BUSINESS

Afruibana, a group of fruit producers and exporters from Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana that aims to strengthen trade between Africa and EU, has been launched. The body was officially launched in Brussels during Cameroon’s Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana’s visit to European institutions on 19 July. The association will allow fruit producers on the continent to combine their …

One of the priorities of the German G20 Presidency in 2017 is Africa and the challenges the continent is facing as well as its potential. This potential is also the key focus of the AFRIKA KOMMT! initiative, which 19 leading German companies launched in 2008.  The programme trains future managers and fosters German-African economic relations. Word about the initiative has …

Germany has prioritized the achievement of “strong, sustainable and balanced global economic growth” and Africa in its G20 presidency. Did it achieve this? Abu-Bakarr Jalloh reports from Hamburg. Traditionally, G20 leaders focus on issues relating to global economic growth, international trade and financial market regulations. The 2017 Hamburg summit was no different. However, Germany attempted to use its presidency to …

Prof Yemi Osinbajo, Acting President of Nigeria, in this opinion piece argues that efforts to create sustainable economic growth in Africa are undermined by corruption facilitated by the legal and financial systems of G20 countries. He calls on the world’s most powerful states to move beyond pledges on Africa and he suggests the concrete steps they should take to help …

The digitization of Africa benefits European and African companies that aim to invest and create jobs in Africa, was the conclusion of a major conference on the eve of the G20 summit. The German-African Business Day, which took place on Thursday (6 July) in Berlin, brought together leading representatives of banks and businesses, as well as governments and public institutions …

Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has praised German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s role in making development and aid for Africa a key topic at the Group of 20 (G20) talks in Hamburg, which begin today (7 July). Speaking to Germany’s “Tagesthemen” news program on Thursday, Gates said that the summit “gives countries the opportunity to push one another and work …

Representatives of businesses, governments, investment organisations and financial institutions from Africa and Europe will gather in Berlin on Thursday, 6 July for the annual German-African Business Day. Under the theme “Empowering Millions: Africa’s Rising Digital Economy”, participants will discuss how to intensify economic ties between Germany and Africa. Organised by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ) in …

One key element of the partnership of the world’s leading twenty economies with African states conceived by Germany, which currently holds the G20 presidency, is the Compact with Africa (CWA). Its aim is to promote private investment and investment in infrastructure in the participating countries. Drafts for agreements with five African countries – Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia …

Ethiopia is the fastest-growing economy in 2017, according to the World Bank’s latest edition of Global Economic Prospects. Ethiopia’s GDP is forecast to grow by 8.3% in 2017. By contrast, global growth is projected to be 2.7%. The East African country’s accelerating growth comes on the back of government spending on infrastructure. With a GDP of US$69.22 billion (2016 est.), …

African leaders met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 12-13 June 2017 in Berlin at the conference G20 Africa Partnership – Investing in a Common Future, where the world’s most powerful economies discussed the initiative to promote increased private sector investment in the continent. The German presidency of the G20 regards the Africa Partnership as one of its important projects. …

Nigeria’s Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, has signed the 2017 Appropriation Bill (also known as budget) into law late Monday. The signing of the record 7.44 trillion naira ($23 billion) budget took place at the presidency in the presence of the heads of the legislature, the minister of budget planning, the finance minister and other top government officials. Osinbajo had …

The chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation in Europe (NIDOE), Kenneth Gbandi, has called on the African Diaspora to become more actively engaged in the continent’s development. Gbandi made the call at the Africa Day Dortmund, organized by the non-governmental organization AfricanTide Union, recently. “For us the time of talking in NIDOE is over, …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is meeting African leaders in Berlin today and tomorrow (12-13 June) to discuss migration, poverty and development. Leaders from Egypt, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia will be in attendance at the “G20 Africa Partnership – Investing in a Common Future” conference. The event is one of the activities of Germany’s current …

Nigeria will start an international roadshow next week for the sale of a Diaspora bond and has named Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Standard Bank of South Africa as joint lead managers, its debt management office said on Thursday. Africa’s biggest economy first unveiled in 2013 plans to sell Diaspora bonds worth between $100 million to $300 million from …

A conference of the Group of Twenty (G20) on a global economic partnership with Africa will take place in the German capital on 12-13 June. The conference, which will be attended by heads of state and governments, will propose the “G20 African Partnership” initiative whose chief object is to spur higher investment levels – particularly from foreign investors – in …

Our contributing editor Mickie Ojijo narrates the ordeal of a German man who went to Kenya to invest his life savings in a business venture only to be duped by his local manager, a woman. All the efforts of the German to get justice have so far been frustrated by the police and courts in the East African country. Rudolf …

Brett Parker, Managing Director – SAP Africa, writes on how Africans are coming up with solutions to unique problems they face, leading to the emergence of new technologies. By now, I am convinced that you have heard of M-Pesa, the popular and often-cited mobile banking system that has become Africa’s innovation calling card. But do you know about the Ushahidi …

“Agenda 2030: Sustainable Development Goals” was the theme of this year’s Africa Day in the western German city of Dortmund.  The 3-day congress, which marked the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (now African Union) in 1963 and was organised by the non-governmental organization AfricanTide Union, beamed the focus on Agenda 2030 and its relevance to tackling the knotty …

Much more wealth is leaving Africa, which is generally regarded as the world’s most impoverished continent, than is entering it, according to a new research into total financial flows into and out of the continent.  Nick Dearden, the director of UK campaigning organisation Global Justice Now, argues that it’s time to change the way the West talks and thinks about …

German Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Brigitte Zypries, visited South Africa on 3 – 7 May 2017. A high-level business delegation accompanied her. The visit centred around the presentation of Germany’s new plan for engagement with Africa at the World Economic Forum on Africa 2017. The Forum, which took place in Cape Town, was attended by more than a …