How Mauritius Became The Hottest Investment Opportunity On The Continent
There are a number of key factors that make for an attractive investment environment, including a well developed banking system, a favourable tax regime, and low inflation. And when the location is just right, in terms of proximity to major international markets, the stars really fall into alignment. And that’s exactly the case for Mauritius. […]
The Case for Investing in Artisanal Mining
Over the last few decades, African governments have removed restrictions on and privatised their mining industries, attracting significant foreign direct investment. As a result, the continent’s mining industry has become dominated by transnational corporations such as Glencore, AngloAmerican and Barrick Gold. Alongside these corporate giants, operating largely beyond the formal reach and control of African […]
Why Twitter Chose Ghana as its Base
Twitter’s announcement on Monday that it will set up its first Africa base in Ghana, has generated fierce debate among Nigerian users of the social media app, and reignited the never-ending rivalry between the two countries, known colloquially as the ‘jollof wars.’ Many Nigerians believe that Twitter’s decision is a snub to the continent’s largest […]
Abuja Imposes New Rules for Registering a Sim Card
MTN Group Ltd. and Airtel Africa Plc were given the green light to resume the sale of new SIM cards in Nigeria following the implementation of a new policy linking them to national ID numbers. Wireless operators were ordered to stop activities in December for an unspecified time, raising concerns about growth potential in Africa’s […]
Vodacom Wants to be a Pan African Tech Player
Super apps offering access to multiple digital services on one platform are already huge in parts of Asia. But they’ve yet to take off in many other parts of the world. Last year, South African telecommunications company, Vodacom announced it was partnering with Alipay, part of China’s Alibaba group, to create a super app that […]
The Brave Firms Aiming to Expand Outside of Africa
For many homegrown businesses in Africa, expanding beyond the continent has historically been considered a daring move. African startups have a long-standing record of choosing neighboring African countries for their international debut instead. Even after record-smashing investments in recent years, penetrating a non-African market is still a long shot for many local companies. Lately, this […]
Locals are Enjoying their ‘Made in Kenya’ Coffee Brand
Some of the world’s best Arabica beans are grown on the fertile land around Mount Kenya. But like the citizens of many former British colonies, Kenyans are partial to tea. Now an expanding middle class is getting a taste for coffee. Domestic consumption is expected to reach 3,600 tonnes this year, almost a tenth of […]
Nigeria’s Current Trade Rules Clash with its Ex Finance Minister’s Vision for World Trade
While proud Nigerians expect to benefit from Okonjo-Iweala’s leadership of the body dealing with the rules of world trade, experts say that her commitment to free and open multilateral trade clashes with Buhari’s much more protectionist record. Under Buhari’s leadership, Nigeria has imposed temporary border closures, enacted currency controls and introduced lists of banned imports […]
Revolutionizing Africa’s Cocoa Industry
Rare is the international business conference that can claim to have midwifed a new geopolitical strategy. But that is what happened when Côte d’Ivoire’s President Alassane Dramane Ouattara met Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama at the Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan in March 2016. When asked how their countries could cooperate more closely, using their […]
