Nigeria’s federal government will remove a controversial fuel subsidy scheme and replace it with transport grants of 5000 naira ($12.20) each to nearly 40 million poor people every month. Speaking at the launch of the World Bank Nigeria Development Update (NDU) on Tuesday, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Zainab Ahmed, said the transport…
Tanzania’s request to the International Monetary Fund to provide it with a $372.4 million loan to support COVID-19 pandemic relief measures has been approved. The loan will be issued through the Washington-based lender’s Rapid Credit Facility (RCF), and is part of a $567.25 million package released in September under a blended RCF/Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI)…
Load shedding has become synonymous in the life of every South African. For 14 years, the country’s power utility – Eskom – has been implementing a complicated system of rolling blackouts on a rotating schedule. But how did Africa’s most developed country, the only nation in the continent to ever host arguably the largest tournament…
Senegal has signed infrastructure deals worth $1 billion with U.S. companies, a sign that President Joe Biden’s administration plans to live up to its promise to recalibrate long-neglected relations with the continent. America’s top diplomat Antony Blinken oversaw the signing ceremony on the second day of his visit to Senegal. According to a statement handed…
Peugeot, Renault, Tesla, Volkswagen and Volvo share two conspicuous things in common. One, is they are car manufacturers who command a large share of the global market. And the second, which may be little unknown to the common driver, is their reliance on cobalt to manufacture the vehicles that have made their brands household names….
Air transport leaders and decision makers set a roadmap for transformation and the economic development of air transport in Africa at the 53rd AFRAA Annual General Assembly & Summit that has concluded today. The event was held under the patronage of the Government of Angola under the theme: “Flightpath to Africa’s resilient travel ecosystem.” The…
The 1960s were characterized by the pulling out of British colonial forces as several Anglophone countries gained their independence. However, today, another withdrawal is happening. And it is the banks not troops or administrators that are taking off. The withdrawal of British banks from the continent may appear surprising to many especially as it comes…
Tanzania will borrow at least $2.34 billion from foreign lenders to finance its proposed 2022/2023 budget of $17.1 billion, a plan that risks sliding the East African nation into the red zone of countries with a heavy burden of public debt. According to Finance Minster Mwigulu Nchemba, 7.7% ($1.32 billion) of next financial year’s budget…
Since Ghana began implementing its Energy Efficient Refrigerating Appliance Project (EER), the West African country has saved nearly 400 Gigawatt Hours (GWh) of electricity. The project has also reduced the yearly average energy consumption of refrigerators from 1200GW to 385GW, according to Kofi Agyarko, the Director of Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change. Over…
The United States of America will invest in five to 10 large infrastructure projects around the world in January, as part of a wider G-7 initiative to counter the growing dominance of China. U.S. President Joe Biden launched his Build Back Better World, or B3W, plan during the June G-7 summit, with the goal of…
Zimbabwe’s government is exploring the use of cryptocurrencies in legal payment services, with the hope of bettering its economy. The use of bitcoin is not a new idea, but it has been gathering steam from businesses and government officials. When President Emerson Mnagangwa came into power in 2017, there was wide expectation of economic relief…
For one year, Ethiopia has been at war with itself. What started as a “police operation” has turned into a full blown humanitarian crisis that risks disintegrating an already divided country and overturning economic gains accrued over the last two decades. Unlike many wars, the chronology of the Ethiopian civil war is widely agreed upon…
The United Nations has launched a new finance mechanism that will save African governments nearly $11 billion in borrowing costs, while bolstering climate friendly investments and sustainable development. The mechanism, known as the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility (LSF), was launched on the sidelines of COP26, the global climate conference ongoing in Glasgow, Scotland. LSF will…
They were launched with plenty of fan fare. Climate activists praised it. Economists salivated at their potential returns. And government leaders lauded it as a firm step to rid Africa’s largest country off its dalliance with fossil fuels. Four years later, the praises have dried up and discontent is brewing. The story of Nigeria’s green…
Just days ago, David Beasley was a largely unknown figure. But now the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) Director has been thrown into the spotlight after being embroiled in a feisty war of words with Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. Musk had effectively become the world’s wealthiest individual following a rally…
Walking through Glasgow you’d be forgiven for thinking the pandemic is over. Motorcades carrying world leaders are bustling for space as armed bodyguards wrestle to showcase their individual and state prowess in Scotland’s capital. The port resembles a classy exhibition showcasing the most luxurious yachts the world has ever seen, full of many rich business…
Ghana defied the pandemic to record $829.29 million worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of 2021, a clear signal of the West African country’s attractiveness to investors. The FDI amount of $829.29 million was a remarkable increase of 32.15 percent in inbound FDI compared to the FDI value of $627.52 million…
(This is a transcript of the podcast posted on Tuesday, August 31st, 2021. You can listen to the podcast by clicking on this link https://www.buzzsprout.com/1655965/9116950) DUMI JERE: Greetings ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to this week’s episode of The Weekly Beat. Firstly, I’m coming to you from Johannesburg in South Africa. Joining me is Maggie Mutesi,…
Over the last twenty years, China has strengthened its relationship with Africa by providing low-interest loans, constructing mega infrastructure projects, buying more oil, bauxite, and natural gas, and of course, exporting cheap manufactured products. It’s now almost impossible to separate China from Africa. And some African countries like Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and the Republic of Congo…
Zimbabwe has launched a $15 million cattle ranching project, as part of the country’s efforts to raise the value of the livestock sector to $1.9 billion by 2025. This project is in line with the government’s Livestock Growth Plan, a component of the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy. In it, Zimbabwe aims to have…