First Independent Mena Newspaper
African countries have called on China, Africa’s largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years, to shift the focus of the economic relationship from building infrastructure on the continent to supporting local industrialization. With China’ trade with Africa having surged in 2022 by 14.8% year-on-year to reach $282 billion, the Asian powerhouse has been Africa’s largest […]
Japan has secured deals with five African countries in a move aimed at mitigating Tokyo’s reliance on China for critical minerals, which comes as strategic competition between Western allies and China for access to key raw materials used in high-tech industry heats up. Japan’s Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, accompanied by Ichiro Takahara, […]
African nations must flee from the subtle recolonization tactics being pursued through the “honeyed policy shackles” of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the United Nations dogma, according to Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo. Yet, he has also attributed the continent’s rising poverty and underdevelopment to poor leadership, bad governance, and massive corruption by […]
Ukraine is ready for a “long-term” fight to “revive” Kiev’s relations with Africa and reduce Moscow’s “grip” on this continent, which is based on “coercion, corruption and fear,” Ukraine’s top diplomat Dmytro Kouleba declared in an interview last week. After decades of oblivion, Ukrainian officials have now vowed to invest significant political capital to deepen […]
Morocco has called for stronger regional and international cooperation to counter plastic pollution, one of the major global concerns affecting the environment and every walk of life. In her speech Friday in Addis Ababa at the 19th African Ministerial Conference on the Environment, Moroccan minister of Energy Transition & Sustainable Development Leila Benali voiced her […]
With its abundant resources and growing consumer market, Africa can become a prominent manufacturing destination for tech-intensive industries and a key link in global supply chains, according to the Economic Development in Africa Report 2023 that has just been launched (16 August) by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). African economies can […]
African countries must reduce their reliance on other Western countries by boosting intra-Africa trade and also by eliminating their exploitation of Africa’s raw materials, according to the AfCFTA Secretary General and Uganda’s president. Speaking at the 2023 Zenith Bank International Trade Seminar on Non-Oil Export, the Secretary General of AfCFTA, Wamkele Mene, said that economic […]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slammed African central banks for their misguided currency regulation, especially with regard to the ineffective disposal of their foreign exchange reserves. In particular, the IMF has scrutinized the African central banks’ rigid exchange rate regulations, criticizing them for disposing of their foreign exchange reserves in an ineffective attempt to […]
The African venture-capital (VC) market witnessed a 40% drop in funding from the previous year in the first six months of 2023, reflecting cautious investor sentiment and sparking concerns for startups’ future. In the first half of 2023, a mere 263 VC deals were executed, collectively accounting for $2.1 billion, which represents a 40% decline […]
The Biden administration’s charm offensive with Africa is ramping up in a big way, most recently with the launch of a new bureau aimed at making the battle against global outbreaks a lasting priority of US foreign policy and a pledge to seek partnership with African youth leaders to meet today’s challenges. Widely interpreted as […]