Governments have only just awoken to the digital economy but are stifling not supporting startups Project Syndicate | Perseus Mlambo | Africa is the youngest place in the world. But because African heads of state tend to be older – with an average age of 62 – they are out of …
Read More »Pan-African bank unveils full operations in United Kingdom
Kampala, Uganda | ISAAC KHISA | Pan-African lender, United Bank for Africa, has unveiled a full operation in the United Kingdom, opening up trade opportunities between the continent and European nations. This follows authorization of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for UBA (UK) Limited …
Read More »Invisible children of Africa
Children who have no birth certificate cannot prove their age, parentage, or identity, or get official papers COMMENT | Dominique Nouvian Ouattara | A name, an official identity, and a nationality recognised by everyone: most of us take these things for granted. Yet, for nearly a quarter-billion children around the …
Read More »Fallacy of better democracy
The claim that democracy fares better in the West than in Africa is a mistake | STEVEN FRIEDMAN | One day, if they follow instructions, Africa’s new democracies will grow up to be “real” like those of Western Europe and North America. This assumption makes little sense – but it …
Read More »Africa’s leaders gather to launch new health financing initiative.
Addis Ababa | THE INDEPENDENT | African Heads of State and Government, Ministers of Health and Finance, business leaders and global partners gathered yesterday ahead of the 32nd Summit of the African Union (AU), to launch a new initiative aimed at increasing commitments for health, improving the impact of spending and …
Read More »Afreximbank’s new fund to catalyse FDI flows in Africa
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the equity investment fund created recently by the African Export-Import Bank will catalyse foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into Africa’s trade and export sectors. Prof. Benedict Oramah, the bank’s president, said during the opening of the Financing …
Read More »COMMENT: Selling Africa’s good news stories
How to stop negative Africa stereotypes that feed western hunger for one-dimensional narratives COMMENT | SHAYERA DARK | Project Syndicate | Anywhere in the world, freelance journalism is an extreme career choice. The job requires withstanding pitch rejections, ignored queries, stolen story ideas, and delayed payments. It means reconciling oneself …
Read More »33 YRS LATER: ‘NRM is a power relation-enjoyment of power’
‘Independence is about Africans rediscovering themselves’ NRM programme point No.4: Defending and consolidating National Independence James Magode Ikuya is a political activist who has worked with UPC, FRONASA and NRM. He spoke to Ian Katusiime about consolidating national independence, one of the ten point programmes outlined by NRM when it …
Read More »African arms market to grow by 50 percent over five years: analyst
Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Africa’s arms market is likely to grow by 50 percent over the next five years, analyst Stephane Konan said at a four-day trade show in Ivory Coast. “The African market in defence represents only a drop of water in relation to the world market: 42.6 …
Read More »ATI doubles its portfolio to US$5bn
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Pan African insurer, African Trade Insurance Agency, is now supporting trade and investments equivalent to 1 – 2 % of the annual Gross Domestic Product flowing into its African member countries, and 2018 also saw a doubling of the company’s exposure from US$2.4 billion in …
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