Browsing: US

• UN requires G7 countries to commit 0.7% of their Gross National Income to development aid.
• However, the US is the largest donor of international aid according to the UN.
• Statistics from One Campaign show that the G7 and the EU Institutions’ share of aid to Africa is at a near 50-year low.

The cuts to international aid by U.S. President Donald Trump (and billionaire Elon Musk) have sparked global outrage, including in Africa. However, given that the United Nations recognizes Washington as the single largest donor of global aid, can we definitively say Trump (or Musk) is wrong?

Consider this: according to the UN, the U.S. accounted for over 40 per cent of all humanitarian aid tracked in 2024. This means nearly half of last year’s global aid came from American taxpayers—a level of generosity that’s hard to ignore.

But was this a one-time display of goodwill? The numbers …

• Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd has received the final $7M installment of a $27M settlement with Tanzania, resolving a long-standing dispute over the expropriation of its Wigu Hill rare earth project.
• While this payment marks the conclusion of the legal battle, Montero noted that final legal costs and expenses must still be determined before net proceeds can be confirmed.
• The company is now evaluating the distribution of funds and expects to provide an update on potential shareholder payments by Q2 2025.

Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd has confirmed receiving $7,000,000, being the final instalment in a US$27,000,000 settlement between the Company and Tanzania. Paid in cash, the final Instalment brings to an end the long standing dispute between the company and the East African country where it has mining operations.

Notably, the amount accounts for approximately 39 per cent of Montero’s initial $70 million claim in a legal battle that …

• Trump’s deportation list has people from virtually every nation in the world, including Africa.
• Amnesty Internation has protested inhumane treatment of deportees.
• Chains, cuffs, military planes used to ‘criminalize’ immigrants.

Thousands of people from Africa are fast joining Trump’s deportation list, one of the trending topic across all media, following a nationwide US immigration crackdown that resulted in thousands of arrests, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reported. US president Donald Trump returned to power on a ‘Mass Deportation’ ticket and he is living up to this eerie promise.

The nearly 1000 arrests per day look overwhelming and could surpass what his predecessor, Joe Biden, carried during the last four years in office. Biden okayed 1.5 million deportations, according to figures by the Migration Policy Institute.

While Biden focused on individuals who had committed crimes, Trump is going for any and all undocumented persons. “Since taking office, Trump …

Global climate negotiators have reached a framework for climate financing to deal with loss and damage in the run-up to the COP28 in Dubai.…

Four African countries are staring at huge losses running into billions of dollars starting January 2024 following their expulsion from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The move will further worsen the unemployment crisis in the affected countries. Agoa offers thousands of jobs in apparels industry, especially to the youth.…

• Data centres are IT facilities that manage big organisations’ data. They house state-of-the-art computing infrastructure with very powerful machines. 
• The new facility will be built on a part of the former Trade Fair showgrounds site, one of the key central locations in the city. 
• This new facility is part of Africa Data Centres’ continental expansion plans spanning 10 of Africa’s major economic hubs. 

Africa Data Centres, the largest network of interconnected data centre facilities on the continent, is set to open West Africa’s largest facility in Ghana in the next 12 months. The firm announced it will shortly start construction on its newly acquired land in Accra, Ghana. 

The new facility has been designed for an initial 10MW, which can expand to 30MW depending on demand. It will be the largest facility in West Africa to date, outside of Nigeria.

“We continue to bring internationally recognised services and products through …

• The influx of used clothes from the west in effect affects the development of textile industries in the EAC
• Five years later, a new administration, Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war not to mention a stronger China economy, the US may reconsider EAC state’s position.
• EA States have 2 years to consider if they want AGOA renewed

In 2015, all major economies in East Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia proposed to ban the importation of second-hand clothes but the US would have none of it.

The intention was good, even noble: Banning second-hand imports would strengthen the domestic textile industry which would create jobs and other positive ripple effects.

“The US claimed this proposal goes too far and violates the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which aims to expand trade and investment on the continent,” the media reported.

Once the US pulled the AGOA card, the East African …

• The change in patterns of trade triggered by these two major events is now forcing the MNCs to go back to the drawing board.
• MNCs need to reconfigure their trade routes. They have to re-lobby for assured capital and they have to broker new destinations for their goods.
• With the changing global trade polarities, the MNCs are rethinking China, and eyeing future giants like Africa. 

The much acclaimed African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) that came into being last year may just have saved Africa from a new world trade order.

Thanks to the global pandemic and then the Russia-Ukraine war, the plate tectonic of global trade is shifting. The resulting divergence and convergence are squeezing and pulling in different directions.

Multinational Companies (MNCs) have, for the last three decades or more, controlled trade. These international corporations have enjoyed the fruits of globalization more than any other business entity.

They …

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has retained the base lending rate in the country at 8.75 per cent, citing easing inflationary pressure and positive macroeconomics outlook.

CBK’s decision making orga­­­­­n –­­­­­­­­ Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met on Monday  against a backdrop of a weak global growth outlook, decline in global commodity prices, easing inflationary pressures, geopolitical tensions, persistent uncertainties, and measures taken by authorities around the world in response to these developments.

This includes the back-to-back fed rate hikes witnessed in the US as the country navigated high inflation which hit a peak last year.

Kenya’s overall inflation decreased to 9.1 per cent in December 2022 from 9.5 per cent in November, mainly due to lower food prices.

Food inflation declined to 13.8 per cent in December from 15.4 per cent in November, largely driven by a decrease in prices of maize and milk products.

This is pegged on …

• American investment bank Goldman Sachs plans to lay off 3,200 employees this week
• Goldman Sachs typically trims about one to five per cent of its employees each year and targets underperforming staff
• The upcoming trim is expected to be deeper than usual in light of the uncertain economic outlook
• Major U.S. banks, manufacturers and tech companies announced significant corporate layoffs in 2022, amid high inflation, and five rounds of interest rate hikes sparked fears of a recession

New data has revealed that American investment bank Goldman Sachs plans to lay off thousands of employees this week.

Multiple sources, including Capital FM, reported that Goldman Sachs would lay off 3,200 people, down from the expected 4,000 revealed in December 2022.

Quoting AFP, the news outlet noted that the American firm typically trims about one to five per cent of its employees each year and targets underperforming staff.

Why Goldman Sachs is