Illuminating Africa’s Future: Green Hydrogen and the Power Play in Kenya

Illuminating Africa’s Future: Green Hydrogen and the Power Play in Kenya

Load shedding – a term that sends a shiver down the spines of South Africans. In its essence, it represents the intentional shutdown of segments of a power distribution system to avert a total collapse. Unfortunately, for many South Africans in 2023, it has become an unwelcome companion, with some enduring up to 8 hours…

From A to B with Ease: The Trailblazing Impact of African Logistics Startups

From A to B with Ease: The Trailblazing Impact of African Logistics Startups

In the intricate dance of global trade, logistics companies emerge as the choreographers, orchestrating a symphony of services essential to the seamless flow of goods across the four corners. From order processing to warehousing and shipping, these companies are the unsung heroes of supply chain efficiency. But just like in any competition, the best dancer…

Scaling debt-for-climate swaps to finance Climate Action

Scaling debt-for-climate swaps to finance Climate Action

With Africa requiring over $300 billion annually for climate adaptation, policymakers and government officials meeting at a high-level event on the sidelines of the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, have called for the implementation of innovative mechanisms to unlock climate financing. The event cohosted by AfriCatalyst and Open Society Foundations (OSF), explored how the continent…

Igniting African Development through Regional Digital Investment.

Igniting African Development through Regional Digital Investment.

In recent years, Africa has witnessed remarkable progress in harnessing the power of the digital realm to drive economic growth and foster innovation. From the bustling tech hubs of Nairobi and Lagos to the remote villages where mobile connectivity is transforming lives; the continent is experiencing a digital revolution that holds immense potential. Skimming through…

Afreximbank’s Africa Trade Gateway to Transform Intra-Africa Trade.

Afreximbank’s Africa Trade Gateway to Transform Intra-Africa Trade.

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has launched the Africa Trade Gateway (ATG), a suite of five digital platforms that have been designed as a single window to enable the Bank better deliver on its mandate by providing critical services to support and promote African trade and the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement…

De- dollarization: Is it time for Africa to look away from trading with the dollar?

De- dollarization: Is it time for Africa to look away from trading with the dollar?

The topic of de-dollarization in Africa has been in discourse for a long time now owing to the vast economic challenges the continent is facing. The COVID-19 shocks, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the triple planetary crisis have further exacerbated the setbacks further affecting many African nation’s economic recovery. For decades now the United States dollar…

Increased structural support to boost landlocked developing countries economies

Increased structural support to boost landlocked developing countries economies

Landlocked Developing Countries, currently experiencing economic and infrastructural challenges, need increased technical and financial support to achieve sustainable development, leaders have called during the High-level Africa regional review meeting of the Vienna Programme of Action (VPoA) for Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) which opened in the Botswana Capital, Gaborone. In a video message at the opening…

Is Africa’s digital economy a panacea to its debt distress?

Is Africa’s digital economy a panacea to its debt distress?

In recent years debt distress in African countries has been accelerated due to the impact of COVID-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. With public debt and inflation reaching levels not seen in decades, many countries across the continent are reporting double-digit inflation which has eroded household purchasing power and hit the most vulnerable. Owing to…

More objective credit ratings could save billions for African countries’ development

More objective credit ratings could save billions for African countries’ development

African ministers, development actors and research institutes gathered on 14 April in Washington DC, on the margins of the 2023 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings, to discuss the impact of credit ratings on the cost of development finance in Africa. At this meeting, organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Africa Growth Initiative at…

Africa in urgent need of concessional financing, experts urge.

Africa in urgent need of concessional financing, experts urge.

For Africa  to build resilience and boost economic growth amidst the ongoing triple planetary crisis, there is an urgent need for individual countries to get highly concessional financing facilities in place to address the huge financing need that countries have which has pushed them into debt experts have warned. During a recent one day virtual…

Support women-led climate change enterprises, experts urge governments

Support women-led climate change enterprises, experts urge governments

Africa should brace for climate refugees in the coming years-majority of who will be women, if governments and private sector don’t prioritize investment in sound climate change mitigation models, experts have warned. During a recent fire side chat on climate change organized by AfriCatalyst in Dakar Senegal, participants discussed how climate change is reshaping women’s…

AfCFTA Poised to Revive Economies of Landlocked and Small Island Developing Countries

AfCFTA Poised to Revive Economies of Landlocked and Small Island Developing Countries

The fundamental role of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in overcoming the peculiar challenges faced by Africa’s Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) was highlighted in Harare at a high-level event jointly organized by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Office of the High Representative for…

Africatalyst to host a conference on  recycling Special Drawing Rights for Africa’s economic recovery.

Africatalyst to host a conference on recycling Special Drawing Rights for Africa’s economic recovery.

AfriCatalyst, a leading pan-African development consultancy firm based in Dakar, Senegal, in partnership with The Center for Global Development (CGD), a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, DC, is organizing a hybrid event to discuss and share expertise on the role of SDRs in spurring Africa’s economic recovery. Happening on Wednesday 25th January, the event…

Legislation,  adoption of new media to foster travel industry recovery.

Legislation, adoption of new media to foster travel industry recovery.

The travel and tourism industry was one of the sectors most hard hit by COVID-19 and it’s recovery has been slow paced as the countries reopened their borders and governments lifted the travel restrictions. Between January and July this year the number of international travelers reached 57% of the pre –pandemic levels. International travelers reached…

We were not forced to cut oil production by OPEC+ – says African ministers

We were not forced to cut oil production by OPEC+ – says African ministers

South Sudan’s Minister of Petroleum, Hon. Puot Kang Chol, and Equatorial Guinea’s Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons, H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima have rejected accusations that the decision to cut production by OPEC+ was politically motivated, but rather, based on technical factors.   The two were speaking during a panel discussion on global energy security…

We were not forced to cut oil production by OPEC+- says African ministers

We were not forced to cut oil production by OPEC+- says African ministers

South Sudan’s Minister of Petroleum, Hon. Puot Kang Chol, and Equatorial Guinea’s Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons, H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima have rejected accusations that the decision to cut production by OPEC+ was politically motivated, but rather, based on technical factors.  The two were speaking during a panel discussion on global energy security moderated…

Crypto, Digital Currencies or Mobile Money: What is the future of payments in Africa?

Crypto, Digital Currencies or Mobile Money: What is the future of payments in Africa?

Mobile money has often been touted as the greatest innovation in Africa’s financial space – and rightly so. Its introduction at the start of the new millennium reenergized economies reeling from the slow macroeconomic growth induced by the IMF-backed structural adjustment programs (SAPs) in the late noughties. With the ease of their mobile phones, large…

The new black gold? Forget oil, Nigeria holds the mineral of the future

The new black gold? Forget oil, Nigeria holds the mineral of the future

For decades, Nigeria has been Africa’s largest oil producer. But as oil production falls to record lows, the abundance of another mineral that could hold the keys to the next economic revolution is coming to the fore. In 2016, the famous Nigerian author and former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, described his country’s…