BUSINESS - The African Mirror

Oct

16

2025

By OLIVIER WALTHER; ANDREA APOLLONI, and LACEY HARRIS-COBLE

West Africa’s trade monitoring system has collapsed – why this is dangerous for food security

BUSINESS

A decade ago, countries in West Africa set up a unique trade monitoring mechanism. Its purpose was to track intra-regional trade in agricultural products and livestock in the region. But the system was closed down in 2022 due to a lack of funding by regional organisations. The mechanism provided West African countries with data from more than 320 markets along 10 corridors, enabling the tracking of not only trade patterns but also livestock and zoonotic diseases. The lack of up-to-date trade data has a number of knock-on effects. Detailed intra-trade data are essential to help assess the impact of external…

Oct

16

2025

By ALAN HIRSCH and VICTOR AMADI

Travel between African countries is still hard: fresh ideas to get movement flowing

BUSINESS

IT remains too difficult for Africans to travel between African countries. Africa-wide reforms have failed. The keynote continental agreement, the African Union’s Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, adopted in 2018, still has only four country ratifications from 55 members. A new report of the African Union bemoans the low (though slightly improved) level of human integration in Africa. It describes the main challenges as legal fragmentation, weak institutional frameworks, security concerns, and limited mutual recognition of documents and qualifications. Nevertheless, some consolation can be drawn from the fact that African migration governance systems have been moving in the right…

Oct

09

2025

By ELISA GAMBINO and COSTANZA FRANCESCHINI

Chinese companies are changing the way they operate in Africa: here’s how

BUSINESS

FOR most of the past 25 years, Chinese construction companies operating in Africa could count on generous financial backing from Chinese banks. Between 2000 and 2019, Chinese funders committed almost US$50 billion to African transport projects. Most came from Chinese development finance institutions. Six years ago, this started to change as Chinese lenders began to pull back. Since 2019, they have committed only US$6 billion for the development of Africa’s infrastructure. Yet Chinese companies continue to thrive on the continent. Many remain market leaders in the construction sector in a number of countries. These include Ethiopia, Ghana and Kenya. To…

Oct

10

2025

By The African Mirror

SA: Transnet National Ports Authority secures R195.7 m terminal deal with FFS Tank Terminals

BUSINESS

SOUTH Africa’s Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has concluded a 25-year, multi-million rand Terminal Operator Agreement with FFS Tank Terminals to operate a Liquid Bulk Terminal at the Port of Cape Town, marking the latest in a series of significant private sector partnerships aimed at revitalising South Africa's port infrastructure. The agreement, signed Monday, will see FFS Tank Terminals invest R195.7 million over the first three years to refurbish and upgrade terminal infrastructure. The development is expected to double the facility's diesel storage capacity from 14,600m³ to 29,200m³ – a 100% increase – while expanding bitumen storage by 47%, from…

Oct

09

2025

By BARNABY JOSEPH and DYE UDISHA SAKLANI

Dams for development? Unpacking tensions in the World Bank’s hydropower policies

BUSINESS

DAMS have been emblematic of the World Bank’s approach to development for many decades. From the bank’s early years in the 1960s and 1970s, large-scale infrastructure projects such as dams, power plants and transport networks were central to its strategy for economic growth and poverty reduction. This reflected a top-down modernisation paradigm. But the controversial social, economic and environmental impacts of dams sparked widespread criticism. This prompted internal scrutiny and a reduction in funding by the 1990s. Notable examples included the bank’s withdrawal from India’s Narmada Dam and Nepal’s Arun III hydropower project. Both followed large-scale protests. From 2007, the…

Oct

02

2025

By MIKE WHITFIELD

Africa’s Automotive Future: A Strategic Imperative

BUSINESS

AFRICA is the world’s most underserved region in terms of mobility. With a motorisation rate of just 42 vehicles per 1,000 people - nearly one-fifth of the global average of 182 - Africa is often referred to as the last automotive frontier. This gap reflects not only a need for mobility, but a need for vehicles engineered for African conditions. The global shift toward cleaner fuels and New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) presents both a challenge and an opportunity. African manufacturers must innovate locally to meet global standards while addressing regional realities. However, barriers to private ownership persist. These include limited…

Oct

02

2025

By The African Mirror

South Africa pushes new G20 framework to tackle Africa’s growth barriers

BUSINESS

SOUTH Africa has proposed a five-year G20 Africa Engagement Framework aimed at addressing critical impediments to the continent's economic development, the country's Director-General, Dr Duncan Pieterse, has announced at the African Union's finance committee meeting. Speaking at the 8th Ordinary Session of the AU's Specialised Technical Committee on Finance in his capacity as representative of South Africa's G20 Presidency, Pieterse outlined four key barriers constraining African growth: weak economic institutions, infrastructure gaps, macroeconomic vulnerabilities, and high capital costs. "These impediments to growth are deeply interconnected and require multiple, coordinated, and cross-cutting interventions," Pieterse told delegates, adding that South Africa has…

Oct

01

2025

By MISHECK MUTIZE

Africa’s borrowing costs are too high: the G20’s missed opportunity to reform rating agencies

BUSINESS

ONE of the commitments the South African presidency of the G20 made in its policy priorities document at the beginning of 2025 was to push for fairer, more transparent sovereign credit ratings. And to address the high cost of capital caused by an elusive perception of high risk in developing economies. South Africa proposed to establish a commission to look into the cost of capital. In particular, to investigate the issues that impair the ability of low- and middle-income countries to access sufficient, affordable and predictable flows of capital to finance their development. For many in Africa, this was more…

Sep

27

2025

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

New report ranks Africa’s innovation hotspots

BUSINESS

INNOVATION in Africa is proving more resilient than the global slowdown suggests, according to a new report. The Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025, published by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), ranked 139 economies across institutions, human capital, infrastructure, market and business sophistication, and knowledge and technology outputs. The 2025 edition comes against the weakest global R&D growth since 2010 and a third straight year of declining venture capital. Yet, in parts of Africa, governments and firms are converting limited resources into measurable progress, climbing ranks, building clusters and launching targeted programmes that position the continent as an emerging source…

Sep

26

2025

By SYLVANUS KWAKU AFESORGBOR

Economic sanctions need a rethink: evidence shows they raise food prices and hurt the poor most

BUSINESS

ECONOMIC sanctions are widely viewed by academics and policymakers as a better alternative to military interventions to pressure governments to change objectionable policies. The idea is simple: instead of using weapons, squeeze the ruling elite economically until they change their behaviour. The use of economic sanctions has been rising steadily. According to recent data from the Global Sanctions Database, the number of active sanctions grew by 31% in 2021 compared to 2020, and this upward trend continued through 2022 and 2023. In Africa, several countries are currently subject to sanctions imposed by the United States, the United Nations or the…