Angola is the latest of Africa’s Portuguese-speaking nations to sign on to the Lusophone Compact, which seeks to boost private-sector development in partnership with Portugal and the African Development Bank (AfDB). The compact is an initiative that links the six Portuguese-speaking nations – Angola, Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique,…
China on Monday congratulated African nations following the weekend launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in Niamey, Niger, during an African Union summit that saw Niger and Benin join the near-complete list of African nations signed to the trade deal. The achievement was welcomed by China’s ministry…
Who’s running the show at the International Monetary Fund, now that former managing director Christine Lagarde has stepped down temporarily while she is a candidate for head of the European Central Bank? Right now it’s David Lipton, who has served as deputy managing director since 2011 and is completing a…
President Emmerson Mnangagwa said Tuesday that the country’s decision to return to a single Zimbabwean currency is part of a suite of decisions meant to stabilize the economy – but the abrupt decision to make other currencies illegal, effective immediately, has caught many off guard. Mnangagwa said the use of…
Public workers in eSwatini plan a national strike Wednesday, in order to protest working conditions in key sectors of the country’s chronically troubled economy. According to the Swazi Observer, the four main public unions – for teachers, nurses, government accountants and a broader public service group – made the decision…
Officials in the United States have announced the 26 new members of the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA), which will serve the council’s third term through 2021. The appointments were announced by U.S. Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Karen Dunn Kelley, left, during a U.S.-Africa Business…
As African ministers prepare for next week’s meeting in Beijing – a follow-up to last September’s Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit – a new World Bank report warns that nations participating in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will need significant policy reforms to truly benefit from the BRI…
When it comes to the critical role of remittances, it’s hard to overstate the impact in African nations and the trend only continues to grow. For Gambians, such remittances – money sent home to families from loved ones working abroad – accounted for 15.1 percent of GDP in 2018. That’s…
A study that looked at the potential regional impacts of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement suggests that it’s Central Africa that stands to gain the most from a unified African market of 1.3 billion consumers, and the easier movement of people and goods across borders. Research director…
China will host the next step in achieving the goals of last September’s Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit, with a coordinators’ meeting planned for June 24 and 25 in Beijing. The meeting, announced Monday by spokesman Geng Shuang of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will see ministerial officials from…
Equatorial Guinea is set to host the African Development Bank’s annual meeting, which begins Tuesday in Malabo and runs through the week. “Equatorial Guinea is one of the most developed countries in Africa, but not many people know that,” said Vincent Nmehielle, the secretary general for AfDB, at a press…
President Faure Gnassingbé of Togo was joined by former British prime minister Tony Blair on Thursday to talk economic development at the Togo-UK Investment Summit in London. Gnassingbé made his pitch to investors while announcing a new deal for a logistics hub in Lomé, after meeting with CEO Geoffrey White…
The president of Botswana began an 11-day trip to the United States on Tuesday, leaving from Sir Seretse Khama International Airport as he headed off for his working visit to a number of cities. President Mokgweetsi Masisi will visit Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York and New Haven during his…
It’s been a year since South African goat farmers came under scrutiny from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia. The films PETA released, alleging unethical and cruel practices in the mohair industry, led to hundreds of clothing and home furnishing retailers refusing to use South African angora…
China again denied claims that its loan policies put African nations and others in the developing world into “debt traps,” countering reports that United States legislators are looking to pass legislation that would limit China’s ability to do so. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang said Wednesday that Beijing’s…