Tanzania Forces Ride-hailing Services to Change Course
Bolt, the famous ride-hailing company, has been forced to change its business model following a regulatory policy from the Tanzanian government. The regulatory feud, which started earlier in March, is premised on Tanzania’s Land Transport Regulatory Authority (LATRA) mandates for ride-hailing operators to collect a maximum of 15 per cent commission from their drivers. The […]
Eritrean Government has Seized Control of a Catholic-owned Technical School
The Hagaz Agro-Technical School is run by the LaSalle Brothers organisation and has been providing training in farm machinery, rearing of crops and animals, as well as soil conservation for the last 23 years. The school is also known for producing Shalku wines, the drink grappa and jam. From its dairy cattle it produces yoghurt […]
Investing in African Startups
Early-stage venture capital firm Microtraction, which invests in African tech startups at the pre-seed stage, has announced a US$15 million first close of its second fund, counting a number of established African tech startup founders among its LPs. Founded by Yele Bademosi and Kwamena Afful in 2017, with initial backing from PAVE Investments, Michael Seibel, […]
The Multi-layered Constraints the ECOWAS Free Movement Zone is Facing
For the last 40 years countries in West Africa have tried to meet their commitment to letting people move more freely between them. This has been driven by the regional body, The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Launched in 1975 it has 15 member states and its founding treaty foresees the long-term establishment […]
A Smartphone which Can Speak Local Ivorian Languages
An entrepreneur in Ivory Coast has created the country’s first locally-made smartphone, which aims to improve accessibility with voice commands in local languages for users who can’t read and write. The phone, called “Open G”, went on sale last month in the West African country. It can understand commands and respond in 16 of Ivory […]
Preparing for COP27
A group of Egyptian civil society organisations have been prevented from attending the Cop27 climate summit by a covert registration process that filtered out groups critical of the Egyptian government. Egypt’s foreign, environment and social solidarity ministries privately selected and screened NGOs that would be permitted to apply for one-time registration for Cop27, a separate […]
Burkina Faso has Built its First Pharmaceutical Production Plant
Built by actors of the Burkinabe private sector and named Propharm, this factory, erected on 1.5 hectares in the commune of Komsilga, on the outskirts of the capital Ouagadougou, will ensure a “permanent availability of the most requested medicines”, according to its promoters. Certified by an independent Spanish organization, it will start producing paracetamol 500 […]
Nigeria Reaches Several Agreements to Return Stolen Cash
The United States will turn over to Nigeria $23 million taken by former military ruler Sani Abacha, officials said at an event to sign the agreement on Tuesday. Abacha ruled Africa’s most populous nation and top oil exporter from 1993 until his death in 1998, during which time Transparency International estimated that he took up […]
Observers Laud Angola’s Peaceful Poll
Ballot counting has begun in Angola on after polls closed in what was widely seen as the most competitive vote in the country’s democratic history, with incumbent President Joao Lourenco squaring up against charismatic opposition leader Adalberto Costa Junior. The People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which has ruled the oil-rich nation for […]
South African Workers Strike as Inflation Hits its Highest Rate Since 2009
Thousands of workers took to the streets in all nine provinces to demand, among other things, a basic income grant, a better minimum wage, and a cap on fuel prices and interest rates. They also want the ongoing problems at the state-owned supplier of electricity, Eskom, to be resolved so that businesses stop losing work […]
