A continental rating agency, deeper domestic markets and new payment rails are widening Africa's financing options — but the test is whether they can reduce a measurable cost-of-capital penalty
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Eastern African countries are expanding cross-border electricity trade under a $1.6bn World Bank-backed programme, with Ethiopia preparing to double power exports to Kenya to 400 MW.
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The World Bank Group has approved a $1.6bn financing package for the RETRADE-EA, a 10-year initiative aimed at expanding cross-border electricity trade in east Africa and strengthening regional grid integration.
Mission 300 has connected more than 50mn people to electricity across 40 African countries since its launch in 2024, marking a key milestone towards its target of reaching 300mn people by 2030.
Ismail Omar Guelleh is widely expected to secure a sixth term on April 10, underscoring entrenched political dominance as Djibouti’s strategic position at the Bab-el-Mandeb chokepoint gains renewed global focus.
The US-Israel war with Iran could spill into the Horn of Africa and Red Sea corridor, where Houthi attacks, regional conflicts and dense maritime routes create conditions for wider disruption to shipping and foreign military facilities
The United States will require bonds of up to $15,000 for some tourist and business visas under a pilot programme launching on August 20, aimed at cracking down on visitors who overstay their visas.
China has launched a new international mediation organisation in Hong Kong on May 30, signed by 31 countries
Population growth means that for the first time in a decade access to global energy has begun to fall despite the massive investment going into clean energy to fight the climate crisis, the International Energy Agency said in a new report.
The hotter the world gets, the more water the air can hold and the more it will rain.
Saudi Arabia is hosting its first ever Africa Summit, underscoring Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's (MbS) growing focus on African affairs.
Russia and Africa can work together to protect national sovereignty and put an end to colonialism, Russian President Vladimir Putin told African delegates at the 2023 Africa-Russia summit in St. Petersburg.
The first investments are due to begin in six counties in sub-Saharan Africa in 2025.
World trade has been falling, but we still expect growth to return this year. We do notice large shifts in world trade as advanced economies – especially the US – are diversifying input sourcing.
Amid a downgrade to the IMF’s global growth forecast, EM sovereigns should remain resilient with areas of relative growth outperformance, easing pressure on commodity importers and fiscal reform momentum.
Food and energy prices surged to near historic highs in recent years amid the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which prompted major supply disruptions. This was accompanied by a sharp rise in the volatility of commodity prices as well.
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Putin took time out from meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping who had just arrived in Moscow for a three-day state visit to speak to lawmakers from more than 40 African countries and woo them with generous promises of economic and military aid
Of the 6.3bn people who reside outside of liberal democracies, 70% have a positive view of China and 66% of Russia.
The free flow of ideas, people, goods, services, and capital across national borders leads to greater economic integration. But globalization, the trend toward these things moving ever more freely between nations, has slowed in recent years.
