Author: Contribution

By Mohamed H’MIDOUCHE*, Executive Vice President of the Morocco-Bulgaria Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The electricity sector in Morocco showcases a dynamic mix of public and private entities engaged in various activities such as production, transmission, and distribution to cater to the nation’s electricity demands. By the end of 2022, the country boasted a production capacity of 10,830 MW, with key players including the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE), the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN), Independent Power Producers (IPPs), and self-producers. Transmission infrastructure, including interconnections with neighboring countries, plays a vital role in ensuring efficient and…

By Marc Thiriet, Director, Africa, Wärtsilä Energy It is no longer disputed that solar and wind power will be the foundation of Africa’s future energy systems. They are perfectly suited to the continent’s unique conditions and are already the most cost-competitive power option in almost all cases. This consensus spans academia, businesses, and policymakers who all recognize the potential of renewable energy to meet Africa’s growing needs sustainably. They also readily acknowledge the intermittent nature of renewables, and the associated need for flexible power capacity within the electricity networks to ensure safe and steady supply. It’s a good start. But…

By Mabingue Ngom The discourse surrounding Africa’s population size has the potential to be counterproductive. With a population of 1.3 billion people, Africa holds immense opportunities for growth and prosperity. However, to fully realize this potential, we must shift our focus from population growth to prioritizing the quality of life for Africans. By embracing sustainable development and addressing existing challenges, we can create a future filled with hope, opportunities, and shared success. Africa’s potential is not determined solely by its population size, but by the quality of life experienced by its citizens. Ignoring this fact would be a mistake, as…

By Economist Nea Tiililä, Finnfund,  For almost two years, the Sub-Saharan African economies have not received financing from international bond markets. Last week, there was a positive turn, as Ivory Coast successfully issued two Eurobonds. This raises hopes that the financing and debt crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa will begin to ease. The Covid-19 pandemic, the political uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine, the globally increased prices and especially the increased interest rates in the United States and the appreciation of the US dollar have caused a severe funding gap to African countries. Together with the rise in interest rates…

By GEORGE ORIDO President William Ruto has appointed the Equity Bank CEO the new Chancellor of the newly minted Open University of Kenya. The President made the announcement at the Konza Technocity as he awarded it its charter yesterday.Reacting to the appointment, Dr Mwangi said he was humbled to have been given the opportunity to offer his services as a Vice Chancellor of the fully fledged Virtual University.“You have bestowed on me the trust to perform the function of a chancellor just when my service as the chancellor of Meru University has just ended having served from 2013 to 2023.…

The sovereign-debt crisis is hitting Africa particularly hard and could lead to a lost decade of development. While the G20 has tried to ease the burden, its Common Framework has proven ineffective and needs to be fixed, and international institutions must make room at the policymaking table for African countries. ADDIS ABABA– One in five people globally live in countries that are in debt distress or at risk of it. Two-thirds of low-income countries – most of them in Africa – fall into this category, while eight of the nine countries currently in debt distress are on the continent. A confluence of…

By Abdoulaye Bangoura, CPA Student Toronto metropolitan university. The previous month was marked by the crisis of U.S. regional banks, which are crucial for the growth and stability of the U.S. economy. They contribute 40% of lending in the U.S. market and account for 30% of U.S. bank-held assets. The recent turmoil that unfolded has given people a sense of insecurity and uncertainty, and some observers are wondering if we are back to living in a dark period of bank run and financial instability. In the span of two months, the third (SVB) and second largest (First Republic) banks both…

By Antonio Pedro* The confluence of shocks – the cascading impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and severe natural disasters – have eroded Africa’s development gains, resulting in a staggering 149 million previously non-poor Africans now facing the risk of falling into poverty. The growing number of new poor and vulnerable people is making it harder to close the gap between the rich and the poor. Moreover, Africa currently accounts for the largest share of the world’s poor. This inevitably has a far-reaching impact on achieving the sustainable development goals and the vision of the Africa we want. The crisis,…

By Francis Kouakou I am however, appeased by corporate America who still see the trainfrom another window. Goldman Sachs said: the US economy will avoidarecession and instead move towards a “soft landing” where inflationmoderates but growth continues. I would like to set my arguments on the table. Why I think 2023 won’t see any recession? The main reason I believe is that the fundamentals of our economics are really good. A Strong but tight Job Market a.In the US, the job market is still strong. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey(JOLTS) for the month of November shows that theUSeconomy…

