| Economic Growth is Speeding Up in Africa, but Uncertainty Clouds Outlook
April 23, 2025--Economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is showing some resilience despite uncertainty in the global economy and restricted fiscal space. Regional growth is expected to reach 3.5% in 2025 and further accelerate to 4.3% in 2026-2027. This growth is mainly due to increased private consumption and investments as inflation cools down and currencies stabilize. |
| Africa's Opportunity in a Fragmenting Global Economy April 9, 2025--The global trade landscape is shifting dramatically. With the U.S. imposing new tariffs on key imports with countries already planning retaliation, the world is edging deeper into a long-term trade war. This is not just a bilateral dispute. It signals the acceleration of a broader move away from open globalisation toward protectionism and economic nationalism. |
| Nigeria: Investors Lose N91bn As Nigerian Exchange Opens Bearish April 3, 2025-"What we witnessed today was an alignment of portfolios by dividend-seeking investors." The stock market on Wednesday opened the week bearish as performance indices declined by 0.14 per cent. |
| Africa's Debt Crisis Under-Reported-AFRODAD March 30, 2025-AFRICAN Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) Executive Director Jason Braganza has expressed concern over how challenges arising from debt servicing to international monetary facilities by African countries are going unreported due to lack of information and statistics among other challenges. |
| Africa's Digital Payments Economy to Reach $1.5trn By 2030-Report March 27, 2025-A recent Mastercard-commissioned report by Genesis Analytics has stated that the digital payments economy in Africa would continue to grow, with a projection that is expected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030. |
| Bitcoin Price Trends and the Future of Digital Transactions in Africa March 24, 2025--There's an increasing acceptance of Bitcoin on the African continent. More businesses, individuals and even financial organizations are using cryptocurrency to transact as an alternative to traditional banking systems. |
| IMF-Boosting Growth and Prosperity in South Africa March 10, 2025-Summary |
| How Africa could help diversify the booming global semiconductor industry March 6, 2025-- Demand for semiconductors is booming amid growth in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
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| OECD-Africa's Urbanisation Dynamics 2025 March 6, 2025--Planning for Urban Expansion
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| Nigeria: 2025 Budget Prioritises Investment in Critical Sectors, Economic Devt-Govt March 4, 2025--March 4, 2025--The Federal government says the 2025 budget, recently signed into law by President Tinubu, is a strategic roadmap for economic resilience, social stability, and national progress. |
| New World Bank Report Highlights Four Pathways to Spur Job Creation and Inclusive Growth in South Africa February 28, 2025--A new World Bank report titled "Driving Inclusive Growth in South Africa: Quick Wins with Competitive Markets and Efficient Institutions" asserts that a robust economic recovery, shared across all sectors of society, can be achieved in the immediate future by implementing a series of policy actions in four priority areas: infrastructure services, greater private sector participation, creating cities as engines of growth, and efficient public spending. |
| Digital public infrastructure (DPI) will drive AI for Africa's economic transformation
February 11, 2025-Recent developments within Africa's digital ecosystem will help drive Africa's economic transformation, but key policy frameworks and infrastructure are needed for most countries to benefit fully. |
| Nigeria: Investments in Mutual Funds Rise 80.8 Percent to N4.1trn February 4, 2025--The appetite of Nigerian investors for Mutual Funds has surged with its total asset under management increasing by 80.8% Year on Year, YoY, to N4.1 trillion on January 24, 2025 from N2.3 trillion in the corresponding period 2024. |
| Zimbabwe: Deepseek Will Hardly Dent 'Magnificent Seven' Stocks February 3, 2025--DeepSeek's emergence roiled markets earlier last week, but investors see limited scope for the Chinese artificial intelligence startup to dent the performance of the Magnificent Seven, the latest Bloomberg Markets Live Pulse survey showed.
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| South African growth outlook has improved but inflation risks abound, central bank says at Davos January 21, 2025--Growth in Africa's most industrialised economy could be close to 2% in 2025, versus the 1.1% growth projected for 2024 |
| JSE plunges to lowest level in four months January 14, 2025-- Industrial stocks recorded the biggest losses.
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| Newly licensed Ethiopian Securities Exchange unveils trading floor December 13, 2024--The Ethiopian Securities Exchange has today (Friday 13 December) announced that it will officially launch in mid-January 2025. CEO Tilahun Esmael Kassahun and top colleagues held a press conference on a smart new ESX trading floor. |
| West Africa: Nigeria's Investment Appetite Grows, Mutual Funds Up 89.5 Percent to N3.8trn November 19, 2024--Nigerians' appetite for secured investment has pushed the Net Asset Value (NAV) of Mutual Funds to N3.781 trillion in the first week of this month, up 89.5 % from N1.995 trillion in the corresponding period 2023.
