Has the Ghanaian Banking Sector Turned the Corner?
Ghana's banking sector is stabilizing as macroeconomic recovery and sweeping reforms take hold. Inflation fell from a record 54.1% in 2022 to 5.4% by early 2026 and the cedi appreciated about 30% while the Bank of Ghana cut its policy rate to 15.5%. The central bank overhauled micro‑finance regulation, raising capital thresholds and converting rural banks into community banks, driving non‑performing loans down to 19.5% and targeting 10% by 2026. Government debt restructuring and fiscal consolidation, backed by an IMF program, have restored confidence and prompted banks to shift credit toward productive private‑sector activities.
Safaricom's Ziidi Smashes Records on Nairobi Exchange
Safaricom’s Ziidi Trader, launched on the M‑Pay platform in early February, sparked a surge in Nairobi Securities Exchange activity, with daily equity trades climbing from under 8,000 to more than 25,000. The app gives roughly 38 million M‑Pay subscribers the ability...
Africa Reckons with Oil Price Spike as Iran War Widens
The United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran, triggering a sharp rise in global oil prices. Brent crude surged 13% before settling 8.5% higher, marking its biggest daily jump in nearly three years. The conflict has halted...
Inside the Fund Taking Women Asset Managers to the Next Level
In 2025, women-only founders raised just 0.9% of African startup capital, while women-led firms received only 2.2% of funding. The African Women Impact Fund (AWIF), launched with $60 million and bolstered by an extra $10 million from Standard Bank, aims to close...
RAW Business: African Female Leaders Rethink Leadership Frameworks for a Changing Global Economy
The 2025 RAW Conference in Nairobi urged African female leaders to design indigenous leadership and equity frameworks instead of relying on imported Western models. Panelists highlighted the shortcomings of performative diversity and called for structures grounded in African realities to...
What Has Museveni Done for Uganda?
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni secured a seventh term in the January 2026 elections with 71.6% of the vote, while opposition leader Bobi Wine received 24% amid allegations of fraud and election‑related violence. Over his 40‑year rule, Museveni has overseen steady...
Nigerian Government Accused of Electoral Act Loophole
President Bola Tinubu signed an amendment to Nigeria's Electoral Act that mandates electronic transmission of results but retains a manual fallback if technical issues arise. The law also omits a real‑time publishing requirement, prompting opposition parties and civil society to...
African Guarantee Fund: De-Risking Africa's Growth Story
The African Guarantee Fund (AGF) has leveraged nearly $3 billion in guarantees to mobilise $6.5 billion in loans for micro, small and medium enterprises across 44 African nations. By sharing credit risk with partner banks, the fund has reached more than 50,000...
What Africa's Banks Can Steal From China's Playbook
The China Development Bank (CDB) grew its balance sheet to $2.6 trillion with a 0.37 % non‑performing loan ratio by leveraging bundled project lending and provincial platform companies. African multilateral financial institutions now control $70 billion to $320 billion in capital, positioning them to...
On Africa's Terms: Taking Control of the Resource Future
BGN Group, under CEO Rüya Bayegan, is scaling its African footprint by supplying Egypt with up to 160 LNG cargoes through 2026 and operating fuel terminals across Morocco. In July 2025 the firm launched a joint venture with the DRC’s...
Mobile Handset Is Now the Front Door to the Future of Banking in Africa
The Africa Digital Banking Experience report shows mobile handsets have become the primary gateway to banking across the continent. With mobile penetration rising and smartphones becoming affordable, banks are shifting to mobile‑first strategies and redesigning products for handset users. While...
Russia Lures African Recruits as Ukraine War Reaches Fourth Year
Russia, facing mounting casualties in its fourth year of the Ukraine war, has turned to African recruits to replenish its ranks, with Ukrainian intelligence estimating more than 1,400 individuals from 36 African nations have been enlisted. Kenya reports roughly 200...
Private Investors Eye Africa's Electricity Transmission Opportunity
Private investors are entering Africa’s electricity transmission sector, marked by Uganda’s $50 million Amari project—the continent’s first independent transmission project (ITP) to begin construction. Similar public‑private partnerships are emerging in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa, where a new procurement programme has...
Egypt's Bid to Anchor a Cairo to Cape Town African Trade Highway
In November 2025 Egypt’s deputy transport minister reported that roughly 80% of the Cairo‑to‑Cape Town trans‑African highway is finished, positioning Egypt as the north‑south anchor of the corridor. The project, part of the African Union’s Trans‑African Highway network, is funded...
Capitalising Africa's Youth Dividend
At the Africa Business Forum 2026 in Addis Ababa, leaders launched the Jobs Wall Commitment Tracker to record public and private sector job promises. The gathering emphasized that Africa’s youthful demographic demands risk‑tolerant, long‑term capital focused on research, innovation, and...
Commodity Boom Helps to Drive JSE Confidence
South Africa’s commodity surge—gold up 65% and platinum 125%—is fueling a boom on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, with mining firms delivering double‑digit returns. The JSE’s recent rule changes, cutting shareholder approval thresholds from 75% to 50% and aligning disclosure standards,...
