Browsing: infrastructure

Kenyan Consumers Defy 8-Year High Lending Rate

Visualising the state of debt in Africa 2024

Countries
  • There is a debt crisis in Africa as countries struggle to repay international loans. 
  • According to the World Bank, nine African countries entered 2024 in debt distress, with another 15 at high risk of distress and 14 more categorised as moderate risk.
  • According to the United Nations, Africa’s public debt will stay above pre-pandemic levels in 2024 and 2025.

At 4 per cent, Africa is projected to be the second fastest-growing economic region in the world in 2024,  according to a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, behind the headline figure is a less optimistic reality.

Many African countries have suffered from slow post-COVID-19 recovery, climate change shocks, worsening food security situation, political instability, weak global growth, and high-interest rates. These economic shocks have pushed over 55 million people into poverty since 2020. The situation is increasingly alarming as more than half of the continent’s countries are in …

Fintech, energy top agenda in second Canada-Africa business conference

Investing

Kenya will host the second Canada-Africa Business Conference early next year, bringing together investors from the two regions to explore key investment opportunities. Some of the target industries that the 19-20 February 2024 conference will focus on are medical care, infrastructure, energy, financing for Canada-Africa projects, and FinTech.
The two-day meeting in Nairobi’s Muthaiga Country Club follows the two regions’ first-ever program at Botswana’s Gaborone International Convention Centre in 2019.
In partnership with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), the Canada-Africa Business Conference will bring together key players who will also visit select locations.…

East Africa chasing silver linings in Asia: Part II- Japan

Countries

East Africa has been at a crossroads in its quest to industrialize, grasping at diverse straws of foreign aid inflows towards the realization of this endeavour.

Countries in the region have been looking West and East to fulfil their respective national developmental goals and finally lift their nations out of poverty. However, partnerships with the latter have swiftly gained momentum, and in tandem Asian countries have been positively responding to this call, with most having been in the same position decades ago. These Asian countries have experienced a robust economic revolution fueled by rapid industrialization.

Ties between Asia and East Africa, were cemented during the 1955 Asian-African Bandung conference held in Indonesia, originating from a shared colonial past.

Just why have East African countries been looking more to the East for support?

There are numerous reasons such as the non-interference policy that comes with aid, the untapped market for African…

…

Gautam Adani: The second richest person in the world

Business

His fortune is estimated to be worth a staggering US$148 billion. He is second only to Tesla founder and eccentric billionaire Elon Musk. Very interesting to note is the fact that the rise of Adani into the high stakes of global wealth is also the first time that two of the wealthiest individuals in the world are from countries that comprise the BRICS nations.

Though now a US citizen, Elon Musk has South African heritage, and Adani is an Indian national.

That two of the richest men in the world are from BRICS countries is indicative of the emergence of the bloc. Adani is the first person of Indian descent to occupy the position. Adani is the chairman of the Adani Group, which operates a litany of businesses in coal mining, infrastructure, and thermal power generation. His companies also operate private airports and firms. According to media reports, Adani’s wealth …

Africa’s Infrastructure Deficit – an Overview

Infrastructure

A lot has been written about the case for investing in Africa. 

Many journalists and economists have eulogized about the merits of investing in Africa going as far as to describe it as the final frontier. Africa is indeed the so-called final frontier and it is that for very good reason. It has the largest share of any natural resources on the planet that are still untapped for the most part. It is not an exaggeration to describe the continent as a Utopian Eldorado as far as investment is concerned. It is home to the youngest population demographic who will comprise a large part of the middle class and will consume large quantities of services and goods. 

A typical example and an apt preface for this article would be the massive coal deposits in the Waterberg area in the north of South Africa. This resource is estimated to be in

…

Faces of a vibrant economy

Africa's Development

Pursuing economic empowerment through purely legalistic and regulatory means has fatal shortcomings which defeat the premise of black or native participation in the economy because history has taught that such a strategy creates a very skewed distribution of the wealth that must be sustainably shared.

Black Economic Empowerment and Indigenization pursued solely from this strategy is a sophisticated form of socialism especially where there is little in the way of economic growth. Its process and eventual outcome create a skewed wealth distribution and novel kind of class structure. 

A vibrant economy is the most potent instrument of empowerment, inclusion, and participation of the people of that country. Vibrant economies are not the result of chance but are the result of deliberate pursuit and action.

Read: Three things TMEA brings to Ethiopia in expansion plans

Creating an economy that is enabling and empowers all citizens requires the development of the following

…

Africa left with huge infrastructure gap as Chinese lending declines

Industry and Trade

Chinese lending to Africa has declined drastically after nearly two decades of bilateral lending which has led to the development of infrastructure in the region.

Chinese lending to the public sector in Africa was $28 billion in 2016 according to research from the China Africa Research Initiative. In 2018 it also declined to $9.9 billion and sunk further to billion in 2019. (Valium)

The decline is due to changes in the Chinese economy, Chinese investment losses and the uncertainty of the Chinese trade with the United States. The fact that Chinese lending has been receiving negative criticism as the cause of debt distress in some poor country’s in the world could also be a reason for the slowdown in funding.

With over 1,140 projects in Africa worth 153 billion, China has emerged as Africa’s largest bilateral lender over the last two decades. With $148 billion worth of loans, …

Going green: $1.5 million Power-up for Zambia’s GreenCo Power Services

Africa

GreenCo Power Services, a subsidiary of Africa GreenCo has received a total of USD 1.5 million through two deals. The Danish government’s Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) has committed $1 million in funding. InfraCo Africa, the investment arm of the Private Infrastructure Development Group also put in $500 000 through a convertible loan. 

The deal will see GreenCo Power services come to life to strengthen power generation capacity. Renewable energy generation will provide an innovative approach to electricity production which is set to drive Zambia’s power infrastructure significantly. 

The Zambian government is on the path to scaling up energy which ties in with the country’s vision to be a prosperous middle-income country by 2030. As part of its vision, the country intends to shore up energy availability to drive productivity in the country. This deal will therefore see GreenCo acting as a complementary partner to the Zambian government’s vision. …

BRT: Tanzania’s expanding rapid bus transport system  

Tanzania

BRT Tanzania

With several 100 million dollars in investment, the Dar es Salaam Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) is an infrastructure that deserves as much awe as any other in the world.

The investment involves some19.3km of roadways traversed by over 100 buses. It has27 bus stations built with such style and elegance they do indeed give the city a facelift so to speak.

More than the aesthetic function, the infrastructure has indeed transformed the port city of Dar Es Salaam from the usual narrow roads dotted with vendors to 6 lanes and pave ways for passengers, it looks good.

The BRT system that was designed by a Brazilian international consulting firm called Logit ferries 1000s of passengers every day and given that its buses run on specialized lanes, they face no traffic and so it takes less time to complete the same routes that regular commuter …

Scaling up private sector investment in infrastructure -AFDB

Banking

The AfDB hosted discussions on how it can strengthen support of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and channel greater investment towards economic and social infrastructure.

The bank’s digital workshop was under the theme “Designing the African Development Bank’s PPP Framework”. The economic slowdowns caused by the pandemic have sharpened the already urgent need for investment into the African continent.

In his opening remarks, Solomon Quaynor, the bank’s Vice President noted that infrastructure in Africa is already struggling to structure projects made for the private sector which balanced value for money for the public sector against affordability for the user, before COVID-19.

“It is therefore imperative that hybrid solutions such as PPPs must be seen and promoted as a way of building back better, stronger, greener, by clawing back private capital to infrastructure while creating much need fiscal room for governments to address multiple other demands, including building health systems resilience,” said Quaynor.…