Browsing: Sub-Saharan Africa

• Sub-saharan Africa now faces new economic growth challenges, compounded by the Russian invasion of Ukraine
• A World Bank report estimates growth at 3.6 per cent in 2022, down from 4 per cent in 2021 as the region continues to deal with new COVID-19 variants, global inflation, supply disruptions and climate shocks
• Resource-rich countries, especially their extractive sectors, will see improved economic performance due to the war in Ukraine, while non-resource-rich countries will experience a deceleration in economic activity

As the Sub-Saharan African economy struggles to recover from the 2020 recession induced by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the region now faces new economic growth challenges, compounded by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The World Bank’s latest Africa’s Pulse, a biannual analysis of the near-term regional macroeconomic outlook, estimates growth at 3.6 per cent in 2022, down from 4 per cent in 2021 as the region continues to deal with new COVID-19 …

This as 19 per cent of people in sub-Saharan Africa lived in areas not covered by mobile networks while an additional 53 per cent did not use mobile internet despite having coverage.

The need for accessible internet solutions comes after Meta (formerly Facebook) announced plans to shut down its low-cost Express Wi-Fi internet.

The programme was launched back in 2016 to drive internet connectivity in regions where other forms of connectivity, like ADSL and fibre-optic networks, aren’t readily available or established.…

• Tanzania’s cement demand is estimated to have clocked 5.9Mt and is growing fast.
• Maweni Limestone Ltd will be China’s first African entity producing cement on the continent instead of importing.
• The newly purchased plant by Huaxin Cement has already been upgraded to a production capacity of 1.6Mt/yr.

If there is a booming industry in Tanzania, it is the cement industry – an industry that has more than doubled in production in under a decade.

As of 2011, Tanzania was producing 2.4Mt annually, a figure that has shot up to 6.5Mt as of 2020.

Compared to the previous year, the production volume of cement grew by 44.5 per cent and is associated with rising construction activity in the country.

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Another marker of how well the industry is doing is the amount of investment the sector is getting annually. Consider the most recent buyout of Maweni Limestone Ltd by China’s Huaxin …

The number of tourists arriving in Tanzania has increased an impressive 52% between January and November 2021 and with it, the country has enjoyed increased revenue collection of an even more impressive 69 per cent growth.

What has sparked this increase in tourists arrivals is, among other things, the country’s rigorous decimation of the Covid-19 uptake and the generally positive response of the public. Notably, as of 5^th December 2021, almost 2 million (1,699,523) vaccine doses have been administered.

As was the case elsewhere in the world outbreak of the pandemic fall in tourism arrivals severely affected the economy and more so the tourism and hospitality sectors.

To get a perspective of how the two sectors in Tanzania were hard hit, consider the fact that tourist arrivals in 2019 were slightly above 1.5 million yet this number dropped more than 50 per cent to a lowly 600,000 tourists in …

As of 2017, the trade initiative had created over 300,000 jobs in sub-Saharan Africa, many of which were in the apparel sector.
We recently carried out a Kenya country case study on the implementation of AGOA in the 2000 to 2016 period. We found that in this period, Kenya’s total exports to the US grew by US$443.2 million (or 405 per cent) from US$109.4 million to US$552.6 million. By 2020, the figure had risen to US$569 million, with most of the country’s exports coming from eligible products.
Looked at differently, in the nine years before the trade programme (1992 to 2000), Kenya’s average annual exports to the US were US$101 million. In the nine years after (2002 to 2010), average annual exports to the US rose to US$305 million. They rose further on average to US$557 million in the 2012 to 2020 period.…

Because outside of the governments, politicians, civil servants, lobbyists and pressure groups that thronged the Conference there is a cohort of entrepreneurs that are passionate about reversing climate change, that have fantastic commercially viable and innovative ideas, but who require funding and strategic support to make these ideas a reality.  

And so I want to suggest that as well as taking personal responsibility for our carbon footprint and doing all that we can to minimise our negative impact on Planet Earth, we should also be investing in line with environmental, social and governance principles at all times – and ensuring that 20% of our investments in 2021/22 should be directly targeted at investments that will have a positive environmental impact. …

In June, the Voice of America reported that a bomb had gone off at a market in Tigray at about 1 pm, right when the market would be at its busiest time. At least 43 people were killed and dozens of others wounded.

This was June 22, a day after Ethiopia held its sixth national elections and a fortnight from the commencement of the second filling of the GERD.

Will fighting in Tigray deter Ethiopia’s GERD plans?…

• The launch of  OneVoice for Cloud PBX is part of the organization’s investment as it partners with its customers in their digital transformation journeys that have accelerated due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The OneVoice for Cloud PBX solution will assist businesses irrespective of their size in their telephony and collaboration needs.
• The solution is powered by a single integrated platform converting legacy PBX telephony system into a cloud-based IP communication solution.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a business of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology group on Thursday November 11, 2021 launched OneVoice for Cloud PBX offering in six key African markets.

The firm which is currently present in more than 20 countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa has firmly established
itself as the leading provider of pan-African digital infrastructure with an extensive network covering over 100,000 km.

The launch of  OneVoice for Cloud PBX is part of the organization’s investment as it partners …

This, in a fair world, would mean that the international community is obliged to support the continent’s switch to renewable energy. However, since this is not the case, Africa has to make the best with what is at its disposal.

Since coal, oil and traditional biomass remain easily accessible as sources of energy, should the continent even bother switching to the unreliable yet expensive renewable energy?

The possibility of this question being debated with not positive outcome is high but the reality remains that Africa’s renewable energy potential is excellent due to the fact that it has diverse sources which could provide unlimited energy if well-tapped and harnessed. …

The government of Tanzania has received 1.3tri/- as Covid-19 relief package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Now the government has announced plans to implement a score of projects that will be financed with this fund in a move it says, will help the private sector’s liquidity.

As part of its own fiscal policies to cushion the economy from the negative effects of the global pandemic, the government, through the Central Bank has also released another 1tri/- to commercial banks in a bid to increase their lending capacity.

With these funds, the Central Bank released funding and IMF funding that goes into implementing national projects, the private sector is empowered to borrow and win project tenders and as such increase money circulation in the economy.

The strategy is meant to back the economy which had slowed down due to reduced demand which in turn reduced produced production stagnating the whole …