Women workers sow children’s underwear at a textile factory in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. Photo by Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images Weiwei Chen, SOAS, University of London Common perceptions about Chinese engagement in Africa are that it is one-dimensional and sometimes biased. One common problem with this perception is the seeming acceptance of what’s called […]
Category: Investing
Ghana’s Debt Makes Development Impossible
Ghana’s economy is in dire straits. Wikimedia Commons Adu Owusu Sarkodie, University of Ghana By the year 2000, the government of Ghana had borrowed so much that the country was in debt distress. It then subscribed to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Consequently, much of the […]
Overview: Market Access Strategy in Africa’s New Trade Environment
Accra, Ghana//-Sub-Saharan Africa faces an international trade environment that is ever changing, bringing new challenges and opportunities for increasing growth and reducing poverty.
AU-EU Summit: What Stands in the Way of a Deeper Relationship
Shiny backgrounds for photo opportunities figure prominently at the 2022 AU-EU summit in Brussels. Photo by European Union Frank Mattheis, United Nations University The triennial high-level summits between the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) are often criticised as being photo opportunities without substance.
What Ghana Can Do to Combat Corruption: Educate, Prevent, Enforce
Investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has undertaken several anti-corruption projects. James David Duncan/Wikimedia Commons Joseph Yaw Asomah, University of Manitoba Ghana’s finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, estimates that the country loses over US$4 billion annually to corruption: abuse of entrusted power for advancing private interests.
Study Finds Global Professional Investors Forecast Dramatic Expansion in Africa
Professional investors forecast dramatic expansion in the levels of investment in Africa by pension funds and large corporates over the next five years as major funds increasingly regard the continent as an attractive area to invest, new global research* for blockchain-based mobile network operator World Mobile shows.
Beyond Government and Legislation: Small Businesses Need Access to Market
Small businesses are the driving force of the economy and featured prominently in this year’s State of the Nation Address by President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.
MFS Africa Joins the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System Network
London, UK– MFS Africa, Africa’s largest digital payments network, today announces that it has joined the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) network, which is the newly established African cross-border and financial markets infrastructure facilitating the payment, clearance and settlement for intra-African trade payments.
Global Coalition Commits Over $5.5 Billion for MSME Financing in Africa
Paris, France// — The coalition for a sustainable and inclusive recovery of the private sector ( https://bit.ly/3oV8zOV), an international group of 20 development finance institutions that came together in 2020, today announced commitments of over $5.55 billion of financing to small and medium size enterprises (MSMEs) in Africa between mid-2020 and end of 2021, beating their set […]
Report: Greater Transparency on Hidden and Distressed Debt Can Reduce Global Financial Risks
Washington, US// – Developing countries face growing risks from financial fragility created by the COVID-19 crisis and non-transparent debt, says a new World Bank report.