US to evict Gabon, Niger, Uganda and Central African Republic from Agoa trade programme
Launched in 2000, AGOA grants exports from qualifying countries duty-free access to the US market. It is set to expire in September 2025, but discussions are already underway over whether to extend it and for how long.
Africa: A young continent ruled by old men and where democracy is strangled by gerontocrats
Youthful uprisings first flared in 2011, during the Arab Spring, when an uprising in Tunisia inspired others in Egypt and Libya. Later, powerful demonstrations erupted in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Senegal and even Eswatini, a tiny kingdom of 1.2 million people in southern Africa.
Africa’s cultural conquest of West has gained pace through music, industrialisation is limping
African fashion had its own shows in Paris and Milan. In Venice, Africa is the focus of this year’s Architectural Biennale. Last year, an architect from Burkina Faso won the prestigious Pritzker Prize. In 2021, Tanzania-born Abdulrazak Gurnah won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
In 10 years Africa is projected to have world’s largest skilled workforce, overtaking China and India
Businesses are chasing Africa’s tens of millions of new consumers emerging every year, representing untapped markets for cosmetics, organic foods, even champagne. Hilton plans to open 65 new hotels on the continent within five years. Its population of millionaires, the fastest growing on earth, is expected to double to 768,000 by 2027, the bank Credit Suisse estimates.
When to ignore an instruction from your boss: Avoid emails asking you to approve payments
BEC wire transfer fraud sees criminals taking advantage of an expected financial transaction such as a supplier payment, and asking the recipient to adjust the bank account information on an outgoing wire transfer. In many cases, the instruction may appear to come from the victim’s boss, and may even be written in a similar style that is used by the boss.
Exchange rates: US dollar exerts pressure on Kenyan, Ugandan and Zambian currencies
Nigeria’s naira is seen trading around its current levels on the official market in the coming week, after the finance minister said the government was expecting $10 billion of inflows to ease dollar shortages.
South Africa: Apprehension spikes that creation of foreign, domestic spy services will feed corruption
Critics point to the dismal failure of present intelligence structures to vet even a high-profile person such as Andre de Ruyter, former CEO of Eskom who was forced to deploy private intelligence capacity to fight rampant corruption and theft at the National Key Point utility.
Prone to humanitarian crises, African countries now explore ways of meeting strategic airlift needs
In 2012, as insurgents pushed to take over Mali, an Economic Community of West African States intervention was delayed for months due to a lack of airlift. Similar delays occurred in Sudan’s Darfur region in 2010, when African Union troops were grounded as the conflict exploded. Eventually, the Netherlands stepped in to provide the necessary airlift.
Namibian President Geingob scoffs at critics after award by oil industry at Africa Energy Week
Namibia is emerging from the past difficult eight years, in which Namibians experienced in one presidency an economic downturn occasioned by commodity cycle busts; the most severe droughts to have ever been recorded in the history of the country; and later the devastating Covid-19 pandemic, which decimated sectors of the economy.
African Energy Chamber executive chair NJ Ayuk promises bigger conference next year as AEW ends
Thanking the AEW 2023 sponsors and partners, Ayuk emphasised how support from these institutions has ensured the success of the event, allowing stakeholders to collaborate towards a common goal of alleviating energy poverty. “To our sponsors, we could not have done this without you: you pushed us, drove us and continued to encourage,” he added.
