First Independent Mena Newspaper
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 […]
The number of Singaporean companies doing business in Africa has soared from only 60 in 2018 to more than 155 companies today, which demonstrates that the wealthy city-state increasingly views Africa as a very important market that should not to be ignored. In a sign of this deepening connection, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong […]
Africa’s position on the global stage needs to be strengthened to allow the continent to fully participate in discussions on G20 initiatives such as the Common Framework, according to Hanan Morsy, Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The Africa High-level Working Group on Global Financial Architecture […]
Experts have warned that more international cooperation is urgently needed to curb the disturbing trend of a growing number of Africans that are being trafficked and exploited along migration routes to Europe and the Middle East. Human trafficking and migrant smuggling are on the rise in West Africa, with more than 15,000 Nigerian women and […]
Only 16 African heads of state have arrived in St. Petersburg to attend the second Russia-Africa Summit — fewer than half of the 43 who came to the first summit in 2019 — a striking disappointment for the Kremlin despite its recent flurry of diplomatic efforts in the continent. Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting […]