BUSINESS - The African Mirror

Jun

01

2023

Unilever pivots to African suppliers as forex pressure mounts

BUSINESS

BUSARI Kasali once lived with the fear that his cassava - a staple crop in his native Nigeria - would spoil before it got to market. Today, the 76-year-old says his main concern is keeping up with growing demand from consumer goods giant Unilever. "Things have changed," Kasali said, as his workers loaded trucks with a bumper harvest of the starchy roots destined for processing into toothpaste. He said his earnings have nearly tripled in the past two years. "We now plant as much as we want ... We know where to sell it." Amid pandemic-provoked supply chain disruptions, soaring…

Jun

01

2023

By AHMED ELJECHTIMI

Informal labour accounts for two-thirds of Morocco jobs, statistics agency reports

BUSINESS

TWO-THIRDS of Moroccan jobs are now in the grey economy, a statistics agency said, giving its first public assessment of a trend that the government says is depriving the economy of $3.4 billion annually. Nearly all the jobs in the agricultural sector, which represents 14% of the country's GDP, were informal, the HCP agency said in the study, putting the figure at 97%. But with recurrent drought blighting the sector, it expected fewer and fewer people to work in farming, with more people turning to the service sector. The services sector now offers 41% of all jobs in the country,…

May

31

2023

By The African Mirror

Botswana says it is still keen on De Beers partnership, confident of new deal

BUSINESS

BOTSWANA wants to maintain its partnership with De Beers and is confident that ongoing negotiations for a new diamond sales agreement will succeed, a government spokesperson said. Botswana is negotiating a new sales deal with Anglo American Plc's De Beers ahead of the expiry of its current agreement, signed in 2011, later this year. President Mokgweetsi Masisi's threats to walk away from the negotiations if Botswana fails to secure a bigger share of rough diamonds produced by Debswana, their 54-year-old diamond mining joint venture, has fueled speculation that the government may end the relationship. But in a statement, government spokesperson William Sentshebeng said the negotiations…

May

26

2023

By NOAH BROWNING

Solar power due to overtake oil production investment for first time -IEA

BUSINESS

INVESTMENT in clean energy will extend its lead over spending on fossil fuels in 2023, the International Energy Agency said, with solar projects expected to outpace outlays on oil production for the first time. Annual investment in renewable energy is up by nearly a quarter since 2021 compared to a 15% rise for fossil fuels, the Paris-based energy watchdog said in its World Energy Investment report. Around 90% of that clean energy spending comes from advanced economies and China, however, highlighting the global divide between rich and poor countries as fossil fuel investment is still double the levels needed to…

May

26

2023

By ALOIS VINGA, BIRD STORY AGENCY

A bumpy journey to economic stability

BUSINESS

AFTER years of grappling with hyperinflation, Zimbabwe has taken bold steps towards stabilising its economy. In a major turnaround, the country cut inflation rates from over 300% in 2020 to 92% in February 2023. In an innovative, if drastic, step to scale down stubbornly high inflation numbers, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has now introduced digital tokens backed by gold reserves to complement the national currency. The digital tokens can be transferred between people and businesses as a form of payment and are projected to stabilise the Zimbabwean dollar. According to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mangudya, the digital…

May

26

2023

By NAOMI ROVNICK and LIBBY GEORGE

The end of King Dollar? The forces at play in de-dollarisation

BUSINESS

Rivalry with China, fallout from Russia's war in Ukraine and wrangling once again in Washington over the U.S. debt ceiling have put the dollar's status as the world's dominant currency under fresh scrutiny. Russia's sanctions-imposed exile from global financial systems last year also fuelled speculation that non-U.S. allies would diversify away from dollars. Below are some arguments why de-dollarisation will happen - or possibly why it won't. SLIPPING RESERVE STATUS The dollar share of official FX reserves fell to a 20-year low of 58% in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to International Monetary Fund data. Stephen Jen, CEO of…

May

18

2023

By SETH ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Kenya’s M-Kopa sets sights on unicorn club with $250M funding round

BUSINESS

PICTURE this: a world where affordable solar panels and smartphones become accessible to those who need them most, even in the most remote corners of Africa. It's not a far-fetched dream any more, thanks to M-Kopa's latest funding round that would allow it to acquire up to 100,000 new customers a month and expand its product portfolio across the continent. Its target markets include South Africa, which has been plagued by pesky power cuts even as it runs pilot projects to finance electric motorbikes to the capital on the growing demand for e-mobility on the continent. The Nairobi-based company recently…

May

19

2023

By CONRAD ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

After eNaira’s slow uptake, African Central banks are proceeding cautiously with digital currencies

BUSINESS

AS more African countries look to pilot regulated digital currencies, central banks are embarking on 'comprehensive tests' before full-scale rollouts. Mauritius and Tunisia -the only two African countries currently in the development stages of Central Bank-backed e-money are among over 20 countries globally expected to take significant steps towards piloting a Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) this year. Mauritius has already indicated plans to start piloting its digital currency by the end of 2023 after setting up a CBDC "sandbox" -a secure computer-based testing environment- in December 2022 to experiment with various features and design attributes of the currency. "We…

May

16

2023

By The African Mirror

African digital credit company M-Kopa signs $255 mln in new funding

BUSINESS

AFRICAN financing platform M-Kopa has signed a total of $255 million in new debt and equity from Standard Bank and Sumitomo Corporation among others to fund its expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa, M-Kopa said on Monday. Founded in 2011, M-Kopa started its operations in Kenya and has expanded to Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana and says it has to date it has helped 3 million customers to access over $1 billion in credit to buy items like smartphones, solar power systems and health insurance. M-Kopa said Standard Bank led and arranged $200 million in sustainability-linked debt financing, while Sumitomo had injected $36.5 million in…

May

16

2023

By CHIJIOKE OHUOCHA

Nigeria inflation quickens in April as food prices surge

BUSINESS

NIGERIA'S annual inflation rose to 22.22% in April from 22.04% the previous month, as the price of food continued to rise, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Inflation has remained elevated in Africa's biggest economy, eroding savings and incomes, and prompting the central bank to hike interest rates to their highest level in nearly two decades. Food inflation, which accounts for the bulk of Nigeria's inflation basket, rose to 24.61% in April from 24.45% in March. "The rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of oil and fat, bread and cereals, fish, potatoes,…