Special

Kagame inaugurates Carnegie Mellon University Africa campus in Rwanda

Pittsburgh, US-based Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has opened its newly-built African campus in Kigali, Rwanda. The institution is the only American research university offering master’s degrees with a full-time faculty, staff and operations in Africa. Inaugurating the campus on Friday (22 November), President Paul Kagame said Rwanda had the potential, will and capacity of hosting international centres of excellence such …

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Mauritius Ambassador identifies obstacles to African development at G-PAD Forum

Ambassador of Mauritius to Germany, Prof Kheswar Jankee, has identified factors inhibiting Africa’s development and preventing the continent from realising its huge potential. Speaking at the 2019 Global Partnership for Africa’s Development (G-PAD) Forum, which took place on 22-23 November in the German city of Tubingen, the diplomat and scholar said it’s frustrating talking about African development challenges despite its …

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Merkel challenges African leaders on driving continent’s economic development

German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted African leaders to a meeting in Berlin on Tuesday. The summit, the third within the framework of the G20 Compact with Africa (CwA) initiative, seeks to promote increased private sector investment in Africa. At a meeting at the federal chancellery attended by representatives of the 12 partner countries of the CwA and South Africa, being …

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Stakeholders discuss future of mobile money platforms in Africa

Stakeholders from 8 African countries deliberate on policies and frameworks to drive innovation, technology and sustainable mobile payment ecosystem Key representatives from over 8 countries in Africa gathered at a workshop organized by Vodacom in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday (21 November) to look into trends and developments shaping the mobile money industry in Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to …

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How Nigerian emerged first Africa Jack Ma Prize winner

Temie Giwa-Tubosun, whose company LifeBank delivers blood to in-need hospitals in Nigeria, took first place in Jack Ma’s inaugural Africa Netpreneur Prize contest on Saturday (17 November) during a five-hour finale taped for TV in Accra, Ghana. Giwa-Tubosun pitched her way to a $250,000 cash prize over the course of eight months, beating out about 10,000 other applicants from 50 of Africa’s 54 …

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European Bank to mobilise €1 billion for women entrepreneurs in Africa

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has launched SheInvest, a new initiative that aims to mobilise 1 billion euros of investment to benefit millions of women across Africa with better access to finance and by making sustainable infrastructure services and products work for them. This initiative was launched simultaneously at the Africa Investment Forum, which took plan on 11-13 November in …

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Jack Ma Foundation awards $1 million to African entrepreneurs

The foundation of Chinese billionaire and founder of the Alibaba Group, Jack Ma, hosted its first annual Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative grand finale on Saturday in Accra, awarding $1 million in prize money to 10 entrepreneurs from across Africa. The Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI) is a flagship initiative of the Jack Ma Foundation, created by Jack Ma after his first …

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Francophone West African countries to withdraw foreign reserves from France

The end is near for one of the most contentious legacies of French colonialism in Africa. The eight-member nations of the West African Monetary Union have “unanimously” decided to end the policy of keeping their foreign reserves in the French Treasury President Patrice Talon of Benin has announced that the foreign reserves of the West African CFA franc, the currency …

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Why agribusiness is Africa’s new investment frontier

Africa’s agribusiness sector is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2030, so there is certainly cause for optimism. Consumer demand for food in Africa is growing at an unprecedented rate. But what is fuelling this growth? Mariam Yinusa and Edward Mabaya, Principal Economist and Manager, respectively, in the Agribusiness Development Division of the African Development Bank (AfDB), explain. In the …

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Time to Invest in Africa is Now, Tony Elumelu tells global investors in Paris

Tony O. Elumelu, Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) and Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Heirs Holdings opened the “Ambition Africa” conference organised by the France Invest Africa Club in Paris, France, on 30 October. In his opening address, Elumelu urged French investors to look to Africa for long term investment opportunities. The French Minister of Economy …

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African Bank announces new capital record of $208 billion

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) on Thursday announced the largest capital increase in its history, with an almost 125 percent jump from $93 billion to $208 billion. AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina hailed “a historic day” for the bank and “a day of joy for Africa” at a press conference in Côte d’Ivoire’s economic capital city of Abidjan. “This general …

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