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…
With cities and towns expanding every day, African governments are looking to collect geospatial information that could assist in prioritizing goals, from basic service delivery to ambitious infrastructure plans. Geospatial information contains location information, and uses artificial intelligence and aerial or satellites to enable information about cities to be linked together based on their shared…
Even before the coronavirus pandemic swept through the continent, African countries were rapidly raising their debt ceilings. Heads of State flocked to China, as the world’s second largest economy granted loans at will, with little, if any, preconditions. Faced with a first recession in 30 years, the continent’s appetite for debt hasn’t receded. In fact…
Decades of isolation and authoritarian rule have strangled Eritrea’s economic progress, and now the government is encouraging large-scale cultivation of cactus to help alleviate the human suffering and, in the future, increase export revenues. Cactus is believed to have originated from Central America. Spanish conquerors acknowledged the presence of prickly pears (beles) as soon as…
(This is a transcript of the podcast posted on Monday, August 23th, 2021. You can listen to the podcast by clicking on this link https://open.spotify.com/episode/65EOEkIMxmHoqG8veXjMHe?si=ma3YD4a5RWeUomTFiP9ycw&dl_branch=1&nd=1) DUMI JERE: Greetings ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to this week’s episode of The Weekly Beat. My name is Dumi Jere, and I’m coming to you from South Africa. And with…
Zambia’s currency (kwacha) has become the world’s best-performing currency since Hakainde Hichilema was announced the winner of the August 12 presidential poll. The value of the kwacha rose by 7.8% this week to 17.92 against the U.S. dollar, the best performance out of more than 140 currencies tracked by Bloomberg. It’s rally wiped out the…
For years, economists have called on African governments to offer tax incentives to global firms as a way of boosting foreign direct investment (FDI). Countries such as Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and Bangladesh are touted as examples of why this model works, despite their different underlying contexts. Nevertheless, Malawi tried this framework in its entirety,…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been given the greenlight by a Federal High Court in Abuja to freeze the accounts of Nigerian investment-tech companies Bamboo, Chaka, Risevest and Trove. The order is limited to six months pending investigations to be carried out by the bank. CBN had sought temporary freezing of the bank…
(This is a transcript of the podcast posted on Tuesay, August 17th, 2021. You can listen to the podcast by clicking on this link https://mansamedia.africa/the-weekly-beat-august-17-2021/) MAGGIE MUTESI: Good evening and welcome to yet again, another episode of The Weekly Beat by Mansa. My name is Maggie Mutesi, I’m coming to you from a Cape Verde…
In June, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that it will launch its digital currency by the end of 2021, with a pilot scheme running from October 1st. Digital currencies are not a new phenomenon. They are becoming increasingly popular as a response to the global rise of digital payment solutions. The rise of…
Last year was a difficult one for economies across the world due to the ravaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, one landlocked African country did remarkably defy the trend through a combination of prudent leadership and trade with a neighbor that also recorded positive growths. Malawi’s economy grew by 0.9% in 2020. Only one…