South Africa’s much bigger-than-expected trade deficit in January wiped out 12 consecutive months of surpluses, as exports of major commodities and machinery fell sharply. The trade balance in January swung to a 27.66 billion rand ($2 billion) deficit, far beyond market expectations of a 5 billon rand shortfall, from a...
Sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest economies will benefit from a global upswing this year - as long as the U.S.-China tariff dispute does not disturb improving global trade flows, a Reuters poll found on Wednesday. The poll taken in the past week showed economic growth forecasts for South Africa, the continent’s most...
The Senegalese leader urged members of the G20 group of countries to continue helping African nations balance their obligations to creditors with their obligations to their own citizens in the face of a deadly pandemic “Flatten the curve.” Do you remember that phrase? It was on everyone’s lips back in...
Since South Africa went into lockdown four weeks ago to slow the spread of the coronavirus, hairdresser Nasreen Pillay has had no income. Without a job contract, she cannot apply for government aid either. “If my mother and father-in-law did not help me, I would be going hungry,” Pillay, a...
As the COVID-19 pandemic takes a toll on African health systems and their economies, African governments are staking a claim for debt relief or outright cancellation of debts owed to China and the west. Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the South African Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, have been leading...
Radisson Hotel Group has announced the addition of six new hotels to its African portfolio, bringing the total to almost 100 hotels across 32 African markets. Building on the recent announcement of its reinforced African development team structure, the announcement of the six new hotels further demonstrates the Group’s commitment...
The office of Dr Jose-Manuel Pinto Monteiro, the lead lawyer for Venezuelan businessman, Alex Saab in Cape Verde says he is disappointed about the extent of interference the government, particularly the office of the prime minister, Ulisses Correia is having in their work. They expressed the sentiments after news of...
A leading research and public policy think-tank is calling on the African Union to defer the July 1st date for commencement of trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). “In light of the global pandemic and what is happening across the world and the continent, it is no...
As women in hairnets and anti-coronavirus masks sort through folded nappies coming off a conveyor belt, the head of the Nigerian firm they work for wonders how much longer he can afford to keep them in employment. Around 80% of the materials that go into Lagos-based diaper and sanitary towel...
Many African countries have been praised for waging an effective campaign to combat the spread of coronavirus despite their reputation for having fragile state health systems. The continent, which has a population of more than one billion, has had about 1.5 million cases, according to data compiled by the John...