Tag Archives: economy

Paris, France | AFP | By opting to place heavy tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium, US President Donald Trump is on the surface hoping to protect jobs at home. Yet his policy threatens not only to frustrate trade partners but also cost US workers dear, many analysts as …

Hong Kong, China | AFP | Steel and aluminium producers across Asia sank Friday on news of Donald Trump’s controversial tariffs, though some analysts said the long-term effects on the sector might not be as bad as thought. The president said Thursday he would slap levies of 25 percent on …

Nouakchott, Mauritania | AFP | Recep Tayyip Erdogan landed in Mauritania on Wednesday flanked by businessmen and primed to sign several cooperation deals in the first visit by a Turkish president to Nouakchott. He is undertaking a four-nation African tour to ramp up Turkey’s growing influence throughout the continent, where it …

Algiers, Algeria | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the signing of trade deals with Algeria on Tuesday as he visited the country on the first leg of a tour of Africa. Erdogan said the agreements would allow Ankara and Algiers to diversify trade pending the signing of “an …

Lubumbashi, DR Congo | AFP | Rebels have wanted to kill him, NGOs accuse him of exploitation and Chinese newcomers have rattled his Congo mining empire, but George Forrest, one of Africa’s biggest businessmen, remains unbowed. The head of the Forrest Group, which is worth an estimated $800 million (650 …

Cape Town, South Africa | AFP | South Africans were hit by the first sales tax increase since apartheid when the country’s finance minister delivered a tough budget on Wednesday, dampening optimism spurred by the country’s new reformist president. President Cyril Ramaphosa took over last week from the scandal-plagued Jacob …

Different kinds of commercial farming will have different effects on the economy COMMENT | RUTH HALL, DZODZI TSIKATK, IAN SCOONES | Colonialism brought large-scale farming to Africa, promising modernisation and jobs – but often dispossessing people and exploiting workers. Now, after several decades of independence, and with investor interest growing, …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Sudan on Sunday released dozens of opposition activists arrested last month in a crackdown on protests against rising food prices, an AFP correspondent reported. The release of detainees, including some top opposition figures, came three days after the US embassy voiced concern over the arrests …

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Women in Saudi Arabia can now open their own businesses without the consent of a husband or male relative, as the kingdom pushes to expand a fast-growing private sector. The policy change, announced by the Saudi government on Thursday, also marks a major step …

Aye Ywar , Myanmar | AFP | A free app on farmer San San Hla’s smartphone is her new weapon in the war against the dreaded stem borer moth that blighted her rice paddy in southern Myanmar for the last two years. As she watches her workers haul in this …