February 2012
10 posts
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“You have embarked on a long train ride in Africa. The train is in bad shape, the...”
– The East African ride to Middle Income | End Poverty
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Africa: In search of Brazilian economic miracle →
During the second half of 2011, relations between Africa and Brazil continued to flourish as part of the historic trade, cultural and economic rapprochement of the two economic juggernauts.
Specifically, African governments asked for more financing from the South American country to implement development projects, according to Brazil’s National Bank of Economic and Social Development (BNDES). Key...
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“Private equity funds in Africa and the developing world are set for increased...”
– Africa-focused PE ‘way to go’
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Tanzania plans a railway line to reach South... →
Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda have reached a formal agreement to construct a multi-billion dollar railway network, which would also serve South Sudan and tap into the bloc’s growing trade. The project, to commence in 2014, is expected to take three years and cost $4.7 billion. This will run alonsgside the $3 billion Tanga-Arusha-Musoma-Kampala railway line that is expected to be completed...
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“Bharti Airtel plans to go big in Rwanda by investing $100 million in the country...”
– Airtel ruins the party with Africa telecoms wars - Business |theeastafrican.co.ke
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Is 2012 Africa’s Year of the Dragon? →
At the 2012 World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos last week, a record 2,600 global leaders discussed a frenetic mix of economic and social issues facing the global community. A number of panels (some of which were overlooked with all the talk of the unfolding Eurocrisis) focused on the important transition Africa is making from an underdeveloped continent to one characterized by...
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Mark Mobius undeterred by Nigeria unrest - The... →
Veteran emerging market investor Mark Mobius is looking for bargains in Nigeria as others take fright at violence in Africa’s most populous country, where the Islamist sect Boko Haram has killed nearly 1,000 people since 2009. Mobius, who oversees $44 billion as chairman of Franklin Templeton’s Emerging Markets Group, said bomb and gun attacks in cities such as Abuja and Kano in recent...
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Africa: The Land Of Alpha - Seeking Alpha →
According to Quisenberry, chief investment officer of Caravan Capital Management and manager of the Emerging Frontiers Fund, frontier markets — especially those in Africa — are where great investors need to be. Of course, frontier markets can be found in all geographic regions of the world, not just Africa, and Quisenberry made a compelling case for frontier markets in general, though he...
crochetadventures asked: This isn't really a question, but I LOVE your blog! It's nice to see a blog about Africa that doesn't have ridiculous "save the children" slogans or inaccurate pictures of poverty. Again, I'm so glad I I found this blog!
January 2012
50 posts
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New Africa emerging to defy the odds - swissinfo →
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PODCAST: Things are looking up for Africa - World... →
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Ghana could increase GDP by 2-3% per year – RBSC :... →
This, he said, could be achieved through the commercial and Small and Medium Enterprise sector if they focus on reaching the highly untapped mass market.
Mr Wessels, who was interacting with journalists in Accra on Friday, said findings from a study by RBSC had shown that about $60 billion could be mobilised from more than 400 million low earners each year in sub-Saharan Africa.
He said:...
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“SPIEGEL: Where are Africans supposed to get money if development aid dries up?...”
– Development Aid for Africa: ‘The Problems Don’t Disappear with Sacks of Rice’ - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International
Ed’s note: What on earth has this whole tumblr been tracking for the past year, Der Spiegel? Your blind prejudices are showing
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Rapid growth markets will lead way out of crisis →
“They will have a significant impact on global trade patterns in the next decade,” said Ajen Sita, Ernst & Young CEO for Africa.
“They will lead the global economy out of the crisis,” he said.
But he cautioned that Africa was “not getting its fair share” of global foreign direct investment and needed higher growth and better scale in this area.
“It...
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WEF Davos: Sub-Saharan Africa – Next Growth Hub? →
The session on Africa, chaired by Gordon Brown, a former UK prime minister, brought together presidents of South Africa (Jacob Zuma), Guinea (Alpha Conde) and Tanzania (Jakaya Kikwete) and prime ministers of Kenya (Raila Odinga) and Ethiopia (Meles Zenawi).
While it is true that the SSA’s transformation has only just begun to take off and faces a number of political and institutional challenges,...
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Nigeria, Kenya investment hotspots in Africa –... →
Nigeria and Kenya have been tipped as Africa investment destination hotspots in the coming years.
According to a research finding by the Economist Intelligence survey, global institutional investors plan to boost their asset allocation in African markets over the next five years, and are shifting to long-term investment strategies from more speculative, short-term bets.
By 2016, however, all the...
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Ties with emerging economies to benefit Africa →
African countries south of the Sahara are set to benefit from thier engagement with emerging economies like China, India and Brazil as these powerful economies outsource some of their industrial activities.
There is increasing indication that emerging economies seek to outsource some of their industrial activities, particularly in light manufacturing, to developing nations.
This would be a...
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allAfrica.com: East Africa: Top Business Leaders... →
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Africa internet use hits 2,000 per cent growth →
Growth of Internet use in Africa has superseded global average in the last decade reaching 2,000 per cent compared to the global’s 480 per cent.
The significant growth is attributed to information technology (IT) developments in the continent in recent years including improved means of connectivity such as links with the global fibre-optic cables, declining prices of computers as well as...
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African, Latin American nations rank among top... →
Africa and the Americas are emerging as the shining stars of the airfreight industry, according to the 2012 Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index.
Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco and the Latin American nations of Ecuador, Peru, Mexico and Chile all rank among the top 10 fastest-growing exporters, the report found.
What’s more, the index — compiled by Transport Intelligence — detailed how...
