Authorities in Malawi have issued an arrest warrant for former president Joyce Banda, whose tenure from 2012 through 2014 was marked by the notorious “Cashgate” scandal, a high water mark in the southern African nation’s struggles with corruption. The Malawi Police Service announced in a press statement Monday that it…
The Central Bank of Somalia (CBS) is moving forward with plans to introduce new banknotes meant to stabilize an economy dragged down by, among other things, the widespread use of counterfeit cash. Bashir Isse Ali, head of the CBS, said at a Thursday press conference that plans for printing the…
“We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right”. Never in Africa have these words uttered by Nelson Mandela, an African icon, rung as true as they do presently. We are two years into the implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDG)…
Dr. Richard Munang is currently the United Nations Environment Africa Regional Climate Change Programme Coordinator.
Liberia lags behind other nations on Internet connectivity, and its rate of just 5 percent of citizens who can access the Internet is one of the lowest in the world. A new USD$12 million investment to build out broadband infrastructure, announced in Monrovia this week, will link Liberians to economic…
Amid Mozambique’s ongoing debt scandal, a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed its visit to discuss the results of last month’s troubling audit report and the country’s overall economic outlook. The team, led by Michel Lazare, noted some improvements in the Mozambique economy since last year. “However,…
A new report from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change in London should send shivers down the collective spine of the development community: On its current trajectory, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will face a projected shortfall of 50 million jobs by 2040. The paper argues – as have others –…
Arnaud is a French freelance writer with an African heart who has lived in 10 different Sub-Saharan countries in the past decade. He is currently based in Paris.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed an agreement with Islamic Development Bank to partner on USD$2 billion in project financing for renewable energy, health, food security and other key initiatives in Africa. Each partner will contribute $1 billion over the next three years to support economic transformation on the…
The G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, ended Saturday with a much-anticipated focus on Africa championed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel – but it may have been India’s Narendra Modi who made the most compelling case for a global investment in African development. During brief remarks to the ‘Partnership with Africa,…
A long-awaited McKinsey report on China-Africa economic partnerships and relationships has been released, with insights drawn from more than 100 senior African leaders and more than 1,000 owners or managers of Chinese businesses in eight African nations. There are thousands of Chinese firms – far more than officially counted, McKinsey…
German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed her case for investment in Africa on Monday as part of the G20’s Compact for Africa initiative, the focus of two-day meetings in Berlin. Merkel, whose nation holds the current G20 presidency, welcomed African leaders from Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Tunisia, the three nations that…
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in Lagos says it has cut a deal worth more than USD$86 million with the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to buy out the NPA’s remaining equity in the Lekki Deep Sea Port. “Both parties have already executed an agreement to this effect,” the NPA…
The World Bank has approved USD$50 million in grant funding to assist with the drought and famine response, and provide humanitarian aid to Somalia. The Somalia Emergency Drought Response and Recovery Project (SEDRP) will be coordinated through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations Food…
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, speaking at a session on Africa and the G7 during the weekend summit in Italy, emphasized six strategies for advancing growth across the continent while reducing the risks that unemployment and economic frustration create for peace and security. Guterres noted the challenges facing fragile…
American officials on Tuesday released a much-awaited $37.6 billion combined budget request for the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), one that cuts more than $17 billion from the “leaner” government’s diplomatic and foreign aid programs. “This budget request supports the President’s ‘America First’ vision…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India will participate Tuesday alongside Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), at the bank’s annual meeting in Ahmedabad in India’s western Gujarat state. The meeting, which runs through Friday, will focus on India’s partnership with African nations in key development areas, with…