African Firms Race to Use AI to Cut Marketing and Advertising Budgets ahead of a Difficult 2024
Businesses are increasingly using AI-generated images, models and voices for their advertising campaigns across TV and digital platforms, lowering their advertising budgets. Ad spending in sub-Saharan Africa fell by 11.6% in 2023, according to the World Advertising Research Centre (WARC), though a slight rebound this year is expected to be driven by a 6.1% increase […]
No New City Will Directly Answer the Needs of Africa’s Urban Poor
When it comes to building new cities in Africa, reality sometimes struggles to match the hype. Hope City, a $10bn tech-city meant to house Africa’s tallest skyscraper, should have been completed on the outskirts of Accra, Ghana’s capital, by 2016. Despite earning awards for Roland Agambire, the businessman behind hope’s all-caps dream, it was never […]
NBA’s Africa Sales are a Rounding Error for the US Franchise
The National Basketball Association Inc.’s African league, which counts former US President Barack Obama as a strategic adviser, is facing mounting losses as it seeks to build a following in the region, sometimes resorting to bussing in fans to help fill empty seats. The Basketball Africa League, now entering its fourth season, is the NBA’s […]
Should Ethiopian Airlines Feel Nervous about Boeing?
US aviation manufacturing giant Boeing is again facing questions over the safety of its aircraft after one of its 737 Max 9 planes operated by Alaska Airlines lost part of its fuselage mid-flight during a journey from Portland to Ontario last week, in a development that could have implications for Ethiopian Airlines, one of Boeing’s […]
A Milestone in Ghana’s Quest for Debt Relief
The country has reached a deal to restructure $5.4 billion of loans with its official creditors, the finance ministry said on Friday as it charts its way out of the worst economic crisis in a generation. The agreement with bilateral lenders including China and France was key to unlocking new International Monetary Fund (IMF) financing […]
World Bank Predicts a Significant Jump in Uganda’s Economy
According to a recent report by the World Bank titled “The Global Economic Prospect 2024,” Uganda’s economic growth is set to go from 5.3% in 2023 to 6.0% in 2024. “Growth is expected to be relatively strong among some of the largest LICs, including Ethiopia and Uganda,” the report reads. “Uganda will also benefit from […]
A Sharp Hike in Zimbabwe’s Internet Costs
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, the country’s main mobile operator, increased data prices 100% in October, with 1GB of data now averaging $3.54. State-owned NetOne, the second-biggest mobile operator, has also increased data prices by a similar percentage. “When internet data bundles were increased, I wasn’t prepared. I found myself offline,” said Kapvumfuti as she scrolled through […]
A Digital Bank is Ready to Transform Ghana’s Unbanked Sector
After working in the United Kingdom (UK) for a number of years, Tarek Mouganie decided to relocate back to Ghana to help solve the problems of the country’s unbanked and underbanked. It took Mouganie four and a half years to build the company and it finally launched in 2022. The journey has been far from […]
In Nigeria, the Root Cause of Homelessness is Multifaceted
World Population Review doesn’t use a single metric to comprehensively measure homelessness in Nigeria. They analyze diverse data points, including the proportion of households in overcrowded dwellings, the number of internally displaced persons, and the availability of safe drinking water and sanitation in informal settlements. Nigeria is experiencing rapid urbanization, as more people migrate from […]
Ivorian Eyecare Startup has Secured US$3 million to Fuel its Growth into the Continent
Founded in 2018, Lapaire offers a trusted and accessible eyecare experience, leveraging a one-stop-shop customer-centric approach to provide stylish quality eyeglasses at fair prices. So far, the startup has tested the eyesight of more than 300,000 people and improved the lives of 180,000 of them. Lapaire fully operates 58 branches in six countries in Africa […]
