Ian Lessem, Managing Partner at HAVAÍC, investors in early-stage, high-growth technology businesses, notes a significant increase in investment demand for African technology startups. Startups on the continent are at a distinct advantage because they compete out of necessity. As a result, they can, and very often do stand toe to toe with startups in more the established tech hubs of Palo Alto, Singapore, London and Tel Aviv. African innovators face local challenges so pervasive; they simply have no choice but to tackle them head on and become subject matter experts in finding solutions for real world problems like food security, health, education, safety, financial services and logistics. African technology driven solutions borne out of necessity create efficiencies, new products and opportunities, and most importantly solve local challenges that resonate globally. Because of this they have the inherent ability to leap across national boundaries and sidestep the usual rules of cultural friction. With the world having quickly adjusted to the realities of the ongoing global social and economic crisis as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, solutions that solve real world challenges are without a doubt the best opportunities for growth. People and businesses are craving solutions that make their day to day lives easier, better and less frictional, and the pace at which they are adopting technology to do this continues to accelerate. Not only does HAVAÍC support promising startups, it also understands the power of unlocking the potential of Venture Capital (VC) as an investment class in Africa. Investing...

With all the challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic has presented to Africa, there are many exciting changes afoot, and few are potentially more impactful than the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). The AfCFTA is an exciting game changer agreement for the countries who are signatories. Currently, Africa accounts for just 2% of global trade. And only 17% of African exports are intra-continental, compared with 59% in Asia and 68% in Europe. The pact is designed to create the largest free trade area in the world measured by the number of countries participating. Connecting 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) valued at $3.4trn. It will boost regional income by 7% or $450bn, and lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty by 2035. Wages for both skilled and unskilled workers will also be boosted by 10.3% for unskilled workers, and 9.8% for skilled workers. While the Covid-19 pandemic has thrown a harsh spotlight on the vulnerabilities of global supply chains, the putting in place of the AfCFTA agreement couldn’t be more timely for Africa. AfCFTA is a catalyst for new ways of doing business, producing, working and trading within Africa and with the rest of the world. It highlights the significant and increasing commitment of the African Union to reducing poverty through trade. As Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, newly appointed as the WTO director general, recently stated, “Trade is a force for good, and properly harnessed can help lift millions out of poverty and bring...

Malawi's Health Minister, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, has called for vigilance among key agencies in the fight against Covid-19 in the country's border posts to stop people that might be trying to use borders to sneak in from high risk countries. Kandodo said security agencies and health workers in border posts have to be alert on travellers who are coming from high risk countries such as India, Bangladesh and Pakistan among other countries in order to safeguard the country from the virus. She made the remarks on Friday when she presided over the handover ceremony of Covid-19 quarantine and screening facilities to the government of Malawi by United Kingdom (UK) government in partnership with Trade Mark East Africa. "We need to be alert as a country. Health workers at the border posts have to make sure that travellers have Covid-19 negative certificates when entering the country." "As a ministry we have issued a ban to travellers from high risk countries like India and we know people from these countries can land in Zambia and travel by road to Malawi so all agencies at the border have to be vigilant," Kandodo said. The UK government in partnership with Trade Mark East Africa donated quarantine and screening facilities to four targeted border stations of Mchinji, Songwe, Dedza and Mwanza. The Minister expressed gratitude towards the donation saying the facilities will go a long way in containing the spread of the disease while at the same time facilitating smooth trade flows across the main...

The British Government has advised Malawi to focus on unleashing the power of the private sector to create growth and substitute low-value with high value crops in the Affordable Inputs Programme. British High Commissioner David Beer said this on Friday in Mchinji on the sidelines of a symbolic handover of Covid-19 isolation and screening facilities built at Songwe, Mwanza, Dedza and Mchinji border posts. The project, which is supported by the British Government, was implemented by the TradeMark Africa in collaboration with the ministries of Trade and Health to promote safe cross-border trade amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Beer said Malawi’s ratification of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA)—a single continent-wide market for goods and services and to promote the movement of capital and natural persons—was a huge step forward. But he said the cost of production, which makes prices of goods and services expensive, will render Malawi uncompetitive on the continental market that connects 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product valued at $3.4 trillion. Said Beer: “Malawi needs to shift away from low-value crops such as maize and soya and it needs to wean itself off tobacco. “Malawi’s comparative advantage is not in producing these crops and the environmental damage brought by a maize monoculture is becoming clearer. The focus must, therefore, shift to high-value crops such as spices, nuts, berries and other high-value fruits.” He said such crops are in high demand in many lucrative markets globally, observing that a hectare...

