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The new automated issuance of import and export services which has gone live this month is aimed at providing efficiency and compliance among importers and exporters. 

AFA-IMIS which stands for Agriculture and Food Authority of Kenya Integrated Management Information System was collectively launched by Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives, TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) and AFA  to automate agricultural business processes including issuance of permits and licensing. …

Before the onset of Covid-19, women farmers were already grappling with challenges ranging from access to financing, poor bargaining power as well as the climate crisis.

Women are now bearing the brunt of rising hunger due to Covid-19 as they skip meals so that their children can eat and face rising levels of gender-based violence.  This is according to a report by ActionAid.  …

The month of March marked one year after most countries globally locked up their people, introduced tough restrictions on movement and introduced ways of containing the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19). For East Africa, this has been a tough outing with thousands sick, and millions affected economically. The countries in the region have also reacted differently, with Rwanda and Kenya being on the extreme cautious path, while Tanzania and Burundi have applied the Laissez-Faire approach. 

Stocks in the region have been hit hard with the regional bourses shrinking significantly, as well as a loss in interest by foreign investors. The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) seems to have been hard hit with an unprecedented bear run. According to the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) end-of-year statistical bulletin, all indices at the Nairobi bourse performed poorly, with net foreign outflow hitting KSh28.63 billion ($260.9M) compared to a net foreign inflow of KSh1.38 billion ($12.6M) in …

African cities are prone to flood damage, which can be widespread leaving hundreds homeless, communities and economic systems destabilized and infrastructures costing millions to build, destroyed. 

All these issues factor in an uncomfortable reality that African communities cannot afford. According to a 2018 publication by The Conversation, floods cost Tanzania up to $2 billion annually, while tracing back to 2012, Nigeria—Africa’s top economy suffered its largest floods in the century which wiped out assets worth nearly $10 billion. …

In this case, investing in data is crucial for developing economies. Hence—over time—different organisations such as the World Bank (WB) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) have rallied for the utilization of data and promoting data democratization for effective development planning. 

The value of data is vast and elongates further especially in emerging economies. According to a January 2021 publication by WEF, there are more things to explore when it comes to data and Africa has been painted as one of the interesting places on the planet with sufficient opportunities. 

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Much of the talk at the moment, and nearly always, is where we should invest in a world of recession, low-interest rates, unpredictable markets and a challenging socio-political climate. As open borders in East Africa close, open, close and re-open again and as Kenya prepares for yet another Covid-19 lock-down our own region is particularly challenging.  

I am a member of several international investment groups and so I am fortunate to hear the views, perspectives and experiences of many clever and visionary investors around the world. I have written here before about ESG investing – Environmental, Social Impact and Governance – the “do’s” of impact invest but I haven’t written about the “Don’ts”. And it strikes me that we should be talking just as much, perhaps even more, about where not to invest at the moment and in the future. …

Zimbabwe’s food security levels are quite low, but there is a promise of a better outcome from the previously anticipated situation. This is mainly because the country has received above-average levels of rainfall during the current rain season. There is hope that the expected bumper harvest will help bring resolution to the challenges of food insecurity.

However, there is still a need for food aid due to the deficit emanating from the two previous consecutive poor rainfall seasons experienced in most districts of Zimbabwe. The droughts resulted in poor harvests, which caused inadequate household food stock from personal production.…

Africa has experienced marginalisation and social exclusion since gaining independence from its colonisers. Among the policies developed during the colonisation era was the exclusion of Africans from any level of government, or if they were allowed to join, they joined without authority. This kind of racial discrimination is still being experienced in global workspaces to date. Africa has remained stagnant and regressed in terms of foreign trade, investment, per capita income, and other economic growth measures to date due to the effects of colonisation.

Poor governance and corruption, amongst other factors, have continued to repress Africa’s growth; however, more governments are taking the initiative to improve policies that promote education and health outcomes for their people, thereby reducing social exclusion and marginalisation.…

March 8th marked the celebrations of International Women’s day under the theme ‘choose to challenge’. As women across the world choose to challenge societal norms and the traditional disregard of women, African women are steering the growth of the continent as pivotal players.

A commonly shared African proverb says, ‘when you educate a boy, you train a man; if you educate a girl, you train a village.’ This proverb simply highlights the impact women have on the community when given a chance and a voice. In the economic history of the African community, women were sidelined and viewed as lesser than their male counterparts.…

The AfCFTA gives Africa an opportunity to confront its trade and economic development challenges such as market fragmentation, small-scale national economies, a narrow export base, caused by shallow manufacturing capacity, and underdeveloped industrial regional value chains.

AfCFTA is one of the tools for making a fundamental structural transformation for Africa’s economy and placing it on the path of long-term industrial development. AfCFTA will also strengthen the continent’s bargaining position when engaging in trade negotiations with economic powers such as China and the European Union. This implies that trade will become more favourable for African products, and now when Africa partners with the likes of China and other countries, focus should be on capital supply as well as industrialisation.…