BUSINESS - The African Mirror

Jul

25

2026

Africa’s next cotton export may never leave the farm

BUSINESS

COTTON has always paid farmers for what they harvest. Its next payout may come from what stays in the soil, as carbon held on African farms could soon become a tradeable asset. Farmers who qualify could earn up to $200 a hectare on top of whatever the crop itself fetches, a sum that in parts of West Africa can rival the harvest income it sits on. The bid comes from the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), a Washington body that coordinates cotton policy across producing and buying nations. On April 30th, it announced a plan to pay growers for carbon…

Jul

25

2026

By MICHAEL BOAMPONG, DANIEL ASSAMAH and MELISSA MOUTHAAN

Jobs abroad or jobs in Africa? Why a focus on work in other countries shouldn’t replace opportunities at home

BUSINESS

AFRICAN governments are increasingly encouraging young people to work abroad. To address youth unemployment at home, for example, Ghana and Kenya have expanded labour mobility agreements with other countries. These include Spain, Qatar and Caribbean states. Agreements with Gulf countries have largely focused on construction and service-sector jobs. But newer partnerships with Caribbean countries are targeting skilled professionals like nurses and healthcare workers. These arrangements can create structured pathways for people to work abroad, often in sectors where labour is in high demand. Many African countries have large and growing youth populations struggling to get decent jobs. Meanwhile, wealthier economies…

Jul

23

2026

By BADRI ZOLFAGHARI, MIKAEL SAMUELSSON, and SUSANNE NILSSON

African entrepreneurs operate in tough conditions: the skills they’ve honed could be useful to others

BUSINESS

WHEN people talk about entrepreneurship in Africa, the conversation usually starts with everything that’s missing. Limited funding. Weak infrastructure. Poor internet connectivity. Unreliable electricity. Bureaucracy. Corruption. The implicit message is that African entrepreneurs succeed despite these disadvantages. These challenges are real. But they are only one part of the story. We study entrepreneurship, innovation and team building in Africa. In a recent paper, we followed ten technology startups in South Africa that were developing digital solutions in under-resourced communities. They were involved in a range of activities, including: improving financial services for people excluded from the banking system using virtual…

Jul

23

2026

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

A new generation of fintechs is building the trust infrastructure behind Africa’s payments

BUSINESS

AFRICA has spent the past decade building the infrastructure to move money digitally. The next phase is focused on making those transactions trustworthy. As cross-border payments, e-commerce, and intra-African trade gather pace, governments, payment networks, and fintech companies are investing in the systems that verify identities, protect transactions, and resolve disputes. Ahmed Yusuf believes that the shift inspired AfrikTrust Vault. When he conceived the platform, Yusuf focused on a challenge that payment platforms alone could not solve. As African businesses increasingly buy, sell, and invest across borders, he saw growing demand for infrastructure that helps strangers transact with confidence. "Existing…

Jul

15

2026

By RAMOS EMMANUEL MABUGU

Training young people for jobs: insights from 9 African countries on what’s missing

BUSINESS

AFRICA’S young population is often described as a demographic dividend: a potential economic advantage if young people can gain the skills and jobs needed to contribute productively. But for many young people, that promise is slipping away. They leave school or training and enter labour markets where formal jobs are scarce and public programmes too often miss the people who need them most. Too many programmes are underfunded, weakly targeted and disconnected from employers. Drawing on more than three decades of applied economics and policy research, with particular expertise in labour markets, public finance, policy evaluation and youth employment programmes…

Jul

14

2026

By HANAN MORSY

“Africa possesses roughly 30 percent of global critical mineral reserves, yet captures less than five percent of the associated value added”

BUSINESS

THE world is entering a new industrial era, one built on critical minerals. For Africa, this presents an opportunity that is perhaps as significant as independence was sixty years ago. But opportunities do not transform economies. Strategy does. Africa possesses roughly 30 percent of global critical mineral reserves, yet captures less than five percent of the associated value added. That statistic should concern us far more than the size of our reserves. It tells us that our challenge is no longer geological. It is economic and institutional. The question before us is therefore not whether Africa should participate in the…

Jul

14

2026

By The African Mirror

World Bank blog analysis: Fast payment systems could slash the cost of sending money home

BUSINESS

A new analysis argues that the future of remittances will be shaped less by traditional money-transfer corridors and more by fast payment systems, digital access and the growing push to make cross-border transfers cheaper, quicker and more inclusive. Remittances remain one of the most personal financial acts in the global economy, yet they are also a major development tool that can be transformed through payment innovation. For millions of migrants, sending money home is not a technical transaction but a lifeline. Remittances help families pay school fees, repair homes and keep basic services running, but the cost of moving that…

Jul

10

2026

By MISHECK MUTIZE

Flawed credit ratings in Africa: are top 3 Western agencies driven by data or bias?

BUSINESS

THE three major credit rating agencies – Moody’s, S&P Global and Fitch – have often differed among themselves when rating African institutions and countries. Their opinions don’t have to be aligned, but a huge gap in the ratings suggests inaccuracies in the analyses. Wrong ratings have consequences. They drive up the cost of capital. Lower ratings indicate higher risk and lead investors to demand higher interest rates to compensate for that risk. When a sovereign (country) is downgraded, its borrowing costs increase. It has to pay more interest on the same amount of debt and has less chance of getting…

Jul

06

2026

By JOVIAL RANTAO

Ford SA boss sounds alarm: cheap imports, Chinese cars are hollowing out the country’s industrial base

BUSINESS

NEALE Hill, President of Ford Motor Company Africa and Managing Director of Ford South Africa, has issued one of the automotive industry's starkest warnings yet - telling government and business that South Africa risks following Australia into total de-industrialisation unless urgent action is taken to level the playing field against a flood of low-cost Chinese and Indian imports. Hill said South Africa's automotive manufacturing sector - the single largest contributor to the country's export economy and a cornerstone of its industrial identity - is at a crossroads, and could collapse entirely if the government does not move with urgency to…

Jul

06

2026

By LERATO MATHEKA, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Stitching Lesotho into the Global Economy

BUSINESS

EVERY Wednesday morning at precisely 7:00, the Ministry of Trade and Industries' boardroom doors closed. Anyone arriving late stayed outside. There were no lengthy speeches or bureaucratic excuses. Around the table sat the minister of trade, permanent secretary, directors, utility executives, immigration officials, bankers, factory owners and trade union representatives. For one hour every week, politics gave way to problem-solving with every discussion centred on one question: What was preventing Lesotho's factories from growing? "There was one rule," recalls former Trade Minister Mpho Malie. "Once the meeting started, nobody was allowed in because they would disrupt us. That boardroom was…