September 26, 2022
South Africa: Some Plants Can Short-Circuit the Toxic Effects of Metals - Scientists Are Trying to Harness Their Power
At first glance, it's hard to see what gold, iron, lead, arsenic, silver, platinum and tin have in common. A look at the periodic table will clear up the confusion: they are all… Read more »
South Africa: 5 Steps You Can Take to Manage a Hike in Interest Rates
The governor of the South African Reserve Bank recently announced an increase in the lending rate by 75 basis points. This means the repo rate (the rate at which the central bank… Read more »
September 23, 2022
Africa: To Reach Net Zero the World Still Needs Mining #AfricaClimateCrisis
On the wooded hill above the Stan Terg lead and zinc mine in Kosovo, there is an old concrete diving platform looming over what was once an open-air swimming pool. Before the… Read more »
September 24, 2022
Nigeria: Nigeria Is Producing Less and Less Oil. Here's Why
Nigeria's oil output was at the lowest since 1990 as its crude oil production fell below 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in August 2022. And data from the Organisation of the… Read more »
September 21, 2022
South Africa: 12% Percent of Working Women Are Domestic Workers - Yet They Don't Receive Proper Maternity Leave or Pay
Most of the world's domestic workers - (76%) - are women. They mainly do housework like cleaning, washing clothes, cooking and childcare, usually in private households. Domestic… Read more »
Kenya: Kenya Has Breached Its Public Debt Ceiling - How It Got There and What That Means
Kenya's newly elected president, William Ruto, has earned more legal space to borrow for his grandiose economic plan after parliament recently raised the country's public debt… Read more »
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 »