BUSINESS

Nigeria’s cashless policy, initiated six years ago, was designed to encourage electronic transactions with a view to reducing the amount of physical cash in the economy to foster transparency, curb corruption and drive financial inclusion. It’s however now threatened by the growing perpetration of fraud.  Oludayo Tade, researcher in criminology, victimology, electronic frauds and cybercrime, University of Ibadan, presents his …

Since inception, MainOne has invested in over $400m in infrastructure in West Africa as part of its efforts to bridge the digital divide and enable the digital economy LAGOS, Nigeria, June 29, 2020/ — MainOne (www.MainOne.net), West Africa’s leading provider of Wholesale and Enterprise connectivity and data centre services celebrates 10 years of delivering innovative, world-class service in West Africa. …

NJ Ayuk, founder of one of Africa’s most successful law chambers, explains that “climate change — and the call to leave fossil fuels in the ground— is largely a western narrative”, which does not consider the situation of African countries whose oil and gas production earns export revenues, reduce energy poverty, create jobs etc. He explains how Western climate policy …

Suguba announces Afrikhaliss in partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD) and Mercy Corps BAMAKO, Mali, June 16, 2020/ — Suguba (www.Suguba.org) – in partnership with Mercy Corps and the French Development Agency (AFD) – is organising their second 6-month investment readiness program in West Africa to support the 8 most promising startups in the digital sector in Francophone West …

Mercer’s 26th Cost of Living Survey finds majority of African cities have risen in rankings in the most and least expensive cities for expatriates globally * The most expensive cities are Victoria, N’djamena and Lagos * The least expensive cities are Banjul, Windhoek and Tunis JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, June 15, 2020,-/African Media Agency (AMA)/- According to Mercer’s 2020 Cost of …

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has nominated the country’s former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for the position of director-general of the World Trade Organisation. NAN reported on Thursday that Buhari withdrew the candidacy of Yonov Agah, Nigeria’s permanent representative to WTO, for the same position. The election is scheduled to hold in Geneva, Switzerland in 2021 for a four-year term that …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says governing parties have agreed on a €130 billion stimulus package to help revive the virus-hit economy. Under the wide-ranging measures, value-added tax will be temporarily slashed. Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that Germany was set to plow 130 billion euros ($146 billion) into rebooting an economy severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The measures include …

The controversy surrounding accusations of malpractices against the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, seems to have been resolved for now on Thursday. Some officials of the Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire-based Bank had accused Dr Adesina of lack of respect of internal rules and regulations in recruitment, citing numerous cases of nepotism and favouritism. The AfDB’s Ethics …

The Bank’s investments have benefited millions of Africans through its 10-year strategy which it began implementing from 2013 ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, June 3, 2020/ — For the past five decades, the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has been at the forefront of driving Africa’s economic transformation, leveraging its diverse resources and unique know-how as an indigenous development finance institution. The …

Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), is at the centre of a brewing storm.  Adesina, a former Nigerian agriculture minister, is due for re-election for a second term of 5 years at the helm of Africa’s leading development finance institution. The AfDB’s mission is to fight poverty and improve living conditions on the continent through promoting …

Sub-Sahara African countries will lose about $200bn in incomes by the end of 2020, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The development is as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is pulling the global economy towards recession. IMF had already, in its latest Regional Economic Outlook, projected that the economies of Sub-Saharan African countries would contract by 1.6 …

Global remittances are projected to decline sharply by about 20 percent in 2020 due to the economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown, the World Bank has predicted. “The projected fall, which would be the sharpest decline in recent history, is largely due to a fall in the wages and employment of migrant workers, who tend to be …

There is an ongoing innovative project, sponsored by the German government, to promote micro and small businesses in Africa. WIDU, an initiative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the development agency GIZ, leverages diaspora remittances for the creation of jobs and better economic prospects in Africa. It’s currently being implemented in Ghana and …

The Jack Ma Foundation has opened the application process for its Africa’s Business Heroes competition. Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) is organized by the Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative, established in 2019 to cultivate and empower young African entrepreneurs by giving equal opportunities to those who harnessed the power of small businesses and technologies. Through its associated activities and training, business leaders …

Afrolynk is an Impact Venture that supports innovation, connects and accelerates, together with start-ups, entrepreneurs, investors, venture capitalists, SMEs, cooperation and organizations that are connected to the EU-African market. As part of the Accelerate pillar of the operations, it has partnered with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to carry out the WIDU project in Ghana. The WIDU Platform is …

Sierra Leone will look to the African Development Bank to stimulate agribusiness development in the country with a focus on rice production, President Maada Bio told a visiting delegation led by its president, Akinwumi Adesina. Adesina began a two-day visit to Sierra Leone on Wednesday, during which he held meetings to discuss curbing malnutrition, creating skills and jobs for young …

Economic experts and entrepreneurs from Germany and Africa met to present solutions for combating poverty, corruption and the causes of flight in Africa.  While at the same time charting how German as well as African companies should benefit from this.

Afrolynk is a Berlin-based company that promotes increased African-European business relationship with a focus on technology as the chief driver of integration. The social enterprise, which is present in 8 African countries – Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, supports young entrepreneurs with free online courses for the development of their skills. The company, which organises …

Heads of State and Government who gathered at the 2020 African Union Summit have made the provision of more opportunities to women a centre-piece of their collective efforts to drive the continent’s economic growth and development. The Summit, taking place from 8-10 February in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, witnessed the launch of African Women Leadership Fund that will …

Google has launched its first Google Developers Space in Lagos, Nigeria. Previously referred to as the Google Launchpad Space, the Google Developers Space is a hub for African developers, entrepreneurs and startups. The event took place on 29 January. Sundar Pichai, Google CEO, made a commitment to African entrepreneurs in July 2017 to start the Launchpad Accelerator Africa program and …