Our curated selection of weekly Africa business and investment headlines.
Welcome to Africa Vantage, the Africa business and investment section of the Emerging Real Estate Digest—your insider's guide to investing and doing business on the African continent. Stay informed about the Lobito Corridor with our "Thoughts on the Corridor" section, and keep up with general business trends across Africa through "Africa Vantage."
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Headlines
🎦 How Banana Waste is Turned Into Ruges, Fabric, and Even Hair Extensions
📷 Biggest and Highest Grade Mines in the World
🎦 Rocky Balboa Pep Talk for Africa Investors
Africa
📰 Nigeria Must Seize FDI, Not Assets
Nigeria should prioritize attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) over expropriating assets to stimulate economic growth and development. The article lists a few recent examples. Instead, the country should focus on creating a stable and attractive environment for FDI, which is crucial for job creation, technology transfer, and overall economic prosperity… Read More
📰 Moody’s Cuts Kenya Debt Rating Further Into Junk Territory
Moody's cut Kenya's sovereign rating deeper into junk territory on Monday, citing diminished capacity to implement a fiscal consolidation strategy to contain its debt burden. The agency said the country has a “very high credit risk”.… Read More
🎦 How Banana Waste is Turned Into Ruges, Fabric, and Even Hair Extensions
Africa has contributed approximately 4% to the global banana trade over the past 10 years, mainly from West African countries. India and China are the world’s dominant banana producers.
[video for subscribers only]
📰 Nigeria is a Very Hard Place to Turn a Consistent Profit
Aliko Dangote, said last week, "Nobody can create jobs with an interest rate of 30%. No growth will happen. No power, no prosperity. No affordable financing, no development.".… Read More
📰 UAE’s IHC Unit Withdraws Offer for Vedanta’s Zambian Copper Mines Over Price
IRH , the IHC unit, had proposed acquiring a 51% stake in Vedanta’s Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) for more than $1 billion, aiming to strengthen its copper holdings in Zambia after a recent acquisition of a 51% stake in Mopani Copper Mines. IRH offered about $1 billion for a 51% stake in KCM, but Vedanta was only willing to sell a minority equity stake of about 30% for almost double the amount IRH offered for a bigger shareholding..… Read More
📰 Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa Won’t Pursue Another Presidential Term
“Our Constitution requires that every five years, we go to Congress to elect a President for two five-year terms. I've completed my first term and was re-elected for a second. This will be my final term, which is nearing its end, and then I will retire,'' said Mnangagwa.… Read More
📰 What Do the IMF and Foreign Debt Have to do With Kenya’s Current Crisis?
For years, multilateral lenders, especially the IMF, have had bad reputations in African countries for providing loans to desperate countries based on stringent conditions that critics said have always disproportionately affected the poor..… Read More
📷 Biggest and Highest Grade Mines in the World
🎦 Rocky Balboa Pep Talk for Africa Investors
[video for subscribers only]
📰 Microsoft AI Deal With UAE’s G42 at Risk Over National Security Fears
The next time Microsoft wants to collaborate with foreign governments and companies they are going to ask if they will sign an agreement just for the US national security bureaucracy to force them to pull back… Read More
📰 Land Routes Across Africa are Twice as Deadly for Migrants as Mediterranean Voyages, UN Estimates
A recent report published by the U.N. refugee and migration agencies and the Mixed Migration Centre reveals that more migrants and refugees in Africa are moving northward towards the Mediterranean and Europe, facing dangerous routes in the Sahara where criminal groups subject them to various forms of abuse… Read More
📰 South African Rand Extends Gains as Dollar Slips
The moves are fueled by expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut rates later this year, and optimism that the ANC’s anti-business policies will be curtailed following elections where it lost its majority… Read More
📰 Packaging Solutions Company SKL Group to List on the NSE
The planned Nairobi listing marks the first packaging solutions company listed on the NSE and the bourse’s first offering since 2020. .… Read More
📰 Finnfund in South Sudan Transaction
Finnfund has announced a $5 million mezzanine loan to Communication and Renewable Energy Infrastructure (CREI) to support the installation, operation, and maintenance of 413 hybrid power solutions for telecom sites in South Sudan.… Read More
📰 How to Save the Economy - According to South Africa’s Top CEO’s
Although the country avoided a technical recession (two-quarters of negative growth) in 2023, it still likely registered a per capita recession as GDP growth could not keep up with population growth. The start of the year did not start much better, with GDP decreasing by 0.1% in Q1 2024, down from marginal growth of 0.3% in the prior quarter…Read More
