In 2020, President Nana Akufo-Addo announced that Ghana will no longer export raw cocoa beans and instead intends to process more and more of its cocoa within the nation’s borders. This decision is intended to reduce Ghana’s dependence on the production and export of raw materials and in so...
The Nigerian naira is seen weakening in the days ahead on the back of accumulated demand, while the Kenyan shilling could steady as importer appetite in the energy sector sags. Nigeria Nigeria’s naira is seen weakening on the black market as dollar demand balloons from foreign investors and importers with payment...
The food and beverage market in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) is projected to grow by US$1trillion in value by 2030, according to World Bank. While this presents a huge growth potential, the industry in Ghana remains largely import dependent, with few big players along the production and processing value chain. But for...
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on Sub-Saharan African will come from three main shocks namely, economic disruptions, spillovers from global fallouts, and commodity price shocks. In its report released from the April 2020 virtual Spring Meetings on Sub-Saharan, the Bretton Woods institution said...
Africa’s immense potential to become a global powerhouse is undeniable.  It has all of the ingredients including a market of 1.2 billion consumers (rising to 1.7bn by 2030) and a combined GDP worth US$2.5 trillion.  So what is holding it back? The African Union’s (AU) members have all indicated their...
After last November’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26), Egypt took the COP baton from the United Kingdom; and now it is hoped that COP27, already hailed as ‘the first COP for Africa, will also be a ‘COP for Action’. I believe these two concepts – delivering...
Ghanaian companies have expressed great displeasure with the decision of the government of Benin to blatantly disregard the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocols regarding trade and charge 20 percent duty on products imported into the country by Anglophone states. According to the companies, even though Benin has withdrawn...
Kenya’s private sector activity inched up in May after falling sharply a month earlier because of restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus, but conditions are expected to worsen in coming months, a survey showed on Thursday. The Markit Stanbic Bank Kenya Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 36.7,...
There is evidence that the death rate for those infected with COVID-19 in Africa is on the increase. And although the overall number of new cases has fallen in some countries, it remains persistently high in others, with many of these cases possibly linked to new variants of the virus. What's...
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has signed an MoU with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Trade Centre to promote the TRADAR Club solution in the market. The Cooperation Agreement was signed between Afreximbank and the UAE Trade Centre on the side-lines of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023) Press Conference and...