Newly appointed Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube would like to employ a “big bang” economic reform program to the battered economy where unemployment is running above 80 percent, but recognises politics will limit the speed for change. “My preference is a fiscal shock, but there is a what you call the political collar or the…
The island nation of Mauritius has set itself apart as the wealthiest country on the African continent on a per capita basis. Over the past 10 years (2007 to 2017) total wealth held in Mauritius has risen by 195% (in US$ terms), making it the fastest growing wealth market in Africa and one of the…
LONDON, June 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Zimbabwe, Egypt and Ghana demonstrate the most positive changes for business, followed closely by Nigeria and Mozambique Zimbabwe, Egypt and Ghana are the leaders when comparing their September 2017 risk-reward score with the score from June 2018, according to the Africa Risk-Reward Index from Control Risks and Oxford Economics. Followed closely by Nigeria and Mozambique, these countries show the largest improvement in their reward score, while at the same time…
It took Pakistani financier Arif Naqvi about 15 years to build Abraaj into one of the developing world’s most influential investors. It’s taken less than five months for the Dubai-based buyout firm to reach the brink of collapse. Abraaj Holdings, which once managed almost $14 billion, has filed an application for a court-supervised restructuring in…
Free trade is increasingly coming under fire by populist leaders. President Donald Trumphas been accused of starting a global trade war after imposing higher tariffs on steel and aluminum products, a move that prompted some of America’s biggest trading partners and longest allies to increase their own tariffs. And, in Italy, the election of an anti-establishment,…
Global and African financial heads identified country risk as the biggest challenge to their ability to lend more to African countries. Speaking in Abidjan during a one-day forum on investment risks in Africa hosted by the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) (www.ATI-aca.org), experts acknowledged that the abundance of current liquidity in the market did nothing…
Experts on regional strategic policy have urged BRICS member countries to step up efforts towards setting up its own credit rating agency as an effective mechanism to consolidate the bloc’s new multifaceted spheres of cooperation. BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is currently working on a set of new proposals including the establishment…
The options for mining companies battling new legislation in the Democratic Republic of Congo — Africa’s biggest copper producer and the source of two-thirds of the world’s cobalt — have just about run out. After six months of lobbying, companies including Glencore Plc and Randgold Resources Ltd. have got nowhere in their battle to push back against the mining…
A whopping US $100m will be spent on four development projects in Mozambique with funding set to come from the Chinese government; this was confirmed during the 6th session of the Joint Commission between the two countries. The four projects include the construction of the Gorongosa Technical Institute in Sofala, construction of Xai-Xai airport in…
Luanda — Angola’s capacity grew to 1,108 MW in 2017, from 400 MW in 2016, becoming one of the five largest powers in the continent in this sector. The local Laúca and Cambambe dams put the country on the list of the five nations that most increased hydroelectric capacity in 2017. Despite the work to…