BUSINESS - The African Mirror

Apr

08

2026

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…

Apr

08

2026

By DANNY BRADLOW

Iran war: what African countries can do to get through the crisis and emerge in a better place

BUSINESS

BY Easter 2026, it was still not clear when – or how – the war initiated by Israel and the US against Iran would end. But what was already clear was that it would harm Africa in a number of ways. Firstly, it would adversely affect the global supply and prices of oil and gas, fertilisers and food. Secondly, local currencies would be affected. More than a month after the war had started a number of African currencies had begun to lose value against the US dollar. Thirdly, interest rates stopped falling, and further rate increases were highly likely. Fourth,…

Apr

08

2026

By DAVID CAMPBELL FRANCIS and SIPHELELE NGIDI

Economic policy in South Africa neglects informal traders: 5 focus areas to support the sector

BUSINESS

THE informal economy is responsible for a large share of economic output across the continent. Yet economic policy is almost always designed for the formal economy and overlooks the informal economy. We are labour-market economists interested in the informal economy and informal work. We have spent the last two years investigating the concept of an economic policy for informal workers. We spent several months interviewing informal traders, traders’ associations and key stakeholders. Our aim was to better understand their challenges and to inform the development of an economic policy for informal trading. Drawing on our research partnership with Women in…

Apr

01

2026

By BUSINESS CORREPONDENT

South Africa courts the world – and a R3.5 trillion China market opens its doors

BUSINESS

SOUTH Africa will gain full zero-tariff access to the Chinese market on 1 May 2026, the government confirmed Tuesday, unveiling the China-Africa Economic Partnership Agreement (CAEPA) as the centrepiece of an aggressive trade reorientation that began after the April 2025 US tariff shock upended global commerce. Trade and Industry Minister Parks Tau, addressing investors from five continents at the South African Investment Conference in Sandton, Johannesburg, said the agreement opens a pathway to duty-free access into what the government describes as a R3.5-trillion consumer market - a deal signed in February and now weeks from full implementation. "South Africa is…

Apr

01

2026

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Africa is repositioning poultry for food security

BUSINESS

AFRICA’S poultry sector is shifting from import dependence to coordinated, policy-driven domestic production, with countries aligning finance, skills, and regional partnerships to scale output. Gabon is moving fast to ban chicken imports by 2027, turning to Senegal, Africa’s long-standing poultry success story, for guidance. According to sector analysts, what is emerging is not isolated reform but a continent-wide recalibration of poultry as a strategic industry tied to food security, jobs, and industrial growth. “The poultry industry is becoming central to how African countries think about food security and economic resilience,” according to Daniel Njiwa, director of inclusive markets, trade, and…

Mar

31

2026

By FLORIAN LÉON

Development finance in Africa: economist explains how private savings could be unlocked

BUSINESS

AFRICA holds abundant private savings, but much of it remains informal. As a result, its contribution to development financing is limited. Researcher Florian Léon is one of the authors of a recent report on the potential of the “Caisse de dépôt” model – a financial management framework designed for long-term investment that bridges the gap between public funds and economic development. We asked him how this kind of public savings and investment fund could capture and channel these resources into productive investment, alongside development banks. He outlines the institutional barriers, the reforms needed, and the paths forward for mobilising both…

Mar

27

2026

By OLABISI D. AKINKUGBE and JANET MACHARIA

Africa needs to fight for a better deal on world trade rules: it should lead the charge on these 3 priorities at this week’s WTO meeting

BUSINESS

AFRICAN countries face many trade barriers today. Wealthier countries subsidise their farmers, making African agricultural exports less competitive. Global trade rules promise extra support but are rarely implemented. Many African countries also lack the infrastructure, funding or political will to build industries. This leaves them stuck exporting raw materials instead of higher-value finished goods. They miss out on bigger economic gains. The 14th World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon, from 25-27 March 2026 could be an opportunity to change this. Ministerial conferences are the highest decision-making forums of the WTO. They’ve always been attended by the ministers…

Mar

27

2026

By FINLEY MARANGA FOR BIRD STORY AGENCY

A Nairobi neighborhood platform promotes women in biz

BUSINESS

THE families in thousands of homes in Nairobi’s Nyayo Estate stir as dawn rays hit their uniform rooftops. Social entrepreneurs Maureen Amakabane and Njoki Mwangi are already on the move. They run Nyayo Moms Sokos (NMS), a social commerce (selling via WhatsApp or Facebook) platform for women-owned businesses that serves the estate’s residents. Most global e-commerce systems rely on Western-built tech to reduce the risks typically associated with anonymous online transactions. However, the use of regional fintech ecosystems is rising around the world. Amakabane, Mwangi, and the other NMS co-founder, Martha Owuor, prioritise social collateral instead, powered by a low-entry…

Mar

25

2026

By BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT

Kenya opens the gate: First zero-tariff shipment to China signals a new era in Africa–Beijing trade

BUSINESS

KENYA has dispatched its first commercial consignment to China under a sweeping zero-tariff arrangement that Beijing extended to 53 African nations, granting duty-free access on all tariff lines. The shipment, formally flagged off at the Standard Gauge Railway Nairobi Terminus on Tuesday, included fresh avocados, avocado oil, hides and skins, coffee, and green beans — a product mix that reflects Kenya's current export strengths but also, analysts note, its persistent struggle to move beyond raw and minimally processed goods. 1.4B Chinese consumers53 African nations covered100% Tariff lines at zero duty2025 Policy effective year The ceremony was attended by Deputy President…

Mar

24

2026

By The African Mirror

Steel, debt, and destiny: the geopolitics of East Africa’s new rail corridor

BUSINESS

ON Saturday, 21 March, at Kibos in Kisumu County, Kenyan President William Ruto and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni tightened bolts in the symbolic African tradition of a ground-breaking ceremony for Phase 2C of Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway - the 107-kilometre Kisumu-Malaba section that will, for the first time, bring the Chinese-built railway to Kenya’s western border with Uganda. The moment is significant. It completes what Ruto described as “a continuous railway artery of nearly 1,000 kilometres from Mombasa to Malaba” - a line that, once Uganda builds its onward section from Malaba to Kampala, will stitch together two of East…