By Greg Mills & Marie-Noelle Nwokolo In the late 1990s, South Africa’s then-Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin likened the country’s trade strategy to a “butterfly,” according to which the thorax ran north-south to Europe and North America, while the “wings” oriented west-east were to link Africa with Latin America and Asia. Erwin’s concept promised much then, as now, for a diversification effort, but so far has delivered less. Still, there is much to gain from closer regional ties, in at least two respects. The first of these is underscored by the growth and nature of economic relations. While trade…
Author: NLM writer
By Antony Mutunga The Covid pandemic presented a clear picture of how Africa’s healthcare system continues to lag behind. During an electioneering year, healthcare ought to be among the top agenda for those looking to form government. The Jubilee government made lofty promises for health in 2013 and again in 2017 but not much has changed. The private sector continues to pick up the slack as different organizations integrate technology in the sector. An example of these organizations is AfyaRekod, a Kenyan bashed healthcare technology company. The company has launched a fully automated universal patient portal that looks to transform…
With such vast quantities of oil and gas available, African governments need to increase our production accordingly and use those resources to benefit Africans. By NJ Ayuk After the dramatic post-COVID slowdown in 2020-21, 2022 is turning out to be a banner year for the African oil and gas industry. The industry is set to boom in the second half of this year. Increasing oil and gas activity and a record number of new discoveries have set the stage for significant industry growth in the second half of 2022. In Namibia alone, for example, two breakthrough discoveries, Shell’s Graff and Total Energies’ Venus-1X, have opened frontier oil play onshore. Industry experts estimate that Venus-1X may hold…
By Seth Onyango ACX will develop the carbon exchange platform as part of innovative financing to shore up environmental projects, including reforestation and land restoration, according to the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). The Singaporean firm securitizes carbon credits into tradable carbon asset classes, thereafter carbon credits held by the exchange are held in a trust. For every credit deposited into the trust, a corresponding one-tonne token resides on the exchange. A green portfolio at the NSE will create an investment value chain across Kenya’s overall financial ecosystem to support climate change mitigating projects. “The NSE is today signing a collaboration…
By Conrad Onyango Global prices of wheat, vegetable oil and sugar have seen month-on-month drops since March, signalling an easing in the cost of living in many African countries. Vegetable oil showed the clearest drop of the three commodities over the review period. The latest United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index showing edible oil prices fell by 15.9 percent from March to an average of 211.8 points in June, on rising production and supply volumes. “World palm oil prices declined on seasonally rising output of major producing countries and prospects of increasing supplies from Indonesia,” according…
Despite having 620 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, Africa’s over reliance on wood-based biomass energy remains high, resulting in an increase in land degradation, deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, and with over 900 million people across the continent living without access to clean cooking. If fully optimized and exploited, the continent’s natural gas resources present an opportunity for Africa to address environmental destruction, ensure clean cooking gas for its population while also guaranteeing energy security and economic growth. With over 81% of households in sub-Saharan Africa relying on wood-based biomass energy for cooking, the World Health Organization has…
The existing 175km A8 road from Rironi to Mau Summit will be transformed into a four-lane carriageway The African Development Bank Group has approved financing of Sh17.8 billion to Kenya to support a major highway development project under the government’s First Mover Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programme. The project will see the development of the A8 and A8 South highways. The existing 175km A8 road from Rironi to Mau Summit will be transformed into a four-lane carriageway and the 57.8 km two-lane A8 South, from Rironi to Naivasha will be strengthened and maintained over a period of 30 years. Both roads…
Smartphone penetration along with low data tariffs and investments will supercharge Africa’s telecoms sector over the next five years By Seth Onyango Senior executives in Africa forecast the strongest growth in the telcos sector as internet connectivity improves, a new study by the network operator, World Mobile shows. Those polled expect telecommunications to exert a strong influence on economic growth rates in Africa where pandemic-impacted digital markets are heating up. Those interviewed include executives at firms with combined annual revenues of more than Sh800 billion, based in Nigeria, Angola, South Africa, Tanzania, Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Ghana. According to them,…
By Peter Wanyonyi It is political manifesto time, and our politicians are in overdrive with their promises of economic paradise over the next five years – but only if they are elected to office. The grand promises contained in the rival manifestos of the two leading political camps are an exercise in economic dreaming – but you cannot accomplish anything if you do not dream. The question, then, is – even if we assume the dreams are plausible, what is the true cost of it all? The devil will be in the details of implementation. Each manifesto always has a…
Whoever wins the election will contend with an economy struggling to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the fastest increase in consumer prices since 2017 – exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and the worst drought in four decades. By XN Iraki Kenya has four presidential candidates in this month’s general election. They recently launched their manifestos and one thing ties them together: the economy. In no other Kenyan election has the economy been such a key subject, not just for those seeking power, but for voters, too. There are two reasons: a maturing democracy and recent…
