Regional trade facilitation organisation TradeMark East Africa has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre for Agricultural and Bioscience International (CABI) to cement collaboration and working together for the organisations to promote and enhance market access for regional produce.

The two organisations have collaborated since 2017 to implement various Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Measures (SPS) projects across East Africa in, among other areas, conducting studies on SPS Gaps in the region and tools to...

DHL Global Forwarding, the international air, ocean, and road freight services provider, has inaugurated a new transhipment hub and head office in Johannesburg, South Africa. The sustainable, primarily solar-powered complex was recently officially launched.

Located in the Sky Park Industrial Estate it provides easy access to “OR Tambo International Airport”. The facility’s temperature-controlled chambers and Good Distribution Practices (GDP)-trained personnel enable the new hub to...

A gas pipeline megaproject Memorandum of Understanding (Mou) has been signed between ECOWAS, Nigeria and the Kingdom of Morocco. The MoU attests to the commitment of ECOWAS and all the countries crossed by the gas pipeline, to contribute to the feasibility and technical studies, the mobilisation of resources and execution of this key project.

This project, once completed, will supply gas to all the countries of West Africa and will open a new channel of export to Europe. It is a strategic project that will contribute towards improving the living standards of the population, integrating...

Nedbank has announced a partnership with South African Partners in Agri Land Solutions (SA PALS), to facilitate transformation in the agricultural sector through a funding programme in enterprise development to provide training, mentorships, specialist advisory support and capacity building for farmers throughout the industry.

SA PALS is a non-profit organisation developed by farmers in cooperation with local communities and represents a fundamental departure from post-land reform models by building sustainable agriculture practices and approaches...

MTN Group has announced the appointment of Fatima Laher as Group Executive: Group Legal, effective 1 October 2022. Fatima re-joins MTN from Samsung Electronics, where she held the role of Head of Africa Disputes, for the past six years.

Lele Modise, Group Chief Legal and Regulatory officer said, “Fatima is adept at providing expert strategic and innovative advice to senior leadership in the prestigious institutions she has worked for locally and internationally.” “As Executive...

Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica), announced it has entered into a definitive purchase and sale agreement with its partner, Namcor Exploration and Production  (NAMCOR), to acquire half of NAMCOR’s 10% carried participating interest in the approximate 6.3 million acres petroleum exploration licence (PEL 73) in the Kavango basin, NE Namibia (the Transaction).

Completion of the Transaction is expected to occur before the end of 2022 and is subject to the Company receiving all necessary regulatory approvals, including, but not limited to, approvals from a number of governmental authorities...

Nigerian fintech Flutterwave has announced Google Pay, a mobile payment service, developed by Google, as a payment method on Flutterwave.

As part of this collaboration, Google Pay will serve as an additional payment option for merchants on Flutterwave for business. This collaboration will offer safe and seamless payments, as well as convenient checkout experiences for customers. Google Pay is a safe, simple, and helpful way to make contactless payments in store, and also payments in...

Africa's e-commerce leader Jumia has today announced a partnership with the Coca-Cola Africa Operating Unit to offer consumers access to Coca-Cola products from the comfort of their homes.

The partnership will provide a steady supply of Coca-Cola’s beverage portfolio to consumers who prefer to shop online through the Jumia platform and ensure they receive their orders in the shortest time possible. “We are happy to partner with Coca-Cola to meet consumer demand for everyday...

Amazon has announced that it is expanding its renewable energy portfolio globally, with an additional 2.7 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy capacity across 71 new renewable energy projects.

This includes the company’s first renewable energy project in South America—a solar farm in Brazil—and its first solar farms in India and Poland. Once fully operational, Amazon’s global renewable energy portfolio will generate 50,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of clean energy, which is the equivalent...

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has entered into a content partnership agreement with AfricaWeb Holding; owners of GhanaWeb.com, CameroonWeb.com, MyNigeria.com and TanzaniaWeb.com, for the next three years.

The partnership agreement, described by both parties as mutually beneficial, will see the GFA and AfricaWeb share ideas and compelling content intended to serve Ghanaians home and abroad in the best possible way. The GFA will by this partnership have multiple slots on all AfricaWeb platforms in...

Unicorn Growth Capital, an Africa-focused venture fund investing at the intersection of traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi), and EchoVC, a technology-focused, early-stage venture capital firm for underrepresented founders and underserved markets, have joined the Celo Foundation to support growth of Web3 projects across Africa through newly dedicated Celo ecosystem investment funds.

The Celo Foundation, a U.S.-based non-profit organization that supports the growth and development of the carbon-negative, mobile-first, layer-1 Celo platform, continues to strengthen its presence in Africa, nurturing a robust ecosystem of cutting...

TechPR Nigeria, a Public Relations and Communications firm, has announced the appointment of Felicia Omari Ochelle as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Since its inception in 2019, TechPR has helped startups and VCs to carve and tell their stories to global and local audiences. Beyond funding announcements, its skilled team of professionals has secured and helped craft original stories and thought-leadership content to better position its clients to attract investment, partners and talents. This way, clients...

Clickatell has partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to deliver eNaira banking services to all Nigerians using the USSD channel. The two partners have launched a USSD channel for its eNaira Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as part of the country’s drive to make basic banking accessible to all Nigerians, ultimately driving financial inclusion.

