September 21, 2022
Nigeria: Nigeria's Universities Can Find Funds and Produce Job Creators - Here's How
Industrial action by Nigeria's university lecturers has entered its seventh month. The strike is one of the longest by academic staff in Africa's most populous country. Read more »
September 20, 2022
Africa: Three Reasons Why the US Federal Reserve Bank Holds Africa in Its Hands
Inflation is a global problem. At the end of August, it was 8.3% in the US and 9.1% in the Euro area. It is 20.3% in Nigeria, 25% in Malawi, and over 30% in Ethiopia and Ghana. Read more »
September 19, 2022
Africa: South Africa's Farm Exports Are an Economic Lifeline - With Weak Spots
International trade has been at the core of South Africa's agricultural progress since the early 2000s. Since 1994, the country has excelled in opening up new markets, as evidenced… Read more »
Africa: Supply Chain Management Needs a Rethink - Covid Changed Everything, or Did It?
COVID-19 has laid bare the vulnerability of the supply chain model that has dominated the way African firms have organised their production. In this model firms rely on multiple… Read more »
East Africa: Tanzania and Zambia Want to Upgrade the 'Uhuru Railway' - But Can They?
Half a century ago, the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (Tazara) stood out as a crucial symbol of Africa's struggle for independence. The 1,860km-long railway connects Kapiri Mposhi in… Read more »
September 18, 2022
Ghana: New Data On the E-Levy - Unpopular Tax On Mobile Money Transfers Is Hitting the Poor Hardest
Ghana's introduction of a a 1.5% tax on mobile money transactions in May 2022 has been watched closely by policymakers across Africa. The proponents of the electronic transaction… Read more »
September 15, 2022
Kenya: William Ruto Is Now in Charge of Shaky Economy - Where to Start
Kenya's President William Ruto, sworn in as new President on 13 September 2022, has inherited an economy saddled with debt, inflation, joblessness and national pessimism. The… Read more »
Nigeria: Five Steps Nigeria Must Take to Stop Buildings Collapsing in Lagos
Buildings in Lagos state, Nigeria's economic hub, have in recent years been collapsing in greater numbers than ever. Between 2000 and 2021 the city experienced 167 reported cases,… Read more »
September 14, 2022
South Africa: Burst Mining Dam - What Must Be Done to Prevent Another Disaster
Jagersfontien, a small town in the middle of South Africa with over a century of mining history, awoke to a tragic failure of responsibility on 11 September 2022 when torrents of… Read more »
September 12, 2022
Zimbabwe: Informal Sector Plays a Key Role in Skills Development but Gets No Recognition
The informal sector plays an important role in the development of skills among Zimbabwe's disadvantaged groups, and should be recognised as an alternative training path for those… Read more »
Kenya: Maize Price Has Doubled in a Year - 6 Ways to Avoid a Staple Food Shortage
The elections in August offered Kenyans a temporary distraction from some of the challenges the country is facing. At the top of these challenges is food insecurity. In 2022, the… Read more »
September 11, 2022
South Africa: Job Creation in South Africa - the President's Advisors Discuss What It Will Take
At the end of 2021, South Africa recorded its highest unemployment rate since the dawn of democracy, at 35.3%. The figure has marginally dropped but there is still concern about… Read more »
September 09, 2022
Cameroon: Cameroon's 'Exploding Lakes' - Disaster Expert Warns Deadly Gas Release Could Cause Another Tragedy
A sudden change on 29 August 2022 in the colour and smell of Lake Kuk, in north-west Cameroon, has caused anxiety and panic among the local residents. Fears are driven by an… Read more »
September 08, 2022
Nigeria: 17 Strikes in 23 Years - A Unionist Explains Why University Lecturers Won't Back Down
Lecturers at Nigeria's public universities have been on strike 16 times since 1999. On 14 February 2022 they went back on strike to make it the 17th. Only 11 of Nigeria's 59 state… Read more »
September 07, 2022
Kenya: Lamu Port Was Meant to Deliver Great Things. But, As the Story of Local Fishermen Shows, It Hasn't
For nearly two decades, successive Kenyan governments have promoted mega infrastructure projects as a pathway to development. The Lamu Port has been one of them. Read more »
Nigeria: How Trade Can Help Beat Inequality - WTO Head Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
In a recent study South Africa was identified as ranking first of 164 countries in the World Bank's global poverty database. Underlying this inequality is its very high rates of… Read more »
September 05, 2022
South Africa: Five Things South Africa Must Do to Combat Cybercrime
Cyber-attacks are on the rise globally, with seriously negative implications for countries' strategic, national, economic and social well-being. Read more »
Kenya: Examining the Use of Social Media As a Source of Evidence in Election Petitions
The conduct of Kenya's elections has repeatedly come under close scrutiny in the courts. Petitions were lodged challenging the outcome of presidential races in 2013 and 2017, as… Read more »
September 04, 2022
South Africa: Only Elite Benefits From Black Economic Empowerment - and Covid-19 Proved It
More than two decades ago the South African government put in place a policy designed to redress racial imbalances in the country's economy. But, as I suggest in a recent paper,… Read more »
August 31, 2022
Southern Africa: Southern African Countries Can Do Better At Infrastructure - What the Choices Might Look Like
Countries in southern Africa are under a crushing burden brought about by a confluence of factors. These include the unprecedented growth in the number of young people, the… Read more »
Africa: China Has Waived the Debt of Some African Countries. But It's Not About Refinancing
In mid-August, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs surprised the world with a series of announcements. Wang Yi, Beijing's most senior diplomat, promised extensive debt relief for… Read more »
August 29, 2022
Nigeria: Nigeria's Economy - Four Priorities the Next President Must Deliver On
Nigeria is preparing to elect its next president in February 2023. That person will have a daunting task fixing a near comatose economy. Read more »
August 28, 2022
South Africa: Want to Get More Women to Start Their Own Businesses? Here's What It Takes
Globally, men are twice as likely as women to start a business. Most research into how to start a business has been focused on men. Not much has looked at why women are not fully… Read more »
Nigeria: Foreign Banks Are Absent in Nigeria. We Tracked Down Why
Privately owned Nigerian banks hold 94% of Nigerian banking assets. Only one other country in the world - Israel - has a higher share of ownership by local banks. The share of… Read more »
August 24, 2022
Somalia: Waiting for Ethiopia - Berbera Port Upgrade Raises Somaliland's Hopes for Trade
Berbera port is the main overseas trade gateway of the breakaway Republic of Somaliland. The port city is located on the Gulf of Aden - one of the globally most frequented seaways… Read more »