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| Africa Topples Asia, Europe, Us As Africa's Preferred Trade Market November 18, 2024--African businesses increasingly prefer to trade across the continent's borders over out-of-the-continent markets like Asia, the US, and Europe, due to a rising quality of made-in-Africa goods, lower market prices, and accessibility. |
| Nigeria: Stock Market Returns Bearish As Investors Lose N1.3 Trn in 5 Days November 4, 2024--The Nigerian stock market ended last week ended on a bearish note, as both the Nigerian Exchange, NGX All Share Index, ASI and market capitalisation fell to 97,432.02 points, and market N59.038 trillion, down from the previous week's close of 99, 448. 91 points and N59. 432 trillion respectively. |
| South Africa projects wider deficits and rising debt despite improved growth October 31, 2024--South Africa's government forecasted higher budget deficits and debt for the next three years, even as improved electricity supply suggests better growth prospects. In its first budget review since forming a coalition,the National Treasury projected a 5.0% deficit of national output for the fiscal year ending in March 2025, up from the 4.5% previously forecast. |
| Options derivatives trading coming to Nairobi Securities Exchange October 31, 2024--A big step forward for Kenya’s derivatives market NEXT, a part of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), as it moves to introduce options derivatives trading. These will be options on the existing NEXT securities, which are futures contracts for single stocks and indices offered by the NSE.
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| Uganda Joins BRICS As Partner Nation, Paving the Way for Increased Trade and Investment October 24, 2024--Uganda has officially joined BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) as one of 13 new partner nations in a move set to reshape its international trade and investment prospects.
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| BRICS: African leaders call for reforms of international institutions October 23, 2024--African leaders attending the summit of BRICS nations currently underway in Russia, spoke out on Wednesday about what they see as important issues on the international stage. |
| Gender Parity Will Unlock $287bn for Africa's Economy By 2030-Report September 19, 2024--Tackling systemic barriers towards the participation of young women in Africa's workforce will drive an estimated $287 billion to its economy by 2030, boosting GDP by 5 per cent, according to a new report commissioned by the Mastercard Foundation. |
| Africa: Climate-ECA Reveals Africa Loses Up to 5 Percent of GDP September 4, 2024--The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the African Union Commission, jointly announced the continent Africa needs urgent and increased investment in climate adaptation and resilience. |
| Uganda joins African exchanges link August 27, 2024--The Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) has become the tenth African securities exchange to join the African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP). The linkage platform enables stockbrokers on participating exchanges to send orders on behalf of their clients to stockbrokers on other exchanges, who will buy and sell shares on those exchanges.
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| Economic reforms are tempting finance back to Ethiopia and Zambia August 15, 2024--Pockets of the African continent have found ways of giving new confidence to investors and the World Bank and IMF |
| Africa: Carbon Trading-an Opportunity for Economic Development August 13, 2024-Africa's carbon market offers a powerful means to address climate change and uplift communities. The tangible benefits seen in the projects in across Africa highlight the potential of carbon credits, both environmentally and socio-economically. |
| African Economic Expansion Need Not Threaten Global Carbon Targets-Study Points Out the Path to Green Growth August 12, 2024--Africa contributes only about 4% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. The continent consumes the least energy for each person, compared with other regions of the world. |
| Two-pot retirement system explained July 23, 2024--South Africans will soon be able to access a portion of their retirement savings when the two-pot retirement system is implemented later this year.
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| Kenya Ranked Sixth Crypto-Friendly Country in Africa July 3, 2024-- Kenya has been ranked the sixth-most crypto-friendly country in Africa, with 5.1 percent of the population holding crypto.
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| Reducing Malaria Could Boost Africa's Economy By $126.9 Billion-Report July 3, 2024-- The report noted that Nigeria's economy could gain $35 billion and international trade $80.7 billion by 2030.
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| Extreme Weather in South Africa Is Disrupting Tourism-Research Tracks the Impact On Coastal Areas July 8, 2024-- South Africa has experienced some extreme weather events in recent months. These have included floods and an uncommon tornado in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province, floods in the Eastern Cape and mid-latitude cyclones in the Western Cape. Kaitano Dube, a human geographer who has researched tourism, extreme weather and resilience to climatic threat,, says these severe storms are set to disrupt tourism. |
| Nigeria: Investors Gain N15.6trn in H1'24 Amid Monetary Policy Tightening July 2, 2024--Despite the lull in economy and other challenges, investors on the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX gained over N15.6 trillion in the first half of the year, H1'24, a situation attributed to the forex market reforms introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. |
| Bond trading rivals for Nairobi Securities Exchange June 25, 2024--The Central Bank of Kenya's DhowCSD, a digital government bond trading platform, has reached a milestone of 80,000 investors, according to a report in Business Daily today (25 June). DhowCSD went live on 31 July 2023 and is designed to boost efficiency of investing in Treasury Bills and Treasury Bonds. |
| AI and the Future of Work in Africa-White Paper June 23, 2024--Generative AI presents a powerful tool for shaping a dignified future of work in Africa. By proactively addressing the challenges and harnessing the opportunities, Africa can leverage AI to drive economic growth, empower its workforce, and become a leader in socially responsible AI development. |
| Global Foreign Investment Declines for Second Year As Geopolitical Tensions Rise, UN Trade Body Reports June 20, 2024--Foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by two per cent to $1.3 trillion in 2023 amid global economic slowdown and rising geopolitical tensions, according to a report released on Thursday by the UN trade and development body, UNCTAD. |
| Kenya: Blackrock Liquidates Em Fund With Equities in Kenya, Nigeria June 19, 2024--American asset manager BlackRock has announced the liquidation of its emerging market (EM) funds in Kenya and Nigeria.
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| Nigeria: Stock Investors Gain N619bn in May Despite Rates Hike June 3, 2024--Analysts expect bearish outlook in June
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