Browsing: investment

According to the EIU graphic, much of the external debt stock of African countries consists of public medium- and long-term borrowings. This form of borrowing has been on the rise since 2000.

Private medium- and long-term debt stock in Africa has also been on the increase but not at the same scale and magnitude as the public debt. In short, governments, through their finance ministries, have been on a borrowing binge since 2000, whereas the private sector has marginally increased its borrowings in United States-denominated debt.

The increased levels of borrowing in hard currency badly expose governments to movements in interest rates and exchange rates. South Africa has the most external debt exposure of any country in Africa, followed by Egypt and Nigeria. With these facts in mind, it is no surprise to how much the Rand, the South African currency unit, has depreciated against the dollar.…

McKinsey’s report notes that the wages of consumers are steadily being eroded. Wages in the largest economies reportedly flatlined; in other words, no significant change in their levels was recorded. Prior to the pandemic, the same wages were said to have increased, giving workers the upper hand in negotiations. The pandemic, however, drastically altered that state of affairs. Wages in developed markets post the pandemic are also related, but the advent of inflation has checked that growth and, in some instances, set the trend backwards.

In the United Kingdom, there have been reports of wages being lower year on year.

The culmination of these factors is that the outlook for global economic growth will be lower this year than last. McKinsey expects central banks to increase interest rates more assertively to deal with inflationary pressure. The risk of recession is becoming more and more prevalent.…

Southern Africa, East and West Africa saw their flows of FDI rise in 2021. It was only in Central and North Africa that flows of foreign direct investment were flat or declined, respectively. Flows to North Africa fell by 5 per cent to $9.3 billion.

Egypt saw its FDI drop by 12% as large investments in exploration and production agreements in extractive industries were not repeated. Despite the decline, Egypt has the second highest flows of FDI in 2021 on the continent.

UNCTAD reports that it expects FDI flows to increase in North Africa owing to pledges of as much as US$ 22 billion to the region from Gulf states. In Egypt, according to the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2022 tripled green field projects of US$ 5.6 billion and real estate projects of US$ 1.5 billion.

In Morocco, FDI flows increased by 52% to US$ 2.2 billion. This was driven …

This is specifically in the case of South Africa, which has enjoyed the most benefit from the mining sector in the southern region. This benefit translated into further foreign direct investment flows of more than US$ 40 billion in 2021 alone, up from US$ 3 billion in 2020.

This is in contrast with Zimbabwe, which has been an investment pariah for the last two decades. Zimbabwe has not appropriated as much from its mining sector relative to South Africa, especially when viewed through the foreign direct investment lens. According to its central bank, the country garnered foreign direct investment proceeds of US$ 103 million for the year.

Regardless of the poor showing in FDI terms, the country has recorded a 33% rise in export earnings driven primarily by the mining industry to US$ 5.45 billion. This is to show that the mining sector is central to southern Africa’s economic development.…

Economically the World Bank categorizes São Tomé and Príncipe as a lower middle-income state with what it calls a fragile economy.

This is not a mischaracterization as the country relies heavily on the tourism sector, making it much more susceptible to external and exogenous shocks. This assertion is confirmed by the African Development Bank, which reported in its economic outlook on São Tomé and Príncipe that the country’s economy shrank by an estimated 6.4% in 2020 after growing by 2.2% in 2018 and 1.3% in 2019.

Will Ghana’s stance on value addition resonate in Africa?

For the first time in a decade, the contraction in output is attributed to a sharp decline in tourism and service sectors, which were severely hurt by weak external and domestic demand and COVID–19 containment measures.…

It is critical to strengthen a professional, independent supervision secretariat to make the AfCFTA agreement’s promise a reality. A strong secretariat can assist states in developing strong domestic institutions to administer, monitor, and enforce the AfCFTA. The moment for change has arrived. The conventional development models have failed Africa. The AfCFTA, on the other hand, signifies that Africa is open for business.…

Interestingly, of the US$1.5 trillion in foreign direct investment recorded in 2021, 53% of that money was channelled towards developing economies. Africa made a very strong showing in terms of foreign direct investment in 2021.

According to the report, Africa attracted US$ 83 billion in foreign direct investment compared to the US$ 39 billion it achieved in 2020. Of the global investment flows that landed on African shores in 2021 US$ 41 billion went directly to South Africa.

Despite the positive developments that occurred in 2021 in foreign direct investment, the UNCTAD report concludes by stating that the growth and momentum in FDI flows in 2021 will not be sustainable given the adverse economic developments that have occurred in 2022.

UNCTAD expects these developments will either put downward pressure on the flow of FDI or flatten the curve.…

Caledonia’s chief executive, Mark Learmoth, speaking of the Bilboes Project called it a “premier gold development project in Zimbabwe and one of the best gold development projects in Africa”.

Through its acquisition strategy, Caledonia is steadily and certainly transforming itself from being a single mine operator to one where it produces a single commodity but operating various mines and mining projects. The company’s boss called this transaction a “transformational asset” and said it was the next step in Caledonia’s journey to becoming a multi-asset mid-tier gold producer.

Prior to its acquisition strategy Caledonia operated a single mine in Zimbabwe which is the Blanket Mine situated in Gwanda, in the Matabeleland South province of Zimbabwe. The company targeted producing 80,000 ounces of gold from its mine in 2022. The acquisition of the Bilboes project, considering that it will produce 168,000 ounces of gold annually over its 10-year life of mine, means …

On the backdrop of increasing global demand for cashew nuts, the government of Tanzania is now subsidizing agro-inputs for farmers of the crop.

According to global market trends, demand for edible cashews is on a drastic rise riding on the back of increased consumer consciousness of the nut’s high nutrient value. Cashews are consumed whole as a snack but due to the increased market response to its high nutrient value, producers are now increasing their value chain through various products.

• Tanzania issues free agro-inputs to cashew nut farmers
• The world cashew market growing rapidly
• China government launches national campaign for daily consumption of nuts

Cashews can nowadays be found in almost all of your daily treats in energy bars, cookies, chocolates, and even ice creams. Grown across several continents, demand for cashew is highest in Asia where it is used as the main ingredient in various dishes as well as …

The African logistics market has proven itself ahead of the curve in many areas, with endless potential and opportunities lurking just beneath the surface.…