Morning boats leave a quiet Pacific inlet, diesel hum in the air, gulls loud and nosy. News travels fast there. The $24.5M Grant from Bezos Earth Fund to Launch First Cross-Border Marine Biosphere Reserve in Latin America sets a clear signal. A large, practical step. Not theory. And yes, it anchors the phrase many groups […]
Q3 GDP Growth Slips to 0.5% as South Africa’s Economy Slows Further: Africa newsroom update. Markets opened to a softer print as South Africa Q3 GDP edged up 0.5%. The headline says it cleanly. South Africa economic growth cooled, and the South Africa economy’s slow tag felt accurate on trading floors. Cool morning air in […]
Ride-hailing firm Bolt has raised Sh11 billion worth of investment capital from Naya Capital Management to boost its growth and development strategy. The funds will go into upgrading its mobility services and food delivery services in Europe and Africa. This will include investments into scooters, bikes and delivery services across its markets for its on-demand […]
High forward-looking loan provision in the wake of Coronavirus dent banks’ profits in the first three months of the year. Kenya adopted the IFRS19 accounting standard that requires financial institutions to provide for unforeseen defaults beforehand. An analysis of Q1 financial statements for three lenders that released their results last week shows KCB Group, Cooperative […]
Strict measures adopted by South Africa to curb COVID-19 continues to bite entrepreneurs. Fino Dlamini, started her business only in 2019 to offer bicycle tours of Soweto to visitors. But now, her tools are idle. “So I started this business officially last year October and I bought and invested in equipment. That equipment included bicycles […]
Pravin Gordhan, South Africa‘s minister for public enterprises, is staking his own credibility and that of President Cyril Ramaphosa‘s government on the creation of a new airline out of the ashes of the bankrupt national carrier. Hit by the loss of the country’s last investment-grade rating on its sovereign debt and the COVID-19 pandemic, Ramaphosa […]
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) introduced more measures yesterday affecting EcoCash agents as part of what is now seen as a policy to bring EcoCash agents into the formal banking system and ensure they are controlled. Banks holding mobile money trust accounts are now only allowed to let their account holders pay into those […]
Transformation of the agricultural sector… Ethiopia turns to alternative energy sources to counter the harmful effects of coronavirus. Coronavirus disruptions are strongly impacting world economies. On the continent, in the horn of Africa, like Ethiopia, measures are being put in place to revive the economy. The country has embarked on the transformation of its agricultural […]
The South African Informal Traders Alliance (Saita) and a tobacconist have warned that the ban on the sale of cigarettes is fuelling illicit trade. The organisations are calling on the government to “urgently” lift the ban on the sale of tobacco. “We can see the ban is not stopping people from smoking, but instead of […]
The government of Nigeria, whose revenue could be slashed by more than half this year due to the oil-price slump, finalized plans for a revised budget that keeps spending almost intact, and that will mean more borrowing. Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed got approval from the West African’s nation’s cabinet on May 13 to go ahead […]
The COVID-19 pandemic and related measures have brought the world’s economy nearly to a total halt. A UN report released on May 12 projects the global economy to contract by 3.2% this year. World trade is forecast to shrink by nearly 15% amid sharply reduced demand and disruptions in global supply chains. The report known […]
Airports Company SA (Acsa), which manages and operates nine airports in SA, says it expects it will need about R10 billion in government guarantees over the next five years in order to obtain bank loans to continue operating. The airport management company and the SA Civil Aviation Authority on Tuesday briefed Parliament’s portfolio committee on […]
Sudan’s inflation rate has risen further to 99% in April due to rising food prices, the Sudanese Central Bureau of Statistics announced on Saturday. This rate had already risen to 82% the previous month, over one year. But rising prices for grains, meat, milk and bread have further increased inflation. Despite the political transition in […]
Mango Airlines, the low-cost wing of SAA, is set to cut its employees’ salaries by up 50percent. Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan told Parliament during a briefing on the state of state-owned entities including SAA, Eskom and Transnet that Mango’s employees had taken salary cuts voluntarily. Gordhan said the salary cuts would be made beased […]
African skies could experience increased activity earlier than other continents due to the planned evacuation of people seeking to return home from across the world. This is the view advanced by Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines. In an interview with Bloomberg TV he said of the return to operations: “here in Africa we expect […]
Tanzania’s economic growth could fall to 4% this calender year due to effects of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Finance Minister Philip Mpango. Economic expansion “could further decline depending on the extent of the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on different sectors of the economy,” Mpango told lawmakers on Friday in a presentation seen by […]
Equatorial Guinea has announced a series of strategic measures to assist oil and gas exploration companies. The measures are expected to lessen the financial burden of these oil companies as the world battles covid-19. The executive president of the African Chamber of Energy for the CEMAC zone, Leoncio Amada NZE, analysed the measures taken by […]
Imports from china, Kenya’s biggest trading partner plunged by at least Sh58.64 billion in the first two months of the year as the coronavirus outbreak disrupted the supply chain. A survey by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) shows about 82 per cent source their inputs from china, hence face a direct risk of supply […]
Africa-focused tech talent accelerator Andela has let go of 135 employees, CEO Jeremy Johnson said. Senior staff at the company — with offices in New York and four African countries — will also take salary cuts of 10% to 30%. The compensation and staff reductions are a result of the economic impact of the COVID-19 […]
Falling fuel prices and collapsing demand are likely to outweigh the effects of a weaker rand, and could push consumer inflation towards 17-year lows, according to investment bank BNP Paribas. BNP Paribas sees inflation averaging just 2.8% this year — below the SA Reserve Bank’s target range of between 3% and 6% — leaving the […]