Africa’s ‘Blue Economy’ remains untapped, set to be in hands of foreign powers
African governments have the ability to significantly impact the investment environment and investors will look to the way they are planning, regulating, owning and operating their ports. They will also take the country’s stability, security and perceived corruption levels into account. Experienced investors will certainly consider how individual governments have...
Too many regional economic communities, are they really helpful to African trade?
Africa is a complex continent. She is an eclectic mix of authoritarian regimes – where leaders have been in power for many decades; countries that are attempting to make their way towards democracy – even if progress is incremental and slow. There are others that have had a stronger semblance...
Angola nears Africa oil giant status with 57 billion barrels and 27 trillion cubic feet of gas
Italian oil and gas mining giant ENI has announced discovery of new deposits in Angola, elevating the southwestern African nation to one of the leading producers on the continent south of the Sahara Desert. ENI announced the discovery on April 6 in its Block 15/06 concession offshore Angola, to underline...
AstraZeneca vaccine causes blood clots but cases are few and far between: regulators
The European Medicines Agency has concluded there is a link between AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine and “very rare” but dangerous clotting events reported in a number of countries where the vaccine has been used, events which in some cases have been fatal. A safety committee, the agency said on Wednesday (April...
Sorry state of reforestation: ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few’
After collecting seeds, they are usually sent to nurseries, where they are grown into seedlings for planting. The number and size of nurseries around the world are becoming fewer and smaller, raising the concerns about the future vegetation cover and some tree species. A study in which we interviewed over...
In race to raise forest cover, scientists discover the world’s running out of seeds
Dean Swift has gotten really good at spotting where squirrels hide their seeds. In the forests of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and South Dakota, he looks for a moist shaded area with a small grove of trees, sometimes near a ravine. Here, he will find a cache of chewed cones...
New book on Africa’s energy gets ‘thriller’ reception on American financial markets
The publication of Billions at Play: The Future of African Energy and Making Deals, a resourceful and bold book on Africa’s oil and gas industry has kicked up investment interest in Africa by American business community that now perceives Africa as a viable alternative to the traditional Middle East and...
In fiery social media war, irate Kenyans petition IMF to deny their ‘eating thieves’ loans
Four hashtags sum up Kenyan’s frustration with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s handling of the economy: #NoLoantoKenya, #UhuruMalizaUende, #ThiefOfTheLoans, #IMFStopLoaningKenya. In threads under these hashtags, the angry public gives their verdict on an administration that was nine years ago romanticised as the springboard to economic dynamism in digital age, to leave office....
Africa’s urban rot: ‘We treat human beings like waste by ignoring or brutalising them’
A report presented to South African Tswane city in June 2019 highlighted the need for economic growth and job creation. It specifically addressed “the problem of informal recyclers sorting waste in an uncoordinated manner across the City,” and made a commitment to “extend their waste management systems in order to...
Human ‘scavengers’ in Africa exist because cities, residents create ‘garbage economy’
For the “Bagerezi” – informal recyclable material reclaimers – Covid-19 was just one extra thing to worry about. They face many more immediate dangers every day and are subject to every kind of disadvantage: homelessness, hunger and exposure to the elements, ostracism, exploitation, harassment and threats of eviction. The Bagerezi...