By Gilbert Houngbo ,Incoming Director-general of the International Labour Organization Founded in 1919, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has for over a century worked to promote social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. It is one of the oldest specialised agencies of the United Nations and today has 187 member states. The ILO has a unique tripartite structure, involving representatives of governments, employers, and workers in all its discussions and policies. Over the last few decades, as the world of work has become more complex, the organisation has found it necessary to adapt to take in new realities and…

By Hassana Mbeirick, Consultant international In Dakar (Senegal), the curtains fell on the 2nd edition of the MSGBC Conference, and the 3rd edition is scheduled to be held next year in Nouakchott (Mauritania). 2023 will be the year of the first GTA gas molecule placed on the world market; in other words, the meeting in Nouakchott will mark history. With a fairly substantial potential per country (GIIP-OIIP) and a huge global potential, countries of the MSGBC basin represent a coveted opportunity to play a leading role in the global LNG supply. In the current context of the global energy crisis,…

Public Opinion: Stop the war before it is too late!(appeal open to co-signature, see the end of the appeal). The war in Ukraine is continuing, unabated for four months now, causing vast destruction of life and property of the people of Ukraine and enormous damage to the global economy affecting the lives of millions of people the world over due to rising prices and energy crisis, and above all steadily increasing global tensions pushing humanity to the brink of a nuclear war.The Russian military intervention in Ukraine was an evident response to the measures taken by the Kyiv regime and…

Africa.com’s CEO writes about how she felt after this special invitation I was invited to dine with Bill Gates last week during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  The terms of the invitation, which was extended to six others besides myself, were that the discussion would be off-the-record.  Therefore, I can’t write about anything discussed that evening. What I can tell you is what we ate, and what I thought about after the dinner. The menu, prepared by chefs at Microsoft House – the temporary headquarters of all things Microsoft at the Davos conference – was superb. The first…

By Meissa Lô*, financial analyst. Without being too alarmist, we can say that we are probably at the dawn of the 3rd World War, if this is not already the case. A 3rd war that many analysts predicted would be a nuclear or religious war. The military war between Russia and Ukraine and the political-diplomatic war between NATO and Russia do not bode well for the stability of the world. Although the impacts remain localized in Europe for the moment and only affect the world prices of cereals, oilseeds (corn, wheat, walnuts, almonds etc.) and hydrocarbons, in the weeks to…

By Abdoulaye Bangoura Confronting Crisis Through the Power of Stock Stocks! Stocks! They visit us frequently and invite us to trust in them. They constantly call for us to give them even just a small amount of money in order for that amount of money to grow. The stock market has existed for almost 300 years, with the Amsterdam exchange having been created in 1611. Nowadays, stocks are a widespread phenomenon, with an official stock market existing in at least 111 countries around the world – in total, a market value of 95 trillion dollars. In the modern age, it…

By Magaye Gaye, Economist. The world has for some time been plunged into a worrying inflationary crisis. This observation raises questions about the relevance of the responses that central banks have provided and about the monetarist theory embodied by the economist Milton Friedman. With a rate of 6.2% over a rolling year in the United States, observed in October 2020, the inflation rate has been multiplied by 11.5 in a year and a half. The euro zone is not left out with a rate of 5%. This inflationary surge is explained by the tensions observed on the global production chains,…

The Geopolitical Chronicle of Benoît Ngom, President of the African Diplomatic Academy (ADA). The Senegalese collective And Samm Jikko Yi organized a large rally in Dakar on February 20 to denounce the “illegal” rejection by the National Assembly of the bill aimed at criminalizing homosexuality. This demonstration can be interpreted as a way to maintain the tension around the debate on homosexuality in a secular state. The debate on homosexuality in Africa often borders on hysteria because of the irrational considerations it carries. The fear of what the other thinks or what the other will do sometimes dictates unnecessarily aggressive…

On the eve of his fifth visit to Senegal, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a message to the Senegalese people. “We consider Senegal, a shining star in its region, as a flagship country with great potential which will mark the future of the continent as it has marked its history” “TÜRKİYE-SENEGAL: A STRONG FRIENDSHIP ROOTED IN HISTORY AND LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE” Among African countries, Senegal occupies an exceptional place in the heart of our nation. The roots of the fraternal relations between our two peoples go back six centuries. Relations between Türkiye and Senegal, which were built on…

Business suits and black leather shoes aside, are there any similarities among the top 1% of the Congolese banking sector? This article proposes an assembly of the pieces of this puzzle in the form of a fictional interview. By Obed KAMBALA, economic analyst, holder of a Master’s degree in Economics and a Certificate of Expert in Risk Management. … All the same, we would not entrust the management of a credit institution to the first comer, would we? That’s right ! The management committees of banks include big names whose know-how is based on in-depth higher education and many years…

