Interview

  Dr. Catherine Kyobutungi is the Executive Director of African Population Health Research Center (APHRC), an Africa-led research institution based in Nairobi, Kenya. She spoke to Ian Katusiime about their 20th anniversary, COVID-19 and related issues. APHRC just received a grant of US$15m from MacKenzie Scott. What does this mean …

Diane Karusisi, CEO of Bank of Kigali, Rwanda’s largest commercial bank by assets, speaks about the country’s growth outlook and its plans to become an international finance hub. What is your perspective on the outlook for the Bank of Kigali, and by extension, for Rwanda? As of September 2021, our …

Budapest, Hungary | Xinhua | The European Union (EU) has already announced five rounds of sanctions against Russia, including an import ban on Russian coal. But according to Hungarian political scientist Csaba Moldicz, the sanctions will most likely not reach the desired effect of ending the current conflict in Ukraine. …

What is impeding it? Africa has made progress in the fight against tuberculosis (TB) in recent years, however several hurdles are curbing the efforts to end this preventable and curable disease and at the current pace, the global targets to eliminate the disease by 2030 look increasingly elusive. Dr Norbert …

Yvonne Manzi Makolo, CEO of RwandAir, says that the company, now 49% owned by Qatar Airways, is looking beyond the pandemic to exploiting Africa’s huge aviation potential. How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your expansion plans and your medium- to long-term strategy? We had a lot of momentum in the …

Here’s what you should know about terror alerts Kenya remains in a state of heightened alert following travel warnings by French, U.S. and European Union officials of imminent terrorist attacks. Kenya has suffered deadly terror attacks claimed by the Somali Islamist group Al-Shabaab. As a result it has beefed up …

While Africa looks to accelerate the development of its significant oil and gas resources – particularly as the continent struggles with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and energy poverty crisis – significant investment is needed in the upstream and midstream sectors. Rather than abandon fossil fuels in the name …

Octagon Africa, a regional financial services provider offering pension and insurance service entered Uganda’s pension market in 2013, and now holds about US$100million in assets under its management. The firm’s CEO Fred Waswa spoke to The Independent’s Isaac Khisa on a wide range of issues in the pension industry. What …

With oil and gas production declines presenting newfound challenges for Africa, stakeholders are pushing for enhanced exploration to help mitigate this trend. Despite global calls to transition to renewable energy sources, Africa still needs its oil and gas reserves if it is to meet its development goals and make energy …

Free trading under the auspices of the African Continental Free Trade Area started in January 2021. One year later, several aspects of the trade pact are being successfully implemented as negotiations are ongoing in other areas. Kingsley Ighobor interviewed the Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene and here are …