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Why everyone wants to invest in the African... →
Nicky Oppenheimer was on our programme I asked him what he’d be doing with all that money and he was very clear that it would be invested in this continent, into Africa. He was suggesting Africa north of the Limpopo. Now this is interesting because one would have thought we’ve seen other people make a lot of money in the past and take their money to Europe and other perceived safer havens....
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Intel’s investment arm turns its attention to... →
But there is also fresh interest in the technology sector, a development that is arguably epitomised by the interest being shown in the continent and its technology companies by the strategic investment arm of Silicon Valley chipmaker Intel.
Known as Intel Capital, the entity invests in start-ups and technology companies worldwide and it is seeing significant new opportunity in Africa’s...
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“Calling Africa a “continent of tremendous opportunity,” Senator...”
– allAfrica.com: Africa: U.S. Senator - Continent of Tremendous Opportunity
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The progress and potential of African... →
The complete original June 2010 article by McKinsey “Lions on the move” that triggered current interest in Sub Sahara as a viable emerging consumer market.
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Mmegi Online :: Odds in Africa's favour as... →
The big question for sub-Saharan Africa in 2012 is whether the region can sustain its recent strong growth in the face of a stalling global economy. For now, the odds seem to be in its favor. But the costs of a fall from the region’s tightrope performance of 2011 remain disconcertingly high. In 2011, against a threatening global backdrop, most economies in sub-Saharan Africa turned in a...
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“This past year, Africa and the rest of the world witnessed many significant...”
– Foresight Africa: Top Priorities for the Continent in 2012 - Brookings Institution
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“An increasing number of African countries are beginning to step away from aid...”
– Africa Begins to Rise Above Aid - IPS ipsnews.net
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Intermittent
News and updates will be intermittent starting next week when we go upcountry and off the grid for research among rural residents.
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Boosting Intra-African Trade: What Role for... →
African Head of States and Governments will convene in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia later this month to launch a continent-wide free trade agreement (CFTA). The summit will focus on solutions to the numerous impediments that hinder intra-African trade: inefficient transit regimes and border crossings procedures for goods, services and people; poor implementation of regional integration commitments. The...
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EA economies likely to rebound in 2012 →
There was as economic slowdown in 2011 right across the region due to inflationary pressures and rising high fuel prices.
IMF projections for the region in 2011 have reduced regional growth by about 4% due to these pressures.
In the region, Rwanda remained at the forefront of thriving economic stability despite the economic hardships that hit Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda leading to double...
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“Tanzania Breweries share sale was oversubscribed by 145 per cent as investors...”
– TBL shares sold out amid hopes of strong earnings - Business |theeastafrican.co.ke
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Emerging signs of structural transformation in... →
“How was school today and please don’t forget to bring milk on your way back home”. This simple conversation between Halima, a 36–year-old woman from Dodoma and her young daughter on their mobile phones was almost impossible 15 years ago: only 2 percent of Tanzanians had a phone and only one of two children attended a primary school (Figures). Today those figures reach 50 and almost...
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Ethiopia to Reform Trade System | 2merkato.com →
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“Despite the criticisms, nationwide debates and talk shows, the Federal...”
– Fuel Subsidy Removal, Paradox Of A Nation | Leadership Newspapers
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Book Review – Stealth of Nations: The global rise... →
Neuwirth highlights a key point – this economy provides employment for anyone, with the lowest barriers to entry. Any market woman with enough shillings or rupees to buy one day’s inventory is automatically in business – compare this to a highly structured formal economy like Finland’s, where a recent culinary school graduate manning a coffee and cake kiosk at Katajanokkapuisto tells me that...
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“If you want to hear some sunny economic forecasts for 2012, it’s best not to go...”
– Africa Rising: Sub-Saharan Africa set for 2012 boom - CSMonitor.com
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$4.7b railway line linking Dar, Rwanda, Burundi to... →
Construction of the $4.7 billion railway line linking Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania will begin in 2014, after the three governments finalise fund-raising activities.
Tanzania and Uganda have also reached consensus that the proposed joint commercial rail track running from Tanga-Arusha-Musoma to Kampala, will not cut through the Serengeti National Park, thus ending a long-standing row between the...
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Investment in African Renewable Energy Reaches...
According to the Managing Director of Nigeria’s Bank of Industry (BOI), Evelyn Oputu, total investments in renewable energy in Africa rose from $750 million in 2004 to $3.6 billion in 2011.
To put this in a global context, worldwide investment in renewable energy has risen from $33 billion in 2004 to $211 billion in 2011.
And the future? According to a report issued in August 2011 by Frost &...
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African Business Travel Writing on Bankelele's... →
The African travel writing series (tag ‘Kenya Domestic Tourist’ is one that is about a couple of months old now. It’s origin was a conversation with a banker friend who had worked in Nigeria, and talked of people flying with ‘delicious’ Brookside milk from Nairobi to a land where every food item was imported and there was little in the way of a local health scene.
These, and other...
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Ethiopia's partnership with China →
China sees Ethiopia as a land of business opportunities, but the African country remains in charge of any deals
In late November, Habros Seguar, an Ethiopian industry ministry official, told me how the ministry had just landed a major Chinese investment. During his August trip to China, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi had visited the Pearl River Delta, where higher costs are driving manufacturers...
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Rwanda Now: Betting on Economic Growth →
KIGALI, Rwanda — The two-year-old stock market in this small central African backwater is not exactly bustling with billion-dollar deals. But stock brokers here have earnest ambitions to become a financial powerhouse, and not everyone thinks they’re crazy; on the contrary, they’re actually making real progress.
The country synonymous with genocide is aiming to become the economic powerhouse of...