Africa

BOOSTING SME AGRICULTURE INVESTMENT   By Antonio Guerrero   The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has partnered with several non-profit organizations to launch the African Agricultural Capital Fund (AACF).   New fund will stimulate agriculture sector The fund ...

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS TO FINANCE INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADES   By Antonio Guerrero   Tanzania plans to invest $742 million by the end of 2012 to tackle its crippling energy deficit.   African energy projects to get PPP boost Under an emergency power rescue ...

CLOUDY HORIZONS   By Antonio Guerrero   While South Africa is attempting to get out from under its recession, countries in sub-Saharan Africa are dealing with the impact of volatile global oil markets and decreased investment from their neighbor to ...

NEWSMAKERS: NIGERIA   By Antonio Guerrero   Nigeria’s new economic chief, former World Bank managing director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, says she will focus much of her efforts on diversifying her nation’s economy away from overdependence on oil and gas revenues.   ...

MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA Angola José de Lima Massano Grade: B The performance of Angola’s economy depends more on oil prices than on monetary policy. José de Lima Massano, former CEO of Banco Africano de Investimentos, was appointed central bank ...

CHINESE INVESTMENT BOOSTS SIERRA LEONE IRON ORE SECTOR   By Antonio Guerrero   China’s Shandong Iron & Steel Group (SISG) takes a 25% stake in Britain’s African Minerals.   Sierra Leone’s iron ore output is becoming the country’s key export ...

EMERGING MARKETS ROUNDUP: AFRICA   by Antonio Guerrero     Sierra Leone opts for controversial biofuel production Africa is poised to enter the world’s growing biofuels market. The biotechnology unit at Addax, a Switzerland-based investment firm, plans to open a ...

INVESTORS FALL FOR AFRICA’S CHARMS   By Antonio Guerrero   Foreign direct investment into Africa will reach $150 billion a year by 2015, according to a May report by global accounting firm Ernst & Young.   Africa’s consumer goods boom ...

Africa Fast-Growing Continent Offers Huge Potential And Significant Risks   Africa is rich in natural resources, including oil and gas and minerals, which are in growing demand as the global economy expands. The continent seems likely to outperform the developed ...

Pause For Thought   By Antonio Guerrero     Recent popular uprisings in North Africa and beyond may be causing China to slow its headlong rush into the continent.   Over the past decade, China has become a key source ...

ETHIOPIA POWERS UP GENERATION PLANS   By Antonio Guerrero   Ethiopia in April launched a $4.7 billion project to build Africa’s largest hydropower plant.   Drawing on the power of the Nile Ethiopia in April launched a $4.7 billion project ...

SENEGAL LANDS SOVEREIGN RATING   By  Antonio Guerrero   Senegal received its first-ever sovereign credit rating from Moody’s in March, as the government prepared to launch its debut $500 million Eurobond.   Reaping the benefits Moody’s granted Senegal a B1 ...

ROUNDUP: AFRICA   By Antonio Guerrero   Plans for launching a single West African currency by 2015, to be known as the Eco, are being thwarted by members’ failure to meet the program’s criteria.   Zuma: Calling for help Five ...

EAST AFRICA: SUDAN SPLIT RESHAPES EAST AFRICA’S ECONOMY   By Jonathan Gregson   As Sudan prepares to divide into two countries, plans are already under way to help the South develop its substantial oil reserves.   Unless there is a ...

  ROUNDUP: AFRICA   By Antonio Guerrero   Government incentives are paying off for Zambia's copper sector, with output expected to surpass 740,000 tons this year for the first time, pushing it above the record highs of the early 1970s. ...

ANGOLA: ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY   By Dan Keeler   Ravaged by a 27-year civil war and buffeted by the recent global financial crisis, Angola has suffered more than its fair share of challenges. Undaunted, its leaders are striving ...

NEWSMAKERS: SOUTHERN SUDAN   By Justin Keay   Sudan, the largest country in Africa and the Arab World—and the tenth largest in the world—is about to get a good deal smaller.   Bold move: Voters decide Southern Sudan's future Preliminary ...

LIBYA: OPENING UP   By Justin Keay   As its economy slowly becomes more open, Libya is attracting the attention of a wider range of potential investors than just adventurous oil companies.   In the old days of the Soviet ...

ROUNDUP: AFRICA   By Antonio Guerrero   Electricity goes private Nigeria requires annual investments of up to $10 billion to tackle its infrastructure deficit, according to government officials in Abuja. Much of the investment would be focused on meeting the ...

ROUNDUP   By Antonio Guerrero   Good to go: Tullow resolves dispute over Uganda's oil fields Uganda moved closer to becoming an oil producer after UK-based Tullow Oil reached an agreement with the government over a tax dispute. Tullow, which ...