BUSINESS - The African Mirror

Apr

21

2026

Conquering the world of ride hailing in the Horn of Africa

BUSINESS

AS the capital of a country with one of the highest economic growth rates in the world, Addis Ababa can be a difficult commute. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in February that the country's economy would grow by 10.2 percent in the fiscal year, and with the capital's population expected to pass 5.5 million people this year, that means a lot of cars and a lot of traffic. For Samrawit Fikru, this level of economic growth was clearly a massive opportunity. First, however, she had to overcome some deeply entrenched prejudices. It all started when the future founder of…

Apr

21

2026

By MISHECK MUTIZE

The IMF enjoys preferred creditor status: why it shouldn’t be the judge when it comes to other lenders

BUSINESS

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) should not be an arbiter of discussions about which other multilateral financial institutions should qualify for preferred creditor status. This is because the IMF is a direct beneficiary of the creditor hierarchy policy. A preferred creditor status gives multilateral development institutions priority for the repayment of their loans should a borrower run into financial difficulties. This means preferred creditors have no non-performing loans on their balance sheets. This preserves their low-cost funding channels. Non-preferred creditors have high risk exposure and borrowing costs. The events leading to Fitch Ratings’ downgrade in January 2026 of the African…

Apr

18

2026

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Data centres power Africa’s computing infrastructure push

BUSINESS

A recent unveiling of a 100 MW AI-capable hyperscale data center in Nigeria’s Lekki corridor is expected to begin commercial operations this month. The facility, developed by Kasi Cloud, is coming online just weeks after Cassava Technologies launched Africa’s first AI factory in South Africa, placing both developments within a short window that is expanding the continent’s high-performance computing capacity. According to a Nairobi-based sector analyst, Owen Mbita of the Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA), “what we are seeing is a structural shift from storage-led infrastructure to compute-led ecosystems.” “Processing power, not just data hosting, is becoming the primary driver…

Apr

17

2026

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

AI is driving a new era in African hospitality

BUSINESS

AFRICAN hotel operators are moving from experimental technology pilots to full-scale operational deployments, as rising and increasingly AI-driven travel demand pushes the sector to replace fragmented workflows with integrated platforms. CityBlue Hotels, one of Africa's hotel chains, has announced a continent-wide rollout of systems to automate guest interactions and streamline internal workflows. CityBlue Hotels, in partnership with UK-based Inntelo AI, has embedded automated service and operations tools directly into its business model. According to Jameel Verjee, founder and chief executive officer of CityBlue Hotels, this partnership will place AI at the core of operations. “It will support our teams in…

Apr

16

2026

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

From the Pearl to the Cape: how Uganda’s Kiira Motors is rewriting the rules of African industry

BUSINESS

ON a morning in late 2025, a sleek electric bus rolled out of Kampala and pointed its nose southward. It had 7,125 kilometres to travel through six nations — Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, and finally South Africa. There was no fossil fuel in its engine. There was no European badge above its windscreen. It was built in Jinja, Uganda, by Ugandan hands, from a vision incubated in a Makerere University laboratory. When it crested the slopes leading toward Table Mountain and descended into Cape Town, it carried something more than passengers. It carried proof. That proof has since been…

Apr

15

2026

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

West Africa is turning the tide on ocean losses

BUSINESS

WEST African countries are reclaiming control of their marine ecosystems, which hold some of the world’s most valuable ocean resources, after decades of weak oversight and external exploitation. A proposed High Seas Marine Protected Area by the Economic Community of West African States shifts the region from fragmented national enforcement to coordinated regional control of shared waters and the value they generate. According to Sikeade Egbuwalo, the high seas lead at Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Environment, “There are a lot of countries outside our region that are the ones benefiting from that particular ecosystem we are planning to designate.” “We…

Apr

15

2026

By YASIR FAIZ, FOR BIRD STORY AGENCY

Bottling Ethiopia’s Green Gold

BUSINESS

IN a quiet workspace in Addis Ababa, Feven Tsehaye watches a bundle of wild-harvested herbs being sorted. The process is intricate: after being air-dried to preserve their volatile oils, the leaves are sorted by hand. The result is a sensory alchemy, golden skincare oils that smell of earth and sun, and deep-hued herbal teas that carry the history of the Ethiopian highlands. For Tsehaye, this isn't just manufacturing; it is the meticulous preservation of nature, turning raw, indigenous plants into high-value products the world has long overlooked. Feven’s path to becoming a pioneer in Ethiopia’s emerging plant economy began far…

Apr

14

2026

By JONATHAN PRESLEY and EVELYN ERSANILLI

Kenyans are encouraged to work abroad, but protection rights remain weak – new research

BUSINESS

LABOUR migration from Kenya was oriented towards Africa, North America and Europe until the 1990s. Kenyans then started moving to the Gulf countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Most Kenyan labour migrants to the Gulf perform low-waged work, the women in domestic occupations and the men as security guards. By 2025, over 300,000 Kenyans were working in three Gulf countries – Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. A few thousand more were stationed in Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait. The remittances sent to Kenya from workers abroad grew exponentially. In 1990, remittances totalled…

Apr

10

2026

By MISHECK MUTIZE

Credit and credibility: rating agency errors come with a cost

BUSINESS

THE rating agency S&P Global’s Africa Credit Rating Trends 2025 reviews the past year’s rating activities and analyses the continent’s prospects for 2026. It is an important document because it interprets the underlying drivers of creditworthiness. It shapes how global investors and policymakers understand risk, opportunity and reform dynamics across the continent. But the document had some serious flaws in it. As someone who has been researching Africa’s capital markets and the institutions that govern them for decades, I believe they are worth commenting on because mistakes like this can influence investor perceptions. In turn, this can reinforce existing biases…

Apr

08

2026

By FREDERICK KIBON CHANGWONY

Kenya’s counties get budgets to undo inequality – how it’s helped households

BUSINESS

KENYA devolved power and public spending to 47 counties in 2013. This was in line with a global trend in which governments were pushing power and resources down to local levels in the hope that decisions made closer to people would lead to better outcomes. The logic was straightforward: local governments should be better placed to understand and respond to local needs. Kenya’s version of this – set out in its 2010 constitution and implemented three years later – was particularly ambitious. It guaranteed counties a share of national revenue and directed extra funds to 14 historically marginalised counties through…