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• International arrivals increased from 1.48 million in 2022 to 1.95 million as the sector turned around from lows of 569,848 at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
• Last year’s strong performance saw the country record the highest earnings in tourism receipts, which went up to $2.7 billion, up from $2 billion.
• The US remained the single largest market source even as Africa accounted for the lion’s share of total arrivals during the year, with the East African region remaining key. 

Kenya’s tourist arrivals grew 31.5 per cent last year, official government data indicates, as the tourism sector recovered to pre-pandemic levels not only in the country but globally.

International arrivals increased from 1.48 million in 2022 to 1.95 million as the sector turned around from lows of 569,848 at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Last year’s strong performance saw the country record the highest earnings …

• Kenya is keen on extending its pipeline to Malaba (Kenya-Uganda border), with Uganda expected to construct a link line to Kampala.
• According to the Shippers Council of Eastern Africa (SCEA), Mombasa used to command up to 70% of transit business, but this has decreased to 60 per cent.
• Uganda imports an average of 2.5 billion litres of petroleum annually, valued at about $2 billion, with KPC handling at least 90 per cent of the volumes.

Kenya is courting Uganda in a fresh bid to retain and possibly increase petroleum exports amid increased competition from neighbouring Tanzania. In recent months, East Africa’s economic powerhouse has come under pressure from Tanzania, which is eyeing to tap more transit markets for imports and exports into the hinterland through the Dar es Salaam Port.

In the latest developments, Tanzania has offered to license Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) to import petroleum products through Dar …

• Tanzania to earn $400 million annually from tobacco export/sells.
• The country now ranks second largest tobacco producer in Africa after Zimbabwe.
• Tobacco has no known health benefit. On the contrary, it causes disease, disability and premature death. Over 6 million people die globally every year from tobacco-related illnesses.

Tanzania has been ranked as the second-largest producer of tobacco in Africa, falling behind only neighboring Zimbabwe, even as tobacco’s toll worsens globally. The ranking comes after a bumper harvest in the year 2022/2023, as announced by Tanzania’s Minister for Agriculture, Hussein Bashe.

According to the minister, the country’s tobacco production has more than doubled over the last year alone to 122,858 tonnes in FY2023/2024 from 50,000 tonnes earlier.

As of December last year, the export value of tobacco stood at $316 million, and with the increase in output, the minister is confident that this year the country will attain its …

• Shell Nigeria is selling off major stakes in the west African country.
• Critics blame the government of Nigeria for allowing the sell at a time the oil giant is facing suits on oil spills.
• Activists want Shell Nigeria to be held responsible for alleged decades of oil spills.

Shell Nigeria has sold off major stakes in the Western African country, sparking chatter that the move could be just a ploy to escape oil spill charges in the country. On the other hand, there is an argument that the Shell move is just a numbers game, a move to cut losses in troubled onshore Nigeria stakes in favor of its offshore investments.

Which of the two is true? Is Shell shedding off investments in on-land fossil fuels to redirect its resources to less-hassle offshore exploration, or is the British oil giant simply running away from oil spill charges?

Media has reported …

• Tanzania’s coffee industry enjoyed a bumper harvest of beans in the 2022/23 season, earning the economy an impressive $238 million.
• Coffee is the East African country’s largest cash crop and the sector provides income to over 400,000 households.
• To further boost production, the government is increasing the supply of seedlings to more farmers across the country.

Tanzania may be famous for its expansive tourism offerings, iconic Mount Kilimanjaro, awe-inspiring wildlife wonders in the Serengeti, and the white sandy beaches of Zanzibar, but it is quickly gaining fame on a new frontier: the production of world-class coffee beans.

“Some of the finest single-estate and Peaberry coffee beans in the world come from here,” notes international coffee tester and analyst Arne Preuss in his recent review of the development of Tanzania’s coffee industry.

Tanzania’s coffee production

Tanzania’s coffee production averages between 30,000 and 40,000 metric tonnes annually. It is mainly gaining fame …

• A staggering $8 trillion would be invested in installing renewables to achieve COP28 renewable targets. 
• The report finds that COP28 renewable targets must continue growing enormously beyond the decade’s end.
• Without this, the pledge to triple COP28 renewable targets will ring increasingly hollow.

The investments channelled towards the development of renewables will need to grow fivefold if the Sub-Saharan African countries are to achieve COP28 Renewable Targets.

A new think tank Climate Analytics report shows that $8 trillion of investment is needed for new renewables and $4 trillion for grid and storage infrastructure to deliver the 2030 tripling goal agreed at COP28 – or combined, $2 trillion a year on average.

This is twice as fast as the current global average. 2023 global investment reached $1 trillion, around half of the annual investment needed between 2024 and 2030.

The insights show that using climate finance to mobilise $100 billion a …

• Analysts observe numerous loopholes in global climate talks, with a failure to address glaring food security concerns.
• Financial commitments for food systems remain low, affecting implementation, and leaving millions of people hungry.
• Agriculture accounts for a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions.

For the very first time, food systems were finally discussed at the just-ended COP28 in Dubai late last year, but analysts are up in arms, asking if it’s a ‘too little, too late’ scenario.

“Given the profound impact of agricultural practices and food consumption patterns on our planet’s health, this attention is long overdue,” notes the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) in its review of the COP28 outcome.

Better late than never, so “though the talks’ long overdue focus on food and agriculture ultimately disappointed, it provides a starting point for future action and advocacy.”

COP28 was held in Dubai late last year, and while there …

• Tanzania sugar shortage is sparking unrelenting hike in prices.
• The government of Tanzania has approved the import of over 100,000 tonnes of sugar.
• President Samia has pledged to increase sugar production by 2025.

A biting sugar shortage in Tanzania is causing the price of the commodity to skyrocket over the last few months. On the one hand, the sugar shortage is blamed on heavy rains at the end of last year while on the other hand, there are allegations of hoarding and price setting by industry cartels.

With little to no evidence of the latter, the speculations remain just that, mere allegations. However, what is undisputed is sugar shortage and the attendant surge in prices for the sweetener.

Sugar shortage in Tanzania has persisted for almost an entire year now. So profound is the problem that President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan was forced to issue a public statement explaining the …

• Sports industry in Africa is expected to grow by 8 percent in 3 to 5 years according to advisory giant PwC
• Currently, milions of Africans, including businesses based in the continent that have pumped millions into the tournament, are following the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON 2023 finals in Ivory Coast.
• In 2021, Cameroon invested over $800 million in preparations for that year’s AFCON finals.

The 2021 African football continental showpiece—Cup of Nations (AFCON)—saw Cameroon attract millions of spectators both physically and virtually, a scenario that is music to the ears of sponsors. This further fortifies the fact that sports in Africa have the potential to generate billions of dollars.

Fast forward to 2030, Morocco is poised to become the second African country to ever stage a World Cup after South Africa in 2010, marking a historic step in African football and the business value chain that comes with the sport.

In …