Posts

Female Empowerment in Africa

Image
Africa has been blessed with 9 female heads of state and government. Although only two of Africa’s nine women leaders were elected, it speaks of the growing confidence that the populace have in female leadership across the continent . Various African Union pronouncements have called for gender equality in democratic processes. These are among the reasons female representation in multiple sectors in the continent are above global averages. Fifteen out of 30 African countries have more women represented in parliament than the global average. The number of women working as CEOs, executive committee members, and boards is greater than the average worldwide. While these are positive developments, participation alone may not be effective in achieving gender parity.This will require further reviews of electoral systems and legal frameworks as well as continued contributions of private and public sector stakeholders. In December, 2016, the UN launched the Women’s Leadership Initia...
Post a Comment
Read more

World's First Blockchain Commodity and Financing Marketplace in Nigeria!

Image
Nigerian based financial institution, Sterling Bank, made history unveiling the world's first blockchain based commodity trading and financing platform. The platform will decentralize agriculatural commodity traiding in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. The development may come as a shock to some and certainly a pleasant surprise to many as Sterling Bank took the lead in an innovative step in the banking sector of Nigeria. There are more developments to be followed before a conclusion can be drawn on the success of the platform. It's unveiling, is , however, an indication of the increasing willingness of Sterling Bank to facilitate funding solutions for the agricultural sector.
Post a Comment
Read more

Africa's Fastest Train (320 km/hour) Launched in Morocco

Image
November will be considered as a historic month for not only Morocco but Africa as the bar was raised by the North African country which introduced Africa's fastest train (320 km/hour) to the world. The train is considered as Africa's first high speed train. Further developments in the train sector could be pivotal for transport challenges faced by nations such as Morocco. This will be beneficial for not only trade but also the movement of people.
Post a Comment
Read more

Botswana: Leading from the South

Image
Botswana was named the most attractive investment destination in Africa, according to the latest Africa Investment index for 2016 by Quantum Global’s independent research arm. Out of the 54 African countries that participated in the survey, Botswana took the first position followed by Morrocco in second spot, with Egypt third while the neighbouring South Africa took  fourth spot followed by Zambia. Other countries that made it in the top ten include Cote d’Ivoire, Algeria, Tanzania, Namibia and Burkina Faso respectively. “The annual research is aimed at providing investors in Africa with a guide to which countries and markets are most attractive for investment in the short to medium term. The multidimensional barometer was based on six clusters of factors namely growth factors, risk factors, liquidity factors, business environment factors, social capital factors and demographics,” read part of the report. Still on the same research, last year Botswana took the fift...
Post a Comment
Read more

Freedom House Democracy Findings

Image
Freedom House provided an illustration of democracy in countries around the world. In green are countries considered free. In purple are countries considered not free, and in yellow are countries considered to be partly free. What do you think?
Post a Comment
Read more

A Beautiful Illustration of Africa

Image
A picture says a thousand words and a painting sings a thousand words. Anouk (anouk.von.g on Instagram) shows a positive depiction of Africa with her drawing. On the drawing, the resources of each geographical region in Africa is shown, from the oil of Nigeria to the mines of South Africa. It just goes to show just how wealthy and equipped for greatness Africa is.
Post a Comment
Read more

Ethiopian Airline: Going up, Never Down

Image
Ethiopian Airlines is somewhat of a mystery in an industry of African airlines with painfully weak prospects of growth. In 2015, the East African airline made more profit than all other African carriers . It’s phenomenal feats don’t stop there. The average growth rate in the industry, at 5 percent is dwarfed by the airlines average growth of 25% in the past seven years. Its revenue of $2.43 billion in 2016 served as further justification of its plans to expand its fleet and network to more than 90 international destinations across five continents. Its plans to generate $10 billion in annual revenue may certainly be realised sooner rather than later.  Referring to the airline career’s 15-year strategic plan , Vision 2025, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group, Tewelde Gebremariam stated, “In the last seven years Ethiopian Airlines Group has witnessed a very fast growth. The main success factor has been long term planning. The main driving factor of the vision was to become the le...
Post a Comment
Read more