Ethiopia’s prime minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed—the youngest African leader at 42 years old—has initiated a series of unprecedented economic and political reforms in his first 12 months in office. The core challenge that he faces is moving the economy from state-led to market-based growth while overseeing far-reaching political reforms. Success is far from guaranteed but his … Continue Reading
In the last week of February, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe announced that all privately owned diamond mines would be nationalized and taken over by the newly created state-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Co. The move affected six primarily Chinese companies. This decision is in keeping with the larger nationalization plan for mines that the President announced … Continue Reading
Early last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) caught the attention of investors when it issued a report predicting that Mozambique’s average economic growth rate between 2021-2025 could reach as high as 24 percent per annum and liquefied natural gas projects (LNG) could reach more than 50 percent of the country’s nominal output by the … Continue Reading
In the face of low commodity prices and concerns about China’s economic health, Kenya and Nigeria are turning to their own citizens — both home and abroad — as an alternative source of financing. In Kenya, the Treasury has launched the M-Akiba Bond, “the first-ever government bond offered exclusively via mobile phone.” A high rate … Continue Reading
In remarks delivered over six years ago in Cairo, Egypt, President Obama elevated entrepreneurship on the U.S. engagement agenda and the global agenda more generally. One of the most significant announcements was the creation of a Summit on Entrepreneurship. Each year, the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (“GES”) serves as “a global platform connecting emerging entrepreneurs with … Continue Reading
Earlier this week, the Corporate Council on Africa’s Health Working Group hosted a World Bank presentation of The Global Financing Facility (GFF), a broad $4 billion facility that aims to promote reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH) in low- and middle-income countries. The GFF–which was announced in September 2014 and currently consists of … Continue Reading
This week, numerous companies from emerging economies will gather in India to participate in the third annual Growth Net conference, a unique platform focused on promoting business, trade and financial partnerships amongst the countries represented. South-South cooperation will be the focus of much of Growth Net’s agenda, and a principal topic of interest will be … Continue Reading
On 12 January, the London-based private equity group Helios Investment Partners announced that it had exceeded the $1 billion target that it had set for Helios Investors III, L.P., or “Helios III”, thus making it the first $1 billion-plus private equity fund for African investments. Founded in 2007 by Nigerian-born Tope Lawani and Babatunde Soyoye, … Continue Reading
President Obama recently announced that approximately 3,000 U.S. troops will deploy to West Africa in an effort to combat the Ebola epidemic, which has struck more than 4,985 people and resulted in over 2,461 deaths. The U.S. Africa Command will establish its Joint Force Command headquarters in Monrovia, Liberia to coordinate regional assistance to Guinea, … Continue Reading
According to the U.S. Agency for International Development, two out of three sub-Saharan Africans, approximately 600 million people, do not have access to electricity, instead relying on costly, environmentally unfriendly, and unhealthy forms of energy such as diesel generators and kerosene lamps and stoves. With many sub-Saharan African countries receiving a high number of days … Continue Reading
By any measure Ethiopia is experiencing impressive economic growth. According to IMF data, GDP grew 8.7 percent in 2012, the country’s weakest year since 2009. In 2010, GDP grew a blistering 12.6 percent, higher than all but a handful of countries worldwide. Going forward, the IMF estimates Ethiopia’s economy will grow at 8.0 to 8.5 … Continue Reading
On August 1, 2014, Uganda’s Constitutional Court overturned the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) on procedural grounds, holding that the Act’s passing was unconstitutional because the necessary quorum of lawmakers was not present in parliament to vote on the bill. This controversial legislation, which was passed on February 24, 2014, imposed a life sentence for certain … Continue Reading
On August 5th, Egypt announced the commencement of a project to dig a new canal lane running parallel to the existing Suez Canal in an effort to expand trade and speed up traffic transiting through the existing waterway. The project is also expected to increase the number of ships that use the waterway each day, … Continue Reading
Africa. For some of us it is home and, to others, it may seem as foreign as the most distant frontier. Regardless of your familiarity with the continent, it is an inescapable fact that Africa is in the midst of an awakening to its seemingly endless potential. Home to seven of the world’s ten fastest … Continue Reading
