BUSINESS - The African Mirror

Jul

26

2025

From Nigeria to Côte d’Ivoire, Yoruba businesswomen forge a network of sisterhood and entrepreneurship

BUSINESS

EVERY week, droves of Yoruba women from Nigeria journey through four countries to do business in the markets of Côte d’Ivoire. The 1,100-km road trip begins in the town of Ejigbo in southeastern Nigeria and takes them through Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana and then finally, to the Ivorian capital of Abidjan. "It was never in my thoughts that I would ever go to Côte d'Ivoire until one of my brothers came from there to take me," said Rebecca Adebayo, a Yoruba woman who left Ejigbo for Abidjan fifty years ago. Ejigbo is a locality in the Yoruba region of southwestern…

Jul

23

2025

By NICOLE TAU

Lesotho’s migrant-working mothers uplift communities

BUSINESS

FREE migration is the backbone of economic survival for the people of Lesotho. Known as the “kingdom in the sky” where ancestral communities are situated atop rock-strewn plateaus above 1,000 meters high, Lesotho’s currency, the loti, is pegged to the South African rand under the Common Monetary Area (CMA). Yet, this economic tether has not yielded sustainable economic mobility for the Basotho people, 75% of whom are poor or vulnerably poor, according to a 2019 Lesotho Poverty Assessment. 43% of households in Lesotho report having at least one family member who has been working outside the country for decades. Therefore,…

Jul

18

2025

By ALAN HIRSCH

East African countries and open borders: great strides, but still a long way to go

BUSINESS

IT’S not uncommon to find a Ugandan taxi driver in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, just as one regularly meets Zimbabwean Uber drivers in South Africa. But there is a big difference. A Ugandan working in Rwanda most likely has a secure legal right to be there, whereas Zimbabweans working in South Africa are often uncertain of their current or future legality. East Africa has made greater strides towards the free flow of people crossing borders and seeking work than most of Africa. Only the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is in the same league. While the African Union’s Free…

Jul

17

2025

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

GDP up, poverty down in Cape Verde’s digital economy

BUSINESS

WHEN Nigerian tech entrepreneur Olugbenga Adesida moved to Cape Verde in 2007, he wasn’t drawn by consumer markets or resource abundance. He was drawn by working institutions and a government open to reform. “The big challenge was that nobody in Cape Verde had built a game before,” he said. Yet Adesida stayed, launching ventures in digital governance and mobile gaming that laid the foundation for several of the country’s current digital firms. Adesida’s journey mirrors that of other tech entrepreneurs leveraging Cape Verde’s efficient systems. With infrastructure and institutions increasingly aligned, the digital economy is seeing tangible results. The inauguration…

Jul

17

2025

By REHANA CASSIM

Bribery in South Africa: law now puts a duty on companies to act

BUSINESS

BRIBERY is one of the most common forms of corruption in South African companies and state institutions. This has a number of harmful outcomes. Firstly, research shows that it weakens democracy and slows down economic growth. It also creates expensive barriers for honest businesses to succeed because it distorts fair competition. If bribery is not stopped or punished, it has a demoralising effect because it erodes trust and creates a culture where ethical conduct is undermined. In 2024, a new law came into force in South Africa that puts a duty on companies to take proactive steps to prevent bribery.…

Jul

16

2025

By CONRAD ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

New oil, gas pipeline deals to help Africa eradicate energy poverty

BUSINESS

MORE than 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity, and 900 million are without clean cooking solutions, according to a 2024 World Bank fact sheet. Yet, Africa is sitting on 125 billion barrels of crude oil and 620 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. “This very statistic has led the citizens of Africa – not only corporations – to rally behind the call to 'make energy poverty history,” said African Energy Chamber Executive Chairman, NJ Ayuk, in a statement. “And it is large-scale oil and gas projects that will achieve this goal.” While the global Just Transition advocates for…

Jul

16

2025

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Local EVs delivering swifter courier services in African cities

BUSINESS

KENYA’S Roam has recently partnered with logistics startup Keep It Cool to roll out an electric cold-chain delivery network, signalling rising demand for low-cost, low-emissions transport solutions in food distribution across African cities. The collaboration combines Roam’s locally assembled electric motorcycles with Keep It Cool’s solar-powered cold storage units. Designed for small traders and retailers in urban and peri-urban areas, the model offers an integrated solution, refrigeration and transport in one system. According to Elijah Gakomo, a sales executive at Roam, “We’re proving that the future of logistics in Africa is electric, efficient, and built at home.” “This partnership shows…

Jul

12

2025

By The African Mirror

Island states demand financial reform at global development conference

BUSINESS

AFRICAN and Asian island nations issued a stark ultimatum to the global financial community Wednesday, demanding transformative reforms to climate finance mechanisms that currently leave small island developing states (SIDS) critically underfunded despite facing existential climate threats. Speaking at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, ministers from the African Island States Climate Commission (AISCC) highlighted a damning statistic: despite climate finance commitments exceeding $100 billion globally, SIDS receive less than 2% of Green Climate Fund disbursements. "We must not just reform how we finance climate action—we must transform how we define global responsibility," declared Ilza Amado Vaz, Minister…

Jul

12

2025

By The African Mirror

African trade facilitation improves despite global challenges

BUSINESS

AFRICA has significantly improved its trade facilitation measures despite mounting global trade tensions and supply chain disruptions, according to a United Nations survey. The continent recorded a 6.8 percentage point increase in trade facilitation implementation, rising from 55.6% in 2023 to 62.4% in 2025, according to the sixth edition of the UN Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation launched in Addis Ababa. The improvement comes as African policymakers push for stronger support of small and medium-sized enterprises and agricultural trade, which form the backbone of most African economies, UN officials said. "Enhanced efforts in implementing specific trade facilitation…

Jul

10

2025

By CONRAD ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

African countries can cross-learn how to close workplace gender gaps

BUSINESS

FOR more than a decade, Esther Wambugu-Obado has carved out an illustrious career in tech, holding senior roles at global giants like SAP and Microsoft and leaving her mark across three continents. One thing has however remained strikingly consistent. A quiet, persistent reality of being the only woman in the room. “Sometimes this meant being questioned and more so having to prove myself three times more than my male counterparts,” she reflected on her career journey during an interview with bird.After college, Wambugu-Obado started off her career as a consultant at Neptune Software, implementing core banking solutions across Africa and…