BUSINESS - The African Mirror

May

13

2025

G20 is too elite. There’s a way to fix that though – economists

BUSINESS

THE G20 claims to be “the premier forum for international economic cooperation”. But is it? As scholars of global economic governance, we are sceptical of this claim. Here are our main reasons. The G20 is insufficiently representative of the 193 member states of the United Nations, plus the small number of non-member states. It is a self-selected group of 19 countries and the European and African Unions. It has no mandate to act or speak on behalf of the international community. It has no transparent or formal mechanisms through which it can communicate with actors who do not participate in…

May

09

2025

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Africa’s banking sector is forging a fresh path in the access to climate finance

BUSINESS

AFRICAN banks are increasingly integrating green finance instruments into their operations—an early but strategic step toward building green banks and addressing the continent’s climate finance shortfall. A recent report — “Sustainable Banking Assessment for Africa (SUSBA)” — published by the World Wide Fund for Nature on April 30th, evaluated this trend. The authors found that “most banks in Africa are increasingly embracing regulatory and industry guidelines and hiring more ESG professionals to embed sustainable finance practices and drive a green development and transition.” The assessment reviewed 25 banks across eight countries: Cameroon, Gabon, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic…

May

08

2025

By VELMA PAMELA, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Women of stone: the stone entrepreneur changing stereotypes on Kenya’s coast

BUSINESS

ALMOST everywhere she looks, as she goes about her business in her community in Kenya's coastal Kilifi County, Saumu Mohamed can see the fruit of her labour. Throughout her community and well beyond it, there are homes, churches, schools, and multimillion-dollar buildings that have all been built with stone blocks cut from the coral rock that abounds throughout the region by Mohamed, her family members, and her team. Those stone blocks — each carefully cut and shaped — form the foundation and walls of countless buildings that have contributed to the growth and transformation of the region. "I love what…

May

07

2025

By SETH ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

China ‘out’, Gulf in –– Gulf states channel billions into Africa as China revamps financial model

BUSINESS

GULF sovereign wealth and private capital are moving swiftly to plug a growing gap in Africa’s development scene, as Beijing eases back from its once-dominant role as the continent’s chief financier. Between 2012 and 2022, GCC nations splashed over $100 billion into African markets, with the UAE shelling out a hefty $59.4 billion, Saudi Arabia pumping in $25.6 billion, and Qatar trailing with $7.2 billion, according to last December's Afreximbank report. That momentum surged in 2023 when Gulf entities announced 73 new FDI projects worth more than $ 53 billion, further flexing their financial muscle to entrench their footprint in…

May

03

2025

By IHSAAN BASSIER and LEILA GAUTHAM

Why are women paid less than men? New research in South Africa shows the company you work for makes the biggest difference

BUSINESS

WHY do women earn less than men? The usual suspects – occupation, hours, experience – explain some of it. But a powerful, often overlooked reason is simply this: where women work. The companies that hire them play a huge role in shaping their lifetime earnings. South Africa has a severe gender pay gap, much of which is unexplained by worker characteristics such as occupation, skills or experience. In our new study published in the Journal of Development Economics, using tax data on the universe of formal workers in South Africa, we uncover a striking fact: nearly half of the gender…

May

03

2025

By MATTEO RIZZO

Informal workers in Ghana’s chop bars get no benefit from foreign aid: donors are getting it wrong

BUSINESS

INFORMAL street food caterers, popularly known as chop bars, are a key feature of Ghanaian city life. They offer the urban poor the cheapest food. A 2016 survey by the Food and Agriculture Organisation estimated there were about 3,300 chop bars in the capital, Accra, employing almost 4,300 workers. This figure is likely to be much higher now due to rapid urban growth in the last decade. Ghana’s urban population increased from 50.9% in 2010 to 56.7% in 2021. By the same year, the Greater Accra region was home to 91.7% of the urban population in the country. Street food…

May

01

2025

By TOLU OLAREWAJU

US-China trade war could hurt Nigerian entrepreneurs: why, and how they should prepare

BUSINESS

AS China and the United States lock horns in a trade war, slamming tariffs on each other, entrepreneurs in Nigeria are vulnerable to the fallout. In 2024, 27.8% of imports into Nigeria came from China. In the same year, US exports to Nigeria reached US$4.2 billion. Economist and entrepreneurship researcher Tolu Olarewaju unpacks what could happen if Chinese products destined for the American market were diverted to developing economies, including Nigeria. What dangers do the tariff tensions pose to Nigeria’s entrepreneurs? China is the world’s biggest manufacturing nation, producing far more than its population consumes domestically. It is already running…

Apr

26

2025

By IMRAAN VALODIA

VAT hikes can raise tax without hurting the poor: an economist sets out the evidence

BUSINESS

SOUTH Africa’s 2025-6 budget has been subjected to more comment than usual. This is due to the political tensions generated by a proposed increase in value-added tax (VAT). South Africa’s choices on how it manages the revenue and expenditure issues in the budget are critical for how the larger issues of the country’s debt and its economic policies are handled. As things stand, the economy is locked into a low-growth trajectory, which makes the debt, revenue and expenditure issues more difficult to deal with. This piece draws on a longer article which explores these issues in greater detail. Here, I…

Apr

25

2025

By The African Mirror

Southern Africa’s trade war eases as Tanzania lifts agricultural import ban

BUSINESS

A tense trade war that had gripped Southern Africa in recent days showed signs of resolution, as Tanzania abruptly lifted its ban on agricultural imports from Malawi and South Africa. The move comes just days after Tanzania imposed the sweeping restrictions in retaliation for similar measures enacted by its southern neighbors, and at a time when the region and the continent are already facing mounting pressure from steep tariffs imposed by the United States. Earlier this week, the usually bustling Kasumulu border crossing between Tanzania and Malawi fell quiet. Tanzania had banned all agricultural imports from Malawi and South Africa,…

Apr

24

2025

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Can Mali’s gold reforms deliver without driving away investors?

BUSINESS

MALI is playing a high-stakes game with its gold sector, shaking the foundations of foreign investment while chasing what experts describe as "a long-overdue boost" in domestic revenues. From arresting top mining executives to shuttering company offices and seizing shipments, the government’s recent moves have sent shockwaves through investor circles. Yet, for some observers, these actions are a long-overdue move to reclaim control over gold, the lifeblood of the country's economy. Senegalese economist Austin Malal calls the reforms “a double-edged sword” — a bold attempt to reshape a historically extractive industry that could either transform Mali’s fortunes or drive capital…