification.

NymCard on the other hand is focused on frictionless, transparent and agile card issuance and payments processing services, through a Banking-as-a-Service model.

According to Zwipe, the company uses APIs and modern technologies to carry out notably fast implementations.

NymCard customers

NymCard customers include gig economy, buy now pay later, youth banking, and corporate expense card providers across the MEA region.

The company is further expanding into Asia and Europe.

“In our region, consumers, fintechs, and …

An extended road trip, an excursion to the other side of town or going somewhere that is different from your daily life is ultimately one of the things many of us would like to experience. But the ideal Dream holiday vacation is different for each of us.

So what is your idea of recreation? Do you budget for what allows you to recharge? what exactly nourishes you? For some, it’s soaking up the sun by the water. For others, it’s a creative pursuit, exploring a new location, trying new cuisine or engaging in an adventure sport.

But in as much as many of us are knowledgeable about our potential destinations and activities- planning and saving towards this course in one way or the other is arguably a bit difficult, that’s why SaveApp group in partnership with Hotel Online has come to bridge this gap, to ease your planning headache , …

The Dubai-Africa trade is slowly gaining momentum at awakening speeding with Africa presently emerging as one of the most important markets for the United Arab Emirates.

In the latest analysis by the new Dubai Chamber, the Dubai-Africa trade has shown significant growth in Dubai’s food and beverage trade, excluding tobacco, that has reached $13.9 billion during the period of 2015-2020.

This sector has been identified as a key factor expected to drive bilateral trade in the short-term.

According to the new Dubai chamber report, In 2020 the value of food and beverage trade (excluding tobacco) between Dubai and Africa amounted to $2.4 billion in food and beverage trade, marking a growth rate of 18 percent compared to the previous year and the highest level since 2017.

ALSO READ: Emirates to expand flights from South Africa to 28 weekly

Dubai’s food and beverage trade with Africa accounted for around 13% of …

Passenger vehicles were Kenya’s fourth-largest import overall in 2014, valued at US$420 million and making up 2.3% of total imports (by value) while commercial vehicles ranked seventh, valued at US$370 million.

“If the current trend of 10% to 12% growth per annum on vehicle imports is to be maintained, Kenya will have five million vehicles on the road by the year 2030,” Deloitte said.…

Numerous advantages and benefits have been proffered to explain the motives individuals have for moving their assets offshore and investing in jurisdictions other than their home countries. Standard Bank reckons that offshore investment aids in capitalizing on circumstances outside the country providing a buffer against our markets, our inflation spikes and exchange rate fluctuations.  

Essentially, offshore investment serves as a hedge against the volatility and harsh economic fundamentals in the local economy. Zimbabwe as a case in point has suffered from perennial poor economic performance for the greater part of the last two decades. The economic phase that characterized this period included compulsory expropriation of productive farmland, the expropriation of hard currency funds that were never returned, of individuals and organizations by the government to fund its operations, hyperinflation and a generally depressed economy.…

No family wants to be stuck in their home and yet starve due to food security systems being shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic which has taken more than 40 million people’s lives and affected over 200 million worldwide. 

That scenario could become occurring dangerous reality if food security concerns are not addressed immediately, as reports from multiple food security monitoring groups such as the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) suggests that East Africa will “remain a food insecurity hotspot as new COVID-19 variants continue to spread”. 

The pandemic and its new variants bring more pressure to the fragile food security systems and unstable economies of East Africa, as precautionary measures weigh in on-farm operations, weaken supply chains and increase cross-border trade tensions. 

Even before the pandemic shocks, the African food system had a few setbacks in its path which included the inadequate capability to analyze risks and …

Invest Africa has launched a new programme of support for over 500 African MSMEs.

In a statement, the company, which is a trade and investment platform for African markets, says it will be hosting the Next Generation Africa Forum to connect MSMEs across the Continent.

The forum will take place virtually on 16th September using a digital platform, with practical support from leading banks, VCs, multi-national tech companies and incubators, including Google, KPMG, DHL, Aon and 4G Capital.

“MSMEs form the backbone of Africa’s economies and are the engine of the region’s job creation drive, accounting for 70 percent of employment,” the company said in a statement.

The firm also noted that with a high proportion of informal enterprises, many of Africa’s MSMEs, which already faced significant challenges, have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Addressing the structural difficulties that small businesses in Africa face, will therefore be essential …

The unemployment rate in Egypt recorded 7.3 percent of the total labour force during the second quarter of 2021 according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

In the first quarter of 2021, Egypt’s unemployment rate was at 7.4 percent which marked a 0.1 decrease and a 2.3 percent decrease during the same period in 2020. According to CAPMAS, Egypt’s labour force in Q2 was estimated to be 29.115 million individuals in comparison to 29.284 million individuals in the first quarter which was a decrease of 0.6 percent.

In urban areas, the labour force is estimated to be around 12.981 million persons while in rural areas it is estimated to be 16.134 million persons. The total number of females was recorded as 4.882 million individuals.

According to Egypt’s statistics body, the decline is due to the decrease in both the number of workers and the unemployed as …

Zimbabwe represents an exciting new frontier, with recent exploration activities leading to strong indications of significant oil and gas prospects.

The Southern African country which borders Mozambique to the east, Zambia to the north and South Africa to the south has no proven hydrocarbon reserves yet, instead deriving its energy primarily from hydropower and coal, along with petroleum imports from neighboring countries.

However, with the promise of potential prospects in the Muzarabani Basin which borders Zimbabwe and Mozambique the country is sitting on the verge of a hydrocarbon boom, set to be unlocked through foreign capital, technology and expertise. As Zimbabwe prioritizes the expansion of its energy sector and invites global stakeholders to explore its uncharted territory, the four day African Energy Week (AEW) 2021 in Cape Town in November will serve as the official platform whereby Zimbabwe will showcase its potential to prospective investors.

African Energy Week (AEW) 2021 …