Africa Needs Patient Capital for the Long Term
Africa’s growth potential is hampered by a $350 billion SME financing gap and annual infrastructure needs of $130‑170 billion, far exceeding current investment. While the continent’s population tops 1.5 billion and GDP surpasses $3 trillion, capital flows remain fragmented and short‑term. The article argues...
Meloni's Ethiopia Visit Firms up Italy's Africa Plans
Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni visited Ethiopia to cement Italy’s renewed Africa strategy, highlighting the operational rollout of the Mattei Plan. The plan aims to turn Italy into an energy hub by building pipelines that export gas and hydrogen from...
Africa's Water and Sanitation Access Gap Is Constraining Economic Growth
Limited access to water and sanitation continues to hamper Africa’s development, with one‑third of the population lacking basic drinking water and two‑thirds without proper sanitation. The African Union estimates the WASH shortfall costs the region about 4.3 % of GDP each...
Book Review: How Africa Works by Joe Studwell
Joe Studwell’s new book “How Africa Works” asks why the continent remains poor and outlines policies that could accelerate growth, emphasizing agriculture, demographics, and the “enclave effect” of resource extraction. He profiles four early‑movers—Botswana, Mauritius, Ethiopia, and Rwanda—showing how targeted...
Fears that Basel III Regulations Could Penalise Africa
The Basel III regulatory package, delayed to a full 2027 rollout, tightens capital quality, leverage and liquidity requirements for banks worldwide. African banks risk higher capital costs because their sovereign debt is risk‑weighted more heavily, potentially limiting credit to the...
AU Assembly Endorses AUDA‑NEPAD Priorities, Appoints New HSGOC Chair and Renews CEO Mandate
The African Union General Assembly endorsed AUDA‑NEPAD’s priority agenda for the acceleration phase of the Second Ten‑Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063, reaffirming its mandate across human capital, agriculture, climate resilience, health, industrialisation and infrastructure. It appointed Angola President João Manuel...
Overseas and E-Commerce Payments to Be Made Easier in Ethiopia
The National Bank of Ethiopia announced sweeping foreign‑exchange reforms, letting exporters retain 100% of their foreign‑currency earnings in designated accounts and permitting banks to issue payment cards linked to those accounts. The minimum $100 requirement for foreign‑exchange savings accounts has...
From Pilots to Platforms: Nairobi Sets Out Africa's Practical AI Playbook
The Nairobi AI Forum 2026 gathered 650 delegates to move African artificial intelligence from pilots to scalable, affordable solutions. Co‑hosted by Kenya, Italy and the UNDP, the event announced 1.5 million GPU hours for 130 innovators and a €50 million Harmonic Africa...
Fitch, Afreximbank, and Africa's Development Sovereignty
Afreximbank terminated its credit rating relationship with Fitch after the agency reclassified the bank as high‑risk for providing debt relief to Ghana. Fitch argued the support indicated a lack of preferred‑creditor status, a claim the bank disputes, citing treaty‑based protections...
Ruto Goes All in on Privatisation Ahead of Kenya Pipeline IPO
Kenya is launching the largest privatisation in decades with the IPO of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), seeking to raise 106.3 bn shillings by selling 65% of the monopoly to private investors. The offer, priced at 9 shillings per share, values KPC...
Africa's GDP Race Tightens as Economic Interdependence Deepens
Africa’s five largest economies are now separated by razor‑thin margins, with South Africa’s $401.6 bn GDP barely outpacing Egypt’s $399.5 bn. Nigeria remains third at $334.3 bn but its ranking is highly sensitive to exchange‑rate swings. Algeria and Morocco round out the top...
The Power of Water to Transform Africa's Future
Access to safe water remains a critical bottleneck in Sub‑Saharan Africa, with roughly one‑third of the population—and nearly half in rural areas—still lacking basic services. The African Union’s 2026 Year of Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems, backed...
The Great African Mispricing
Africa’s venture landscape is split between a regulated, capital‑efficient North and a fast‑growing but fragmented Sub‑Saharan region. In 2024, North Africa logged 89 equity deals worth $297 m, while Sub‑Saharan hubs like Nigeria and South Africa raised over $500 m each, highlighting...
KOKO Failure Brings Cookstove Carbon Credit Model Into Question
KOKO Networks, a leading Kenyan clean‑cooking firm, entered administration on 1 February after the government refused the regulatory letter of authorisation needed to sell carbon credits on compliance markets. Backed by investors such as Microsoft, Mirova and a World Bank guarantee,...
Bridging Continents: African Innovation at Web Summit Qatar
Web Summit Qatar has rapidly become the Middle East’s largest tech gathering, drawing a record 30,274 attendees from 127 countries in 2026. The event’s growth provides African startups—from fintech to agritech—direct access to Gulf investors, system integrators, and global partners....
What a Year of Trump 2.0 Has Taught Us About the Global Economy
In his second term, President Donald Trump pushed average U.S. import tariffs to about 18%, the highest level since the Great Depression. The higher duties widened the trade deficit and contributed to persistent inflation, prompting the Federal Reserve to cut...