Mchinji, 7th May, 2021 The UK Government in partnership with TradeMark Africa on Friday 7th May 2021 officially handed over quarantine and screening facilities in key border posts of Mwanza, Dedza and Songwe and Mchinji borders to the Malawi Ministry of Health to support its capacity and fight against COVID-19. These facilities will meet the needs of hundreds of travellers at key Malawi border stations and border officials to include: Port Health staff, Malawi Revenue Authority staff by providing safe COVID-19 screening and isolation areas. The facilities are equipped with state-of-the-art supplies that will help in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic and other public health challenges at the border stations, thereby ensuring safety of border users and frontline personnel during the pandemic and beyond but also ultimately enabling undisrupted flow of goods and services across the key borders. The symbolic handover ceremony of all facilities took place at Mchinji border post and was graced by Malawi’s Minister of Health Hon Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, British High Commissioner David Beer and TMA Malawi Ag Country Director, Myra Deya. The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is funding Malawi’s component of TMA’s Safe Trade Emergency Facility (STEF) programme with a contribution of MWK 400m (GBP 0.5m). It’s under this programme that the quarantine facilities handover has been made as part FCDO’s wider support for mitigation against the spread of COVID-19 and promotion of continuous safe trade in Malawi. Other interventions conducted under the Malawi STEF Programme included distribution of Personal...

“Without doubt, AfCFTA could be considered as the game changer for the post COVID-19 economic recovery and transformation of Ghana, if we as a country can harness the numerous benefits of the agreement,” the minister said. To harness the benefits of AfCFTA, he said the government complemented the ongoing industrial transformation agenda by launching the National Export Development Strategy in 2020 to increase non-traditional export revenue to $25.3 billion by 2027. Inauguration Mr Kyerematen was speaking at the inauguration of 36 council members of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), in a speech read on his behalf by the Technical Advisor to the Minister, Mr Anthony Nyame-Baafi, on Wednesday, April 28 in Accra. The council members are expected to provide the needed support and guidance through their technical expertise and wealth of social capital to promote activities of the chamber. Private sector’s role The minister called on the private sector to spearhead the economic transformation of the country by taking full advantage of the African single continental market. He said the initiative would boost Ghanaian exports, stimulate investments and innovation, foster structural transformation, improve food security, enhance economic growth, and export diversification, and provide fresh impetus and dynamism to the economic integration of Ghana into the African market. “There are many benefits that Ghana will derive from effective implementation of the AfCFTA, including better harmonisation and coordination of trade between Ghana and other African countries,” he added. He said the government had developed a National AfCFTA Policy...

AfCFTA As countries rebuild their economies following the impact of COVID-19, Africa needs to step up productive and infrastructural integration, stakeholders at a regional presentation of the African Regional Integration Index (ARII) have said. The index, a joint publication of the Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank and the African Union Commission, provides up-to-date data on the status of regional integration in Africa and assesses the level of integration for every regional economic community and its member countries. The Index report underlines the need for a renewed commitment to regional integration within Africa, speakers said. They noted that the beginning of trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area in January 2021, amid the Covid-19 pandemic and its disruptive impact on movement and economies, had thrown this into a sharper focus. Director of Trade at the East African Community Secretariat, Rashid Kibowa, said the Index report has great potential to address the three major challenges currently facing the continent: the Covid-19 pandemic, implementation of the AfCFTA, and poverty reduction. “There is a need for more dialogue on the ARII and methodology issues to expand the scope of coverage of the assessed integration areas. The fundamental issues behind the ARII ought to be whether integration exists for Africa and whether it is effective in terms of achieving poverty reduction and socio-economic transformation for the continent,” said Kibowa. The report, released in May of last year, found that overall scores for countries in Southern and Eastern Africa show huge room...

