BUSINESS - The African Mirror

Jul

10

2025

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…

Jul

10

2025

By NADINE RIEDEL and IDA ZINKE

Tax season in South Africa: the system is designed to tackle inequality – how it falls short

BUSINESS

SOUTH Africa’s personal income tax system is in the spotlight as the country’s tax filing season gets underway. Personal income tax is an important way of redistributing income from higher-earning to less-well-off individuals. But how effectively does it do this, and what can get in the way? At the heart of any redistributive tax system is its structure: which incomes are taxed or exempted, which expenses are tax-deductible, how the tax rate schedule is designed, and which tax credits are granted, including how much they reduce the tax owed. The schedule translates taxable income into the taxpayers’ tax liability by…

Jul

02

2025

By RONALD LAMOLA

Breaking down barriers: How to unlock private investment for sustainable development in emerging markets

BUSINESS

ATTRACTING private investment in developing countries remains a significant challenge due to a range of structural and systemic issues. One of the foremost barriers is political and regulatory volatility. Frequent policy shifts, coupled with weak institutions and inconsistent regulatory frameworks, create a climate of uncertainty that undermines investor confidence. This unpredictability hampers long-term planning and complicates risk assessments. Addressing this requires a concerted effort to build institutional capacity, ensure greater policy coherence, and establish independent regulatory authorities supported by robust investment protection laws. Another critical challenge is macroeconomic fragility, characterised by high inflation, currency instability, and unsustainable debt burdens. These…

Jul

01

2025

By The African Mirror

Building dreams: The Dipuo Phakathi story

BUSINESS

IN the heart of Johannesburg, where the rhythm of hammers meets the whisper of wood shavings dancing through the air, a revolution is taking shape—one handcrafted cabinet at a time. Dipuo Phakathi stands in her workshop, safety goggles pushed up on her forehead, surveying the transformation happening around her. The mining engineer turned process engineer at Standard Bank never imagined that her frustration with home renovators would ignite a fire that would reshape not just kitchens, but lives. The Spark of Rebellion It began with a simple desire to renovate her home. But as designer after designer failed to capture…

Jul

01

2025

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

How African women are using jobtechs to close the labour gap

BUSINESS

WHEN Awazi Angbalaga Joshua launched Shaaré in Nigeria, her goal was to connect skilled workers to people who needed their services. Using no-code tools and support from her community, she built a home services platform that made connections easier, faster, and more consistently. “Shaaré is a business I built with some of the smartest people I know, often through the hardest nights,” she explained. Shaaré is part of a growing wave of ventures across Africa using jobtech to expand access to work, especially for women navigating informal economies. “There were times I doubted, not the vision or relevance of the…

Jun

30

2025

By DANNY BRADLOW and LISA SACHS

Africa’s development banks are being undermined: the continent will pay the price

BUSINESS

GHANA and Zambia’s official creditors are pressing them to default on loans to two African multilateral financial institutions: the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Trade and Development Bank (TDB). These creditors, in effect, are demanding that the two countries prioritise repayments to themselves over payments to these two banks. As academics who have worked on the challenges of financing sustainable development in Africa, we believe this action is short-sighted. The action by Ghana and Zambia’s official creditors has two significant implications. First, they are demanding that the two countries treat Afreximbank and the Trade and Development Bank as commercial…

Jun

28

2025

By The African Mirror

Ethiopia greenlights ambitious AfCFTA Strategy, signaling bold shift toward continental trade integration

BUSINESS

THE Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has officially endorsed its National African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Implementation Strategy, marking a decisive pivot toward aggressive continental trade integration. The high-level validation workshop, convened by the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration (MoTRI) with technical backing from the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), took place at the Hilton Hotel in Addis Ababa, drawing senior government officials, AfCFTA Secretariat representatives, private sector leaders, development partners, and technical experts. In a forceful opening statement, H.E. Dr. Kassahun Gofe, Minister of Trade and Regional Integration, declared…

Jun

27

2025

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Tanzania’s new bridge is proof of the rise of domestic capital in Africa’s development drive

BUSINESS

EVERY morning in Mwanza, fishermen like Peter Ngonyani now cross Lake Victoria in minutes, not hours. Where he once waited up to two hours for a ferry, he now drives across the Magufuli Bridge, a new 3.2-kilometre structure linking Kigongo and Busisi towns in northern Tanzania. In an interview in Mwananchi, a Tanzanian Swahili newspaper, earlier this month, the tilapia fish supplier described the bridge as “a saviour to our lives and businesses.” Completed in June 2025, the Magufuli Bridge cost TSh 700 billion (about US$270 million), entirely financed through domestic resources. Tanzania’s approach, using only local funds, offers a…

Jun

25

2025

By MISHECK MUTIZE

African finance ministers shouldn’t be making bond deals: how to hand over the job to experts

BUSINESS

EUROBONDS, debts owed in a foreign currency, have become a quick and attractive way for African countries to borrow money. They are behind a sharp rise in commercial borrowing as a percentage of total external debt: it has nearly doubled from 27% in 2011 to 52% in 2020. This has increased the debt vulnerability of most African countries. Recent developments, however, show that most of the bonds have not been structured properly. As a result, African countries are paying way over the odds relative to their sovereign risks. Based on my bond price modelling expertise, it is my view that…

Jun

25

2025

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Somalia’s new stock exchange signals push for formal economy

BUSINESS

SOMALIA has launched its first-ever national stock exchange, signalling a bold step away from decades of instability and toward market-led growth and financial inclusion. The launch of the National Securities Exchange of Somalia (NSES) is being hailed as a major milestone in the country’s journey to rebuild institutions and reframe its image as a frontier of opportunity rather than crisis. On June 19, the bourse was officially unveiled in Mogadishu, offering a platform for trading equities and Sharia-compliant Sukuk bonds. The exchange is expected to start live trading in early 2026, initially targeting listings from sectors such as banking, telecoms,…