Opinion

© A client uses an automated teller machine (ATM) at the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July 31, 2019. REUTERS/Maheder Haileselassie Tadese

market navigation

Premium badgeEthiopia wants to open its banking sector, but it won’t be walk in the park for new entrants Ethiopia is on the cusp. Since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came into office in April 2018, Ethiopia has laid down a series of reforms, most notably soft...
© Mourners place candles in a room of Radio Amplitude FM where a portrait of journalist Martinez Zogo has been placed to pay tribute to him, in the Elig Essono district in Yaounde on January 23, 2023.(Photo by Daniel Beloumou Olomo / AFP)

freedom in peril

Cameroon, Eswatini, Rwanda: Three devastating days that shook Africa In consecutive days this month, from 20-22 January, a trio of Africa’s brightest lights for freedom and accountability were violently extinguished. In...
© Dela wa Monga, an artisanal miner, holds a cobalt stone at the Shabara artisanal mine near Kolwezi on October 12, 2022. (Photo by Junior KANNAH / AFP)

value chain

Putting Africa at the heart of the global energy transition, thanks to its ‘critical minerals’ Shinkolobwe means nothing to most people, despite the fact this city of Katanga has changed the course of history. It was from a mine located near thi...
© File photo of Zimbabwe President and ZANU-PF leader Emmerson Mnangagwa in Esigodini Matebeleland South. (Jekesai NJIKIZANA / AFP)

letter to the editor

Zimbabwe: A reply to Nic Cheeseman’s column on democracy This letter is a response to a recent opinion column entitled: “When Zimbabwe stops pretending to be a democracy” published on 23 January 2023.

Opinion top stories

© Moroccan employees work in the new Renault factory in Melloussa, 30 km (19 miles) from Tangiers February 9, 2012. French car maker Renault opened a sprawling low-cost Moroccan factory on Thursday, taking aim at strong European demand for no-frills vehicles in a bid to buck the overall decline in the region’s car market. REUTERS/Stringer

our chance

Premium badgeWhat if Africa tried the Chinese model to eradicate poverty? From 2013 to 2021, nearly 100 million Chinese people broke free from poverty. So it should be possible to restore hope and dignity to millions of Afri...
© File photo of pylons that carry electricity from a coal fired power station in Hwange, Zimbabwe. (REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo)

unenlightened

Premium badgeSouth Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe: Blackouts to total darkness? To observers, it’s incomprehensible that countries with active perennial waterways – via Zambezi River – teeter on the verge of energy poverty.
© Moulay El Hassan (photo: @M_RoyalFamily)

Alawite legacy

Premium badgeMorocco: The monarchy and the mystery of Moulay El Hassan What do we know about the Crown Prince, who turned 20 on 8 May? Apart from a few general facts about his education at the Royal College and  at the UM...

Opinion top stories

© Moroccan employees work in the new Renault factory in Melloussa, 30 km (19 miles) from Tangiers February 9, 2012. French car maker Renault opened a sprawling low-cost Moroccan factory on Thursday, taking aim at strong European demand for no-frills vehicles in a bid to buck the overall decline in the region’s car market. REUTERS/Stringer

our chance

Premium badgeWhat if Africa tried the Chinese model to eradicate poverty? From 2013 to 2021, nearly 100 million Chinese people broke free from poverty. So it should be possible to restore hope and dignity to millions of Afri...
© File photo of pylons that carry electricity from a coal fired power station in Hwange, Zimbabwe. (REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo)

unenlightened

Premium badgeSouth Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe: Blackouts to total darkness? To observers, it’s incomprehensible that countries with active perennial waterways – via Zambezi River – teeter on the verge of energy poverty.
© Moulay El Hassan (photo: @M_RoyalFamily)

Alawite legacy

Premium badgeMorocco: The monarchy and the mystery of Moulay El Hassan What do we know about the Crown Prince, who turned 20 on 8 May? Apart from a few general facts about his education at the Royal College and  at the UM...

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© A trader display farm produce at Wuse Market, Abuja, Nigeria, on August 17, 2021. (Photo by Kola Sulaimon / AFP)

defining moment

Africa’s agriculture potential can contribute to end world hunger Africa can feed today’s hungry and be the world’s breadbasket. It has that potential. Unfortunately, one can’t eat potential.
© Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 15, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

tenuous trajectory

Tanzania: Magufuli-era fiscal discipline slowly slipping away In Tanzania, much of the fiscal discipline that was instilled by the late President John Magufuli is slowly slipping away under current President Sami...
© Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa in March 17 2020 ( AFP / Jekesai NJIKIZANA)

same script

When Zimbabwe stops pretending to be a democracy On Saturday 14 January, Harare based lawyer Kudzai Kadzere was beaten by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), leaving him with a fractured h...
© Image by Damien Glez

alternative truths

Nigeria 2023: How corrupt influencers are spurred on A ‘BBC’ investigation has revealed that Nigerian politicians in the middle of a campaign are using the digital services of whistleblowers, sometimes r...
© US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends an event with African diaspora youth and Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs exchange alumni at a restaurant in Washington, DC, U.S. August 15, 2022. Mandel Ngan / Pool via REUTERS

role of diaspora

Africa’s development needs to go beyond foreign aid & remittances With Africa being the youngest continent in the world, with a median age of 20 years and 60 % of the population under 25, the continent is the future....
© Photo by Nipah Dennis / AFP

rabbit and hare

Ghana’s hopes for a quick domestic debt restructuring suffers setbacks Ghana has tried to fast track its debt restructuring programme. Bright Simons explains why it is not working.