Tourism is among the industries that have been hit hardest by the COVID-19 crisis. Over a year since the onset of the pandemic, the numbers are staggering: Tourism destinations recorded one billion fewer international arrivals in 2020 than in 2019. A deep decline in international travel led to a loss of about USD 1.3 trillion in export revenues, more than 11 times the loss during the last economic crisis in 2009. 100 to 120 million tourism jobs were put at risk, a large portion in small and medium-sized enterprises. This is a grave concern for developing economies as they chart a course towards recovery. Driven by both public and private sectors, not only is tourism a vital source of foreign currency, it has the potential to serve as a development 'tool' to strengthen supply chains, improve local firm productivity, creates one out of ten jobs and provide income for women and young people. As a former minister for tourism myself, I have seen up close, the value tourism creates for local communities and how sustainable tourism creates economic value while preserving culture and natural assets. At a recent panel on tourism resilience and building forward better, during the WTO's Aid for Trade Stocktaking event last month, we discussed the future of tourism given the current challenges. Industry leaders from Costa Rica, Jordan, Kenya and Sri Lanka shared experiences from their own countries in responding and learning from crises, and insights on how they see the way forward for tourism. Three...

Global Britain should look towards supporting the development of Africa’s digital landscape, argue Pauline Girma and Oona Palmer (LSE). In this post, they explain that given that seven of the ten fastest-growing internet populations are located in Africa, and that it is home to what is the youngest population in the world, the future growth of the global e-commerce market depends upon unlocking the continent’s potential. The British Prime Minister has invited President Ramaphosa of South Africa to join the G7 summit in Cornwall, England in early June. The summit will discuss among other things trade and the digital economy. A number of African states are taking part in the WTO negotiations on digital trade, but South Africa has opposed the whole idea of the current WTO negotiations on the topic. Africa presents both significant opportunities and challenges for those looking to expand e-commerce. Despite changing demographics and improving business environments, which have contributed to rising household consumption, infrastructural and technical constraints continue to undermine efforts to scale e-commerce, and hinder Africa’s integration in the global digital economy. Fewer than a quarter of Africa’s roads are paved according to the World Bank, and even the relatively large markets of Nigeria and Kenya struggle with access to electricity. Moreover, the lack of widespread internet connectivity remains a fundamental barrier to the uptake of e-commerce in Africa, with less than one-third of Africans able to access the Internet. Yet the potential for the widespread adoption of e-commerce to facilitate technological ‘leapfrogging’ has led to...

Nairobi hosts EU-Africa Green Talk dialogue on sustainable development impact of local projects Dialogue between European Investment Bank, Portuguese Embassy in Kenya, financial community and development stakeholders confirms importance of green investment. The Secretary General of East African Community today joined more than 150 African business leaders, financial experts and diplomats in the Nairobi EU-Africa Green Talk to share investment best practice and outline how to mobilise private sector support for sustainable development across Africa. “Recent innovative investment across East Africa has transformed access for millions of people to clean water, renewable energy and finance essential for a better and more sustainable future. Today’s Nairobi Green Talks allow innovative solutions and technical best-practice to be shared with the rest of Africa and the world. The East African Community commends the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union and the European Investment Bank for their engagement with East African partners to further strengthen sustainable investment in the years ahead.” said Dr Peter Mathuki, incoming Secretary General of the East African Community. Participants highlighted how recent and future private sector led clean energy, sustainable transport and business investment across East Africa can unlock economic opportunities, strengthen resilience to COVID-19, increase protection from a changing climate and ensure more sustainable use of resources in the future. “Partnership between Africa and Europe is key to increasing investment essential to combat climate change and create new opportunities. The Portuguese EU Presidency and European Investment Bank are pleased to join forces with East African business, political and...