Opinion-Editorial by Souleymane Traoré, Chief Executive Officer, Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG), Conakry, Guinea The mining sector has a responsibility to develop new, sustainable practices to minimize and mitigate its impact on the environment, transform the lives of the people in the areas surrounding operations and respect fundamental human rights. It’s why, much like many other industries, there needs to be a rapid shift towards Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) business strategies. Because rhetoric is no longer enough, especially in the developing world. The difference between ESG and typical corporate social investment work is that ESG requires transparent plans…

By Gedeon Kalombo Ntambwe* After holding its first peaceful power transfer in its history in 2019,  the biggest sub-Saharan country had made one of the biggest democratic moves in its history and set itself in a new direction. The Congolese banking system has always been highly shaken by the political events and a continuous conflict in the Eastern part of the country causing a standstill in the development of the sector countrywide. More so, the country has seen its banking sector overwhelmed by foreign banks (list of banks table below). Though this may be perceived negatively on the surface, there…

Chronicle of a vessel in distress First head to roll Following the revelations of Financial Afrik (Parent company of Kapital Afrik), the chairman of the board of Shelter Afrique, Dr. Steve Mainda, was ousted on December 6, 2021, by a sanction vote of his fellow directors, at the rate of 10 votes to 1. Then the directors proceeded to a vote to appoint a new chairman of the board in the person of the Ugandan Ephraim Kizaa Bitchetero, representing Africa-RE, one of the institutional shareholders (group B). Note that no press release sanctioned this major decision taken on the sly.…

By Mark Doumba, CLIKAFRIK Group Part of the youth and the African diaspora spoke eloquently in Montpellier, to affirm their desire to change the model of cooperation that African countries maintain with France, and implicitly with the rest of the world. From these discussions emerged a firm desire on the part of Africans to take ownership of the development of their continent. This requires the need to adapt political and economic institutions to the needs of expressing private initiative. Indeed, the African populations now want to welcome more direct investment, less debt, and even less development aid. The declared wish…

By Jean-Louis Moulot *, Mayor of Grand-Bassam (Ivory Coast). As we know, Africa contributes less than five percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions and is one of the regions of the world most affected by climate change. The ocean whose rise is almost imperceptible, coastal erosion, the scarcity of fishery resources, are time bombs for coastal populations, and more generally for the economies of our countries. All projections show that African coastlines will be increasingly populated in the years to come. Each year, behind these few extra millimeters of water on our coasts, behind these few tenths of a…

[The geopolitical chronicle of Benoit Ngom]. To decipher the news and bring geopolitical and geostrategic depth to the information, Professor Benoit Ngom * deals in these columns with a weekly column, to be found every Thursday. The sanctions imposed on Kémi Seba, recently expelled from Burkina Faso, and Guy Marius Sagna, sentenced by a court in Senegal, when both thought they could safely enjoy their freedom of expression and assembly, challenge us to reality protection of public freedoms in the ECOWAS region. However, the founding fathers of ECOWAS had a deep desire to create a community of States united by…

By Julien Briot *, compliance expert. The Congolese mining sector is full of business opportunities that are no longer unsuspected. The nerve center of the national economy, the mining industry is the strategic focus of public policies and national growth projections. State and institutional investors are joining forces to take advantage of this high added value market. It is interesting to recall that the Democratic Republic of Congo is the leading cobalt producing country in the world and is home to more than 50% of the planet’s reserves, mainly located in the provinces of Haut-Katanga and Lualaba. Cobalt, also called…

The geopolitical chronicle of Benoit Ngom. To decipher the news and bring geopolitical and geostrategic depth to the information, Professor Benoit Ngom deals in these columns with a weekly analysis, to be found every Thursday. An international conference on the theme “Justice for International Crimes: Challenges and Strategies in West Africa and Elsewhere” was held on October 25-26, 2021 in Dakar, Senegal. This meeting, which brought together experts from the United Nations, the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal, offers us the opportunity to put into perspective the work of Fatou Bensounda in the promotion of…

By Ilyes Zouari, President of CERMF (Center for Study and Reflection on the Francophone World). Some African countries are experiencing a particularly high level of indebtedness, which is expected to even exceed the symbolic bar of 100% of GDP at the end of 2021 for seven of them. With a stabilization of its global debt during the same year, French-speaking Africa remains the least indebted part of the continent, in particular because of the economic dynamism of the majority of its countries. According to the latest IMF statistics and forecasts, released this October, the ten African countries expected to post…