The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced Thursday that it will integrate Islamic banking, which now has a presence in more than 60 countries, into its financial stability assessments in nations where Islamic finance commands at least 15 percent of the banking sector market. Beginning in 2019, they’ll use the Core…
The launch of a new investigative journalism series has all eyes on West Africa, where the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has partnered with reporters in 11 countries to, among other things, track down money in offshore tax havens and expose the elite clientele connected to the funds. “Leaked…
President Adama Barrow of The Gambia is in Brussels Tuesday for a donor conference to help support the country’s democratic transition from the decades of rule under former dictator Yahya Jammeh. The conference, jointly organized by The Gambia and the European Union, will see Barrow co-chair the meeting alongside High…
The UK’s development finance institution, CDC, and Standard Chartered Bank today announced an up to USD$100 million in investment funding to grow businesses in Zimbabwe – a move that heralds a new start for the country as the UK has long withheld support while awaiting economic and social reforms. The…
The president of the African Development Bank was in Johannesburg Tuesday to launch the Africa Investment Forum, calling for an aggressive approach to investment through a new African investment marketplace. “If Africa is to achieve a genuine, equitable, and sustainable economic transformation, it cannot be business as usual,” said Akinwumi…
Morocco’s Nawal El Moutawakel, head of the country’s National Olympic Committee (NOC), and her delegation visited Belarus to discuss their FIFA World Cup 2026 bid with their counterparts in Minsk. “We are glad to welcome such designated representatives of the Moroccan Olympic Movement,” said George Katulin, the NOC Secretary General…
A nationwide general strike Wednesday in South Africa drew thousands of protesters, with marches in at least six cities including Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. The strike, coordinated by the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), meant to “bring South Africa to a standstill” over the country’s economic plight,…
In South Africa, the property and assets of the Gupta family were seized Monday in a raid on their Saxonwold compound in Johannesburg, in connection with an ongoing corruption investigation into a dairy project – one of many such cases implicating the influential Guptas, who are tied to former president…
With the stroke of a pen, African heads of state gathered in Kigali, Rwanda on March 21, 2018, signed off on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) deal – which some pundits have characterised as the largest free trade agreement since the World Trade Organization. This signing comes at…
Dr. Richard Munang is currently the United Nations Environment Africa Regional Climate Change Programme Coordinator.
Côte d’Ivoire continues its fast-paced economic growth, and its medium-term outlook remains favorable although some risks remain, according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff team that’s just wrapped up a visit to Abidjan. The IMF team led by Dhaneshwar Ghura met with, among others, President Alassane Ouattara, Prime Minister…
Qatar’s ambassador to Sudan said Tuesday that work to restore the port at Suakin Island will begin this month, following the USD$4 billion deal between the two countries to develop the Red Sea site. Rashid Abdul Rahman Al-Nuaimi said the work will begin in the first of three stages, the…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
South Africa has expressed its concern over a United States decision to exclude it from the list of countries receiving a last-minute exemption on steel and aluminium tariffs, and has submitted a formal request for the exclusion. The South African Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the tariffs that…
President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe has arrived in Côte d’Ivoire, where he was greeted by President Alassane Ouattara as both head for the Africa CEO Forum to be held Monday in Tuesday in Abidjan. Mnangagwa will present his plans for economic recovery, and with former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo will participate…
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday welcomed Yang Jiechi, Special Envoy of President Xi Jinping of China, as he opened a two-day official visit in Cape Town. Ramaphosa said the re-election of President Xi presented an opportunity for South Africa to deepen its strategic cooperation with China at a…
The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement has been signed by 80 percent of African Union member nations, paving the way for expanded markets and economic growth and development. Eighty percent of the 55 AU nations heeded the call of AU Chairman Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda, and AU…