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Oil price surge is hurting African economies: scholars in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa take stock

Oil price surge is hurting African economies: scholars in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa take stock

THE attacks by the US and Israel on Iran, which started on 28 February 2026, upended key supply chains, driving oil prices above US$100 a barrel. The spike followed Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US and Israeli action. About 20% of the world’s oil supplies are transported through the strait. In the words of the International Energy Agency: The war in the Middle East is creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market. The impact is being felt by countries across the globe. African countries are no exception, including…
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World Bank bars PwC entities in Kenya, Rwanda, and Mauritius over Ethiopian power project fraud

World Bank bars PwC entities in Kenya, Rwanda, and Mauritius over Ethiopian power project fraud

THE World Bank Group has imposed a 21-month debarment on three PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) network firms - PricewaterhouseCoopers Associates Africa Ltd. (PwC Associates), PricewaterhouseCoopers Limited Kenya (PwC Kenya), and PricewaterhouseCoopers Rwanda Limited (PwC Rwanda) - following their admission of collusive and fraudulent conduct connected to a landmark regional electricity project in East Africa. The sanction, announced in Washington on 18 March 2026, bars the three firms and any affiliates they control from participating in projects and operations financed by the World Bank Group. The debarment is issued with a conditional release provision, meaning the ban can be lifted before the 21-month…
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New technologies are unlocking farm insurance in Africa

New technologies are unlocking farm insurance in Africa

AFRICAN insurers, governments, and research organisations are testing a new generation of crop and livestock insurance models designed to protect smallholder farmers from increasingly unpredictable weather. The new systems combine satellite data, mobile technology, and farm-level verification tools, marking a shift from donor-led pilots toward scalable insurance markets across the continent. The momentum comes as climate shocks intensify across Africa’s agricultural regions, exposing structural vulnerabilities that extend beyond immediate crop losses. According to Patricia Tembo, farm insurance is “increasingly being treated as a core business tool rather than a discretionary expense,” particularly in high-risk agricultural environments shaped by climate volatility…
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East Africa is leading Africa’s latest hotel boom

East Africa is leading Africa’s latest hotel boom

EAST Africa is emerging as the continent’s most dynamic hotel construction zone, signalling a new phase in Africa’s tourism and business travel expansion. While North Africa continues to dominate total investment volumes, the projects most actively progressing toward completion are increasingly concentrated in countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania. The shift reflects growing investor confidence in East Africa’s tourism economies, aviation connectivity and expanding conference markets. According to industry analysts, the region now hosts some of the highest shares of hotel projects already under construction anywhere on the continent. New data released in the 2026 Hotel Chain Development Pipelines…
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Ramaphosa hails Transnet revival as South Africa bets on rail to unlock growth

Ramaphosa hails Transnet revival as South Africa bets on rail to unlock growth

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa placed Transnet at the front of South Africa's growth agenda on Monday, using the platform of the country's inaugural National Transport Conference to celebrate measurable progress at the state logistics utility while laying out an ambitious, multi-modal vision that could reorder the competitive landscape for African trade and investment in the years ahead. Addressing delegates gathered at Gallagher Estate in Midrand - a conference convened under the banner of a logistics crisis that has cost the South African economy an estimated R1 billion a day - Ramaphosa reported that Transnet's revenue for the 2024–2025 financial year climbed…
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China’s new tariff‑free regime for Africa: the potential upside and downside

China’s new tariff‑free regime for Africa: the potential upside and downside

CHINA’S President Xi Jinping announced in February 2026 that from 1 May, China would be granting zero-tariff treatment to 53 African countries. (That is all of them, bar Eswatini, which supports Taiwan.) China-Africa trade reached US$348 billion in 2025, up 17.7% from 2024. Chinese exports to Africa dominate trade flows and amounted to US$225 billion, an increase of 25.8%. This compares to US$123 billion in imports from Africa, which grew by just 5.4%. Such a rising trade deficit between Africa and its largest sovereign trade partner points to the timeliness of new China policies that support African exports to China.…
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How do women entrepreneurs survive in Ghana’s informal economy? We went to a local market to ask them

How do women entrepreneurs survive in Ghana’s informal economy? We went to a local market to ask them

THE informal economy is the basis of everyday economic life across sub-Saharan Africa. In Ghana, as in many low- and middle-income contexts, a lot of retail trade, food distribution, artisanal production and service provision happens outside formal regulatory frameworks. Women occupy a prominent position in this world. They trade in open-air markets, process and sell foodstuffs, produce garments, provide hairdressing services and manage micro-enterprises that sustain households and anchor local economies. Many do this work because they haven’t been able to get an education, a formal job or formal finance. The informal economy is easier to enter – but also…
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Africa’s iron ore is powering its infrastructure goals

Africa’s iron ore is powering its infrastructure goals

GUINEA, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are among the countries in Africa whose governments are ramping up iron investments this year to revive domestic steel industries and reduce reliance on imported construction materials. It’s a strategic move to boost industrialisation and infrastructure growth. The shift comes as global demand for iron ore continues to rise. The market is projected to grow from about US$313 billion in 2026 to roughly US$425 billion by 2034, driven largely by infrastructure expansion and demand from the construction and automotive sectors, according to projections cited by Energy Capital & Power. Iron ore…
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Telcos invest heavily to power AI appetite

Telcos invest heavily to power AI appetite

TELECOM operators across Africa are pouring billions of dollars into network upgrades, data centres and cloud partnerships as increased usage of artificial intelligence begins to pile pressure on the continent’s digital infrastructure. According to the GSMA Mobile Economy Report 2026, operators are expanding 4G coverage, accelerating 5G rollouts and upgrading high-capacity fibre backhaul to handle the massive data volumes generated by AI-driven services. “Operators in Africa are investing heavily in building digital infrastructure that can support the scale and complexity of AI applications,” said GSMA in the report. AI technologies rely on the constant processing and movement of large datasets,…
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Nigeria ends 20-year oil block dispute with Eni in settlement worth billions

Nigeria ends 20-year oil block dispute with Eni in settlement worth billions

NIGERIA has formally closed one of the most contentious chapters in its oil and gas history, signing a settlement agreement with Italian energy giant Eni and its subsidiary Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited (NAEL) to resolve a dispute over offshore block OPL 245 that has shadowed the country's investment reputation for more than two decades. Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi confirmed the conclusion of the deal at a ceremony in Abuja on 25 February, describing it as "a turning point for Nigeria's oil and gas sector after more than two decades of legal battles and international arbitration." The settlement…
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