Browsing: premium

West Africa’ economic growth will continue being sluggish this year as the region’s 15 economies continue witnessing tepid growth unless things change.

Despite this projection, Nigeria, which is by far the largest economy in the region, has been investing in sectors that are attracting investors from across the continent and beyond.

As the world moves into work and live city models, Nigeria has not been left behind and it can only get better for Africa’s most populous nation. And with 196 million people living in the country going by 2018 estimates, accommodating these numbers means that the country has to be innovative in how it provides housing as well as create jobs.

According to the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF), housing remains a perennial problem in Nigeria. With projections that the country’s population will surge to 263 million by 2038, providing housing for Nigerians needs an emergency …

Changing weather patterns not only affect food production and ecosystems that humans depend on but they also create challenges which threaten the very existence of humanity.

Diseases are some of the risks that come with unpredictable weather cycles making it hard to predict or curtail outbreaks.

With increased disease outbreaks, there is strain on available resources which include human, technical and financial. In addition, time is usually limited if it becomes an issue of race against an epidemic.

Is Africa ready for the risks associated with climate change?

A look at the response in most countries in Africa shows that while governments may do the best they can to contain outbreaks, the changing climate phenomenon may make it harder since pathogens that cause the diseases may be mutating and becoming resistant to available drugs.

This means that without the capacity to keep researching and producing new and stronger drugs, the …

The UK left the European Union (EU) in January after a long and tedious process which saw Prime Minister Theresa May quit as the Conservative leader on June 7, 2019.

Following the divorce, the EU and the UK will determine their future trade relations during the transition period which goes on until the end of this year.

With this reorganisation, developing countries could see their exports to the UK increase. The EU could also offer a slightly bigger market for goods coming from these economies. However, this is dependent on whether the UK increases tariffs for third world countries.

Trading with Britain under preferential terms

With this, it is time for Africa as Brexit could create new opportunities for the continent which just became one the largest free trade area in the world with the AfCFTA which will be operational starting in June 2020.

The UNCTAD notes that a no-deal …

The first quarter of 2020 has had mixed results for the economies of East Africa. The weather, a key determinant of inflation rates, has been good. Forex rates have remained stable in the region as a balance between dollar demands and diaspora remittance has been easily reached. Eastern Africa is one of the regions in Africa with the highest growth rate and this has remained so in the first two months of the year, with Ethiopia and Rwanda still in the driver’s seat. In terms of foreign direct investments, Kenya and Ethiopia are still the leading pack, with Kenya receiving investments in ICT and manufacturing while Tanzania is receiving investments in mining. Rwanda is a leading conference destination and Uganda is receiving investments in renewable energy as well as in oil and gas.

Kenya and Rwanda are still leading in developing policies that promote trade and investments, while Ethiopia is …

Kenya has always been at the center of wildlife conservation due to its world-renowned national parks and an active conservation movement. Drawn by the large economic benefits brought about by tourism, wildlife conservation is however increasingly becoming a strained trade.

Three events happened in the last two months that have cemented Kenya as the center for conservation. First, a project to maintain the legacy of the last white rhino in the world received a boost after the country announced the successful fertilization and creation of new embryos from the original bull.

This research was conducted by Kenya Wildlife Services, OlPajeta Conservancy both based in Kenya, Berlin-based Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW), Italian institute Avantea, and DvůrKrálové Zoo based in the Czech Republic.

The scientists and conservationists predict to have more embryos ready for eventual breeding and repopulation in the near future. This was a series of cutting-edge …

As African nations’ economies grow, so do individual expenses in basic and often, extra necessities, such as food, clothing, rent, data, and entertainment to say the least.

In this case, there are a lot of benefits attached when people tweak their expenses strategically and hone the art of saving, especially on their consumables spending habits when living in big cities, such as Tanzania’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam (Africa’s fifth-largest city).

Tanzania is one of the fastest-growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa, and Dar es Salaam (with more than six million people) is one of the 30 cities in the world growing fast, according to National Geographic.

Expatistan, a cost of living database, noted that Dar es Salaam has cheaper costs of living than in 62 per cent of cities in Africa and in 83 per cent of cities around the world.

As we accumulate savings over time, the nagging worries …

In a jammed conference room in a Nairobi hotel in early 2019, a panel of rights activists poked holes at the Kenyan oil exploration and mining activities in Turkana. Blow by blow, the team illustrated how Kenya stands to lose if radical measures are not put into place to ensure the resource benefits the country.

The Kenya Oil and Gas working group called for an audit of the contracts of oil mining to ensure they follow international standards. Charles Wanguhu, a social activist coordinator of the Kenya Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas, said in international practice, if a company prospects and fails to find oil, it meets its costs.

However, if it finds oil, the country pays for the expenses. Therefore, Wanguhunotes that in the case of Kenya, the need for audit will ensure that the costs which Kenyans will pay for do not include those wells that …

Africa is now more connected, technologically savvy, and focused on enhancing its economic systems compared to 30 years ago. The narrative has changed, from civil unrest and extreme donor-dependent economies, to those with record-high tax collections such as in Tanzania, and information communications and technology (ICT) transformation ones such as Rwanda, Kenya and South Africa. The African GDP has grown to over $2 trillion from about $587 billion in 2000.

Despite the youngest continent’s nations being driven by agriculture—which has also sustained major development, in terms of technology input, funding and research and development, still the continent’s manufacturing industry holds vital potential to stimulate the economy and offer decent livelihood to its vast young human capital, who number over 226 million and who are expected to increase by 42 per cent by 2030 according to the United Nations (UN).

According to Brookings—an American think tank, the future of the manufacturing …

According to Kenya’s Tourism Sector Performance Report 2019(KTSPR 2019), Uganda and Tanzania continue to be major tourist sources for Kenya after the USA. The country received 245,437 tourists from America last year, the highest from one country, while Uganda was second with 223,010 followed by Tanzania at 193,740.

Growth in aviation sector

The increase in arrivals from Uganda was driven by the introduction of Uganda Airline’s direct flight from Entebbe to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi and Moi International Airport (MIA) in Mombasa in 2019.Arrivals from Uganda are expected to increase further this year.

Rwandan visitors to Kenya recorded the highest increase by 24.6 per cent, from 34,758 visitors in 2018 to 43,321 in 2019. That is according to international tourist arrivals data from Kenya’s department of immigration and border management. South Sudan was a close second in increase in visitors at 20.9 per cent, from 20,383 arrivals …

If you are looking to get into business for the first time, or looking for a side hustle to augment your income or looking for a second or even third business to venture into, look no further.

We share some business ideas for 2020, with every business meeting the criteria of having the potential to make you a millionaire, being in demand and having potential to automate.

Gaming

In statistics released in January 2020 by statista.com, the most downloaded Apple App Store category in November 2019 was gaming at 22.37 per cent. Business apps, the second most downloaded category stood at 10.12 per cent of the 33 categories featured.

According to the website, Google play store app most downloaded category in the fourth quarter was gaming at 13.35 percent, followed by education at 8.95 per cent.

With these statistics in mind, gaming seems to be a good business to venture …