Browsing: Southern Africa

East African cities dominate the top five performing cities, including Kampala, Antananarivo, Mwanza, and Dar Es Salaam. While Sub-Saharan cities…

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically altered the global education landscape. Consequently, it pushed educators to innovate rapidly and adapt to new modes of teaching and learning. In Southern Africa, the pandemic prompted a swift shift towards blended learning. This involved a combination of in-person and online education, as schools and universities temporarily closed their physical doors. The need to ensure continuity in education while minimizing the risks of virus transmission drove this unprecedented change in the education sector. Among the various approaches adopted during this period, e-learning emerged as a powerful tool with the potential to revolutionize education in Southern Africa. As such, the region’s education sector can harness the power of gamification to shape a brighter future for its students.

Central Africa’s economic performance was powered by the DRC, which grew at a jaw-dropping 8.5% in 2022. Central Africa growth…

East Africa is anticipated to have the highest performance, surpassing other regions. Central Africa is projected to experience growth of…

The war in Ukraine has shown how dependent Europe is on natural gas for power. Before the conflict broke out…

The shrinking economy and resulting unemployment have given birth to an informal economy that has spiralled out of control. Treasury and monetary authorities have been at pains to find ways they can tax the informal sector. The informal economy is difficult, if not impossible, to absorb into the formal economy or to include in the tax pool from which the government can draw revenue.

As the formal economy shrinks, so has Zimbabwe’s effective tax revenue stream, and this problem can only be arrested and mitigated by a growing economy.

An economy characterized by slow or negative growth makes it more difficult for the government to repair its finances. This is because there is a positive relationship between a country’s tax pool and the growth of the economy. A shrinking economy brings with it the added cost of having to provide social safety nets for the vulnerable members of its society.

If the government does not cater to these members of society during times when the economy shrinks, it will invariably experience heightened levels of poverty.

Africa’s fast population growth exacerbates the issue. According to most estimates, Africa’s population will double by 2050 and then double again by 2100, finally reaching over 4 billion by the end of the century. Feeding Africa’s rising population will need considerable breakthroughs in the continent’s food systems.

However, agricultural progress may be difficult if African farmers are subjected to more severe climatic effects. To prepare for these future difficulties, one must understand how climate change will materialize in Africa and its impact on the continent’s agricultural systems.

The company, given the first resources boom and the second one currently being enjoyed, should be awash with cash. Instead, the company is heavily indebted to the tune of between US$70 million and US$160 million which it attempted to expunge unsuccessfully through a rights issue in 2015.

The company has been limping along financially for years. In 2019 it was reported that its liabilities exceeded assets by US$19 million. This development made it doubtful that the company could carry on as a going concern after having been placed under judicial management.

The recent interim financial results presented by the company offer some consolation to investors who have been suffering for long.

Since then the company has pursued a highly aggressive growth strategy constituting of both organic and acquisitive growth. Sibanye in a very short space of time acquired the Cooke operations from Gold One International in 2013 and the Burnstone project from Wits Gold the following year. The aim of this aggressive growth strategy was to produce more sustainable gold operations. 

The story of growth did not stop there. 

Soon the company set its sights on the platinum sector and began to snap up various interests and operations in that space. In 2016 Sibanye acquired the Aquarius Platinum’s Rustenburg operations namely Kroondal mine as well as the Platinum Mile treatment facility in South Africa and in Zimbabwe it took over the Mimosa joint venture with Impala Platinum. Later that year the company also bought the Rustenburg operations of Anglo Platinum.

Fairtrade International has committed to double the average income of farmers and workers in Africa. Speaking during the ongoing 7th…