Browsing: USA

• The 2024 Henley Passport Index has revealed that African passports still pull teeth in global mobility powerplay, failing to reach the top ten or at least the top fifteen of the annual index.
• In contrast, oil-rich UAE has added 106 destinations to its visa-free score over the past decade.
• Overall, the average number of destinations travelers can access visa-free has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024.

The 2024 Henley Passport Index has been released, and the passport power ranking has exposed several interesting issues, including the ascent of unprecedented nations to the top.

Despite massive investments in the aviation and inter-regional ground transport infrastructure sector by African governments such as Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, and Ethiopia, African countries still struggle to make it into the top ten or at least the top fifteen of the annual index.

On the other side of the aisle, the United Arab …

• Kenya exported coffee worth 26.1 billion shillings (about 229 million U.S. dollars) in 2021
• Kenya’s coffee farmers have over the years complained about the poor prices and mismanagement

Kenya’s coffee farmers have over the years complained about the poor prices and mismanagement that bedevil the commodity.

While coffee was for a long time known as the main forex earner for the country, other sectors like tourism and ICT have overtaken its earnings. So rich was coffee earnings in a newly independent Kenya in the 1960s that it was nicknamed ‘black gold’.

Last year, Kenya exported coffee worth 26.1 billion shillings (about 229 million U.S. dollars) in 2021, up from 195 million dollars in 2020. This was almost a hundred per cent improvement of the US$102 million (KShs10.2bn) at the end of the 2018/2019 crop year which was a 20 per cent drop from the previous year.

Read: Uganda leaves international …

With an area of 390,757 km2, Zimbabwe is a good depiction of dynamite coming in small packages. Its mineral wealth is something any country would envy.

The Southern African country has the largest known deposits of platinum and significant deposits of many other minerals, including gold, nickel, chrome, and diamonds.

Zimbabwe is also renowned for its vast arable lands, which during the peak of its agricultural dominance, earned it the title’ breadbasket of Southern Africa’. Coupled with a highly skilled and hardworking labour force, Zimbabwe would be a prime trade partner to any country.…

The Ghanaian government is calling for a strategic partnership with the United States of America to set up a post Covid-19 economic transformation agenda which will mutually benefit the two countries.

This is according to the Ghanaian Trade and industry minister Alan Kyerematen, who says that this will enable the country to attract more investments from the USA to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area

Ghana is currently USA’s 83rd largest goods trading partner with $1.8 billion in total (two way) goods trade during 2019. Goods exports totaled $840 million; goods imports totaled $943 million. The U.S. goods trade deficit with Ghana was $103 million in the same year.

The Ghanaian Trade minister also explained that the country’s economy was being diversified from cocoa, gold and oil to pharmaceutical, energy and telecommunications, amongst others.

Speaking at the virtual 2021 US Ghana Business Forum which opened yesterday, Mr. …

The year began amidst a raging bull market. Global equities have made up all the post pandemic losses and are up 85% (as at 7 May 2021) since their March 2020 lows.

It’s hard to overstate how dramatic this market moment was, or how much panic was in the air. The horror of more than 700 people dying every day in New York City alone for instance was still in the future, with nurses and doctors wearing trash bags instead of medical personal protective equipment (PPE).

Data shows that many investors have missed the bull run altogether or are significantly underinvested, waiting for the ‘right’ opportunity to re-enter. Those who did stay invested through the volatility or re-entered the market in 2020 have a slightly different problem ‘Should I sell?’.

The Covid-19 crisis was the ultimate affirmation of what is called the golden rule of investing, buy and hold. Your …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization which includes 190 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, in a blogpost titled, ‘Cryptoassets as National Currency? A Step Too Far’, believes that the adoption of cryptocurrencies as national currencies has more risks and cost that outweighs potential benefits.

Cryptocurrencies had an exceptional year in 2017. Both the technology and the value of virtual currencies have experienced historic breakthroughs. At the same time, the rise of these digital currencies is causing serious concerns in the world of cybersecurity.

The IMF blogpost starts by acknowledging the potential benefits of digital currencies saying that new digital forms of money had the potential to provide cheaper and faster payments, enhance financial inclusion, improve resilience and competition among payment providers, and facilitate cross-border transfers.

ALSO READ Zimbabwe’s energy sector to drive agenda at African energy week in South Africa

However, according to the post, the IMF …

The diplomatic ties between the two neighboring countries of Kenya and Somalia has been a bone of contention for months now, this is after Somalia severed diplomatic ties with Kenya in dead of night of December 14, 2020 citing interference and violation of her sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In announcement, Somalia Minister of Information Osman Abukar Dubbe said that cutting ties with Kenya at around 1:40 am Mogadishu time on state-run SNTV, hours after President Uhuru held talks with break-away Somaliland President Muse Bihi at State House, Nairobi, he said that Mogadishu will withdraw all its diplomats from Kenya and has ordered Kenyan diplomats to leave the country within 7 days.

But while everything to restore the diplomacy sanity between the two warrying nations proved to be a difficult thing Qatar stepped in overseeing the mediation of the whole process, in an interview Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign …

Zimbabwe rabbit farmers have imported 100 more pure breeds to help shore up efforts by the country’s rabbit producers to support and expand further cuniculture production.

With its significant potentiality to generate revenue for the country, its potential export market includes China and the US and farmers are leaving nothing to chance to the lucrative farming business.

Rabbit farming is a very profitable business with its demand for rabbit meat increasing in Zimbabwe. People want to try a different type of meat which is not chicken, beef, or pork.

A lot of people are switching to more healthy meat with less fat. Rabbit meat has become a perfect replacement for chicken since it is also white meat. Rabbits are easy to keep and are very profitable as the feed costs are low due to the fact that they eat a variety of foods.

An increasing number of farmers in Zimbabwe …

In the past 5 years, Southern Africa had seen a great influx of Chinese capital in any areas of investment. Many Chinese companies invested large amounts of capital in various sectors including infrastructure, but the one that seems to be getting the most attention lately is the Oil and Gas sector.

Governments would sign multi year contracts granting exploration rights and concessions to oil and natural gas reserves to Chinese companies and negotiate royalties and equity in exchange.

The system worked as a co-ownership that was observed in various countries for the great part of the last decade. Since late 2018, or early 2019, China and the United States have engaged in an economic battle that has seen threats and embargoes being set by both sides. The tensions have not eased with the current pandemic as some world leaders chose to blame China’s lack of transparency to the current pandemic …

Kenya is pursuing a new trade deal with the United States, a deal that was announced earlier in February during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s visit to Washington DC. To set the stage for the new deal, US department of agriculture USDA has announced that Kenya will start receiving wheat from Idaho, Oregon and Washington states after the states addressed plan health concerns.

Kenya has lifted the trade barrier to allow U.S. wheat growers in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) access to Kenya’s wheat market for the first time in over a decade after the U.S.- Kenya Trade and Investment Working Group adopted a phytosanitary protocol.

Effective immediately, U.S. wheat may now be shipped to Kenya, regardless of the state of origin or port of export, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced.  For the last 12 years, USDA’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has worked closely with Kenyan officials to address plant …