Author: Contribution

Financing power transmission—not just generation—to meet Africa’s climate goals Renewable energy generation and storage opportunities were a key focus at last week’s Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, culminating in $26 billion in new funding commitments to climate projects. A large but overlooked energy investment opportunity: power transmission.  Transmission projects are ripe for public-private development and present a significant investor opportunity for delivering the double-bottom-line of attractive returns and sustainable impact. Many other emerging markets have already leveraged such partnerships to contract out essential energy infrastructure and deliver power to a larger population base. In Africa, however, few such models have…

By GEORGE ORIDO President William Ruto has appointed the Equity Bank CEO the new Chancellor of the newly minted Open University of Kenya. The President made the announcement at the Konza Technocity as he awarded it its charter yesterday.Reacting to the appointment, Dr Mwangi said he was humbled to have been given the opportunity to offer his services as a Vice Chancellor of the fully fledged Virtual University.“You have bestowed on me the trust to perform the function of a chancellor just when my service as the chancellor of Meru University has just ended having served from 2013 to 2023.…

By Hanan Morsy The sovereign-debt crisis is hitting Africa particularly hard and could lead to a lost decade of development. While the G20 has tried to ease the burden, its Common Framework has proven ineffective and needs to be fixed, and international institutions must make room at the policymaking table for African countries. ADDIS ABABA– One in five people globally live in countries that are in debt distress or at risk of it. Two-thirds of low-income countries – most of them in Africa – fall into this category, while eight of the nine countries currently in debt distress are on the continent.…

By Abdoulaye Bangoura, CPA Student Toronto metropolitan university. The previous month was marked by the crisis of U.S. regional banks, which are crucial for the growth and stability of the U.S. economy. They contribute 40% of lending in the U.S. market and account for 30% of U.S. bank-held assets. The recent turmoil that unfolded has given people a sense of insecurity and uncertainty, and some observers are wondering if we are back to living in a dark period of bank run and financial instability. In the span of two months, the third (SVB) and second largest (First Republic) banks both…

By Antonio Pedro* The confluence of shocks – the cascading impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and severe natural disasters – have eroded Africa’s development gains, resulting in a staggering 149 million previously non-poor Africans now facing the risk of falling into poverty. The growing number of new poor and vulnerable people is making it harder to close the gap between the rich and the poor. Moreover, Africa currently accounts for the largest share of the world’s poor. This inevitably has a far-reaching impact on achieving the sustainable development goals and the vision of the Africa we want. The crisis,…

By Francis Kouakou I am however, appeased by corporate America who still see the trainfrom another window. Goldman Sachs said: the US economy will avoidarecession and instead move towards a “soft landing” where inflationmoderates but growth continues. I would like to set my arguments on the table. Why I think 2023 won’t see any recession? The main reason I believe is that the fundamentals of our economics are really good. A Strong but tight Job Market a.In the US, the job market is still strong. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey(JOLTS) for the month of November shows that theUSeconomy…

By Gilbert Houngbo ,Incoming Director-general of the International Labour Organization Founded in 1919, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has for over a century worked to promote social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. It is one of the oldest specialised agencies of the United Nations and today has 187 member states. The ILO has a unique tripartite structure, involving representatives of governments, employers, and workers in all its discussions and policies. Over the last few decades, as the world of work has become more complex, the organisation has found it necessary to adapt to take in new realities and…

By Hassana Mbeirick, Consultant international In Dakar (Senegal), the curtains fell on the 2nd edition of the MSGBC Conference, and the 3rd edition is scheduled to be held next year in Nouakchott (Mauritania). 2023 will be the year of the first GTA gas molecule placed on the world market; in other words, the meeting in Nouakchott will mark history. With a fairly substantial potential per country (GIIP-OIIP) and a huge global potential, countries of the MSGBC basin represent a coveted opportunity to play a leading role in the global LNG supply. In the current context of the global energy crisis,…

Public Opinion: Stop the war before it is too late!(appeal open to co-signature, see the end of the appeal). The war in Ukraine is continuing, unabated for four months now, causing vast destruction of life and property of the people of Ukraine and enormous damage to the global economy affecting the lives of millions of people the world over due to rising prices and energy crisis, and above all steadily increasing global tensions pushing humanity to the brink of a nuclear war.The Russian military intervention in Ukraine was an evident response to the measures taken by the Kyiv regime and…

By TERESA CLARKE Africa.com’s CEO writes about how she felt after this special invitation I was invited to dine with Bill Gates last week during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  The terms of the invitation, which was extended to six others besides myself, were that the discussion would be off-the-record.  Therefore, I can’t write about anything discussed that evening. What I can tell you is what we ate, and what I thought about after the dinner. The menu, prepared by chefs at Microsoft House – the temporary headquarters of all things Microsoft at the Davos conference – was…

By Zekarias Amsalu, Co-Founder – Africa Fintech Summit, Founder & CEO – Ibex Frontier The African startup funding statistics for 2021 proved that investors have ‘smelled the coffee’ in the continent and “the international investor community is becoming increasingly aware that those who misunderstand Africa risk missing the greatest growth opportunity of the 21st century”, as my colleague Andrew wrote in his editorial in June 2021! Total disclosed Startup funding for 2021, standing at $4.6B, is an all-time high with +150% YOY increase and larger than the funding amounts of the preceding three years (2018–20) combined.Dissecting the yearly investment statistics provides…

By Meissa Lô*, financial analyst. Without being too alarmist, we can say that we are probably at the dawn of the 3rd World War, if this is not already the case. A 3rd war that many analysts predicted would be a nuclear or religious war. The military war between Russia and Ukraine and the political-diplomatic war between NATO and Russia do not bode well for the stability of the world. Although the impacts remain localized in Europe for the moment and only affect the world prices of cereals, oilseeds (corn, wheat, walnuts, almonds etc.) and hydrocarbons, in the weeks to…

By Abdoulaye Bangoura Confronting Crisis Through the Power of Stock Stocks! Stocks! They visit us frequently and invite us to trust in them. They constantly call for us to give them even just a small amount of money in order for that amount of money to grow. The stock market has existed for almost 300 years, with the Amsterdam exchange having been created in 1611. Nowadays, stocks are a widespread phenomenon, with an official stock market existing in at least 111 countries around the world – in total, a market value of 95 trillion dollars. In the modern age, it…

By Magaye Gaye, Economist. The world has for some time been plunged into a worrying inflationary crisis. This observation raises questions about the relevance of the responses that central banks have provided and about the monetarist theory embodied by the economist Milton Friedman. With a rate of 6.2% over a rolling year in the United States, observed in October 2020, the inflation rate has been multiplied by 11.5 in a year and a half. The euro zone is not left out with a rate of 5%. This inflationary surge is explained by the tensions observed on the global production chains,…