BUSINESS - The African Mirror

Mar

02

2023

Digital marketing becoming a major driver for Africa’s small and medium sized businesses

BUSINESS

CONRAD ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY** SMALL and mid-sized businesses are increasingly turning to social networking sites and mobile apps to tap into the burgeoning African internet economy, seen more than doubling to US$200 billion by 2025. A joint survey, dubbed the Africa MSME Survey Report 2023, tracking 440 small and medium-sized businesses in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Ethiopia shows more than half of these businesses have gone online. Some 53% are marketing their businesses over the internet, 45% sell products and services online and 24% use digital platforms to stock up on wares, according to the survey by research…

Feb

21

2023

By The African Mirror

Africa’s agribusiness sector should drive the continent’s economic development: Five reasons why

BUSINESS

AFRICA'S agriculture sector accounts for about 35% of the continent’s gross domestic product and provides the livelihood of more than 50% of the continent’s population. These shares are more than double those of the world average and much higher than those of any other emerging region. Author LILAC NACHUM, Visiting Professor at Strathmore Business School; Professor of International Business, City University New York, City University of New York Dependence on agriculture has declined in other emerging regions. For example in Southeast Asia, agriculture’s share of GDP dropped from 30-35% in 1970 to 10-15% in 2019. In Africa, it has remained…

Feb

16

2023

By The African Mirror

MTN commits to $1 bln Ghana investment after government scraps tax claim

BUSINESS

MTN Group will invest $1 billion in Ghana over the next five years, the mobile operator said, after the government exempted its Ghanaian unit from tax claims worth about $773 million. The investment comes on the heels of the Ghana Revenue Authority exempting the company's bill for back taxes earlier this month after the incident sparked a diplomatic reaction by the South African foreign minister. The tax claim was initially issued after the revenue authority audited the company for the years 2014 to 2018 and inferred that it under declared its revenue by about 30% during the period. MTN Chief Executive Officer Ralph…

Feb

24

2023

By The African Mirror

Botswana and Comoros latest countries to ratify the AfCTA agreement

BUSINESS

BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY THE African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to create a single market for goods and services in Africa, got another boost after two more countries handed over instruments of ratification to the African Union Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, during February's session of the African Union. Instruments of ratification are documents by which a state expresses its consent to be bound by a treaty. Botswana and Comoros became the 45th and 46th state party members of the AfCFTA after depositing their instruments of ratification on the sidelines of the 36th Ordinary Session of…

Feb

25

2023

By The African Mirror

Financial crime watchdog adds South Africa to ‘grey list’

BUSINESS

TASSILO HUMMEL, BHARGAV ACHARYA AND ALEXANDER WINNING INTERNATIONAL financial crime watchdog the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) added South Africa to its "grey list" of countries under special scrutiny to implement standards to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing. Being added to the list is a reputational setback for Africa's most advanced economy, which has been trying to address shortcomings identified by the FATF. The rand extended losses against the dollar after the watchdog's decision, to trade down about 1.3% on the day. Analysts say increased FATF monitoring could mean South African clients at international financial institutions will be subject…

Feb

24

2023

By The African Mirror

Africa’s e-restaurants and autotech startups whet investor appetite

BUSINESS

CONRAD ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY INVESTMENTS into Africa’s digital restaurants and auto-tech startups grew faster than all other sectors in 2022, highlighting their growing appeal. Entrepreneurs behind these startups enjoyed bumper funding during the period - albeit from a low base - and funding for the sector has added to a wider challenge to fintech's recent dominance of Africa's startup funding environment, the latest Disrupt Africa tech startup funding report shows. “While fintech easily retains its lead as the most popular space, the growth is smaller than in other verticals; and the narrowing of margins shows other sectors are starting…

Feb

14

2023

By The African Mirror

Zambia criticises debt restructuring delays – FT

BUSINESS

ZAMBIA'S finance minister criticised the prolonged nature of the country's debt restructuring talks, the Financial Times reported, after a Chinese call for the World Bank and other multilateral lenders to offer debt relief sparked concern about further delays. In an interview with the newspaper, Situmbeko Musokotwane said that "time is of the essence" to finish a restructuring of about $13 billion of external debt this year. Multilateral lenders, who don't usually take haircuts, should participate in debt relief for Zambia, a Chinese foreign ministry official said last month. This insistence was one of the main sticking points in talks, a…

Feb

14

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenya’s president picks banker for deputy cenbank governor – senate document

BUSINESS

KENYA'S President William Ruto has nominated Susan Koech, a career banker who has also served in top government posts, to be the second deputy governor of the central bank, a parliamentary document showed. The post has been vacant for more than five years after Ruto's predecessor failed to fill it when its previous occupant left. The bank has been running under the leadership of Patrick Njoroge as the governor, and one deputy, Sheila M'mbijiwe. The law stipulates that the regulator should have two deputies. Neither the central bank nor the previous government has ever commented on the vacancy for the…

Feb

13

2023

By YOUSEF SABA and GHAIDA GHANTOUS

Public debt in Middle East and North Africa a ‘concern,’ fiscal action needed, IMF says

BUSINESS

THE head of the International Monetary Fund said that public debt in some Middle East and North Africa (MENA) states is of "concern" and that governments need to build resilience through fiscal policies to protect against shocks in uncertain times. Kristalina Georgieva, speaking at the Arab Fiscal Forum in Dubai, urged authorities to adopt "robust" fiscal frameworks and address climate change. The IMF forecast last month that economic growth in MENA would slow to 3.2% this year, before ticking up to 3.5% in 2024. Inflation was seen to surpass 10% in 2023, according to a full copy of Georgieva's speech published by…

Feb

03

2023

By BIRD STORY AGENCY

Africa’s Tripartite Free Trade Area gains ground with six more countries poised to ratify the agreement

BUSINESS

SIX more countries have shown interest in ratifying the Tripartite free trade area agreement, or TFTA - a COMESA-EAC-SADC initiative that seeks to foster free trade among countries in the three economic blocs. According to Christopher Onyango, Director of Trade and Customs at the COMESA Secretariat, the six countries - Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Malawi, Lesotho and Comoros - have advanced their internal negotiations and could soon sign the agreement. Onyango was speaking during a meeting of senior officials of the Tripartite initiative, in Nairobi. “We are engaging and strategically approaching all the remaining member states…