Opinions

There are reasons to be optimistic about Africa’s post-coronavirus growth prospects says Afreximbank’s chief economist     So much has changed since the coronavirus pandemic struck, a “black swan” event that has enfeebled the global economy and set it on a path resembling the 1930s Great Depression. Commodity prices have…

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is here, and if African economies are to flourish, they must adjust accordingly. For governments, that means creating the conditions for private-sector innovation and entrepreneurship.     Not long ago, big data, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence seemed closer to science fiction than reality.…

Across the world, as countries and economies slowly reopen, Africa lags behind. We were last to experience the coronavirus—and we expect to be the final continent to flatten the curve.     Some may say it is too early, that the crisis still too deep and the recovery too distant…

These are challenging times for Africa and the rest of our global village.      As of 24 May 2020, 54 countries in Africa had recorded more than 100,000 COVID-19 cases and over 3,000 deaths. And while the number of cases continues to grow, it could have been much worse…

In October 2018, when President Cyril Ramaphosa invited investors for our first investment conference, I was still a partner at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, assisting black firms to expand their businesses through strategic assets.    I was close to concluding one of my biggest deals with a black consortium looking to buy a commercial…

When the roots are deep, there is no reason to fear the wind – African proverb   Background Globally, individuals are having to embrace a new world, which involves the restructuring of self, institutions, economies, and the traditional way of living. The source of this urgent restructuring is no other…

The negative implications of COVID-19 on international climate finance flows in Africa should be a wakeup call to African countries to shift from the model of oversees dependency, especially regarding issues central to Africa’s development such as funding for local climate adaptation and resilience     With the manufacturing aviation…

African governments need to act now to ensure small-scale farming and food supply chains remain uninterrupted.     We have only just begun to see the far-ranging consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world. Chief among those is the threat of a food crisis of unprecedented magnitude. Unless measures are…

The threats that are hanging over the African continent with regards to the spread of COVID-19 demand our individual and collective attention. The situation is critical.       Yet this is not about mitigating another ‘African’ humanitarian crisis but to diffuse the potentially damaging effects of a virus that…