The eNaira was launched in October 2021 when the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, said Africa’s first central bank-backed digital currency would help boost remittances, foster cross-border trade, and help his...

Boost Africa Technical Assistance Facility and AfricaGrow Technical Assistance Facility hosted 40 leading fund managers from select African investment funds for an in-person programme held at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. 

The aim of the programme is to engage in dialogue and extend expertise in leading Africa’s exponential growth in the tech venture capital (VC) space. The ‘Africa Venture Finance Programme’ is designed specifically for VC fund managers...

Worldwide renewable energy employment reached 12.7 million last year, a jump of 700,000 new jobs in one year despite the lingering effects of COVID-19 and the growing energy crisis, according to a new report.

Renewable Energy and Jobs: Annual Review 2022 identifies market dynamics as major factors influencing employment generation in renewables, along with labour and other costs. Solar energy was found to be the fastest-growing sector. In 2021 it provided 4.3 million jobs, more than a third of the...

Individuals and businesses join the African Business Roundtable for numerous reasons, and the organization’s objectives have been carefully designed to serve them. Today the ABR represents companies of all sizes, and its members include businesses across every sector of the economy, chambers, business associations, and private sector organizations.

The African Business Roundtable’s key activities include trade and investment missions, economic summits, research, business information and communication, policy commission, advocacy functions, general meetings, trainings and...

In continuation of the series of webinars that has been ongoing throughout the year, the African Business Roundtable and the African Import Export Bank (Afreximbank) are set to hold yet another webinar on capacity building and investor preparation.

The Project Preparation Masterclass will discuss how client/transaction/project preparation processes and techniques were applied to transform a loss-making institution into one of Africa's most attractive and profitable operations...

Unicaf is an online and blended learning higher education platform that is dedicated to making higher education of international standard accessible, by offering scholarship opportunities to professionals and young school leavers.

What are scholarship opportunities?

A scholarship could be defined as financial aid that relieves the burden of tuition fees and living costs that students and families have to pay to secure a place in secondary and tertiary education. Considering the rising costs of student expenses and debts, we could nowadays describe education...

Dr. Mohamed El Sahili is the Chief Executive Officer of Medland Hospital, Zambia. As a medical doctor and entrepreneur, Dr. Sahili also serves on the board of key economic international organizations like the African Business Roundtable, the American Chamber of Commerce, Zambia, Olympic Youth Development Center and the Africa CEO Forum. 

Please tell us about Medland Hospital and how you came to be its leader

From a young age, I always knew that I wanted to be a doctor. I envisioned making a difference in people’s lives by providing access to affordable, timely and quality health care. Today, the vision is a reality by Medland Hospital. Located in Lusaka...

Nixon Kanali is a Kenyan-based tech journalist, blogger and digital influencer. Since 2014 he has been running TechTrendsKE, a platform that highlights developments and trends in the tech space.  He is also the Tech editor at Africa Business Communities. Nick has been nominated in the 2022 Pulse Influencers Awards under the Tech Influencer of the year award category. To vote for him click here

Tell us a bit about yourself

Well, I wear many hats.  I am a tech journalist, blogger and digital influencer based in Kenya. My day-to-day activities involve writing, reporting and blogging on technology trends in Kenya and across Africa including startups, something I...

Tesh Mbaabu is a serial entrepreneur who lives to blend commerce and technology. He is the Co-founder and CEO of Kenyan-based B2B platform for retail distribution of consumer goods and digital financial services in Africa Today, MarketForce MarketForce. 

Where is MarketForce headquartered and where else do you have offices? 

MarketForce was founded in Kenya by Mesongo Sibuti and I in 2018. We are headquartered in the US and have offices in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. For our readers’ better understanding, who is MarketForce and what...

In recent years, Africa has been dealing with a multitude of overlapping food systems shocks — climate-induced drought and floods, locust attacks, the COVID-19 pandemic, and conflict.

The World Bank warns that for each one percentage point increase in food prices, 10 million people are thrown into extreme poverty. If food prices stay this high for a year, global poverty could go up by more than 100 million people. As the world scrambles to address the current crises, the continent...

In emerging markets all across the globe, marginalized groups face limited access to both financial services and financial literacy.1 As a result of the financial exclusion, many developing countries face extreme poverty rates which leads to instability and hinders sustainable economic growth.2.

Improved access to digital payments is crucial in emerging markets as it ensures formal services are more affordable, accessible and readily available, which helps alleviate poverty and income inequality.2. In Ghana, financial inclusion has...

Climate change is intensifying food insecurity across sub-Saharan Africa, where Russia’s war in Ukraine and the pandemic are also adding to food shortages and high prices.

Climate events, which destroy crops and disrupt food transport , are disproportionately common in the region. One-third of the world’s droughts occur in sub-Saharan Africa, and Ethiopia and Kenya are enduring one of the worst in at least four decades . Countries such as Chad are also being severely impacted by torrential rains and floods. The resulting rise...

By switching to software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN), many enterprises in East Africa and around the world are accelerating their digital transformation. While SD-WAN was initially developed as a flexible inter-branch connectivity solution, it currently accomplishes much more.

No matter where they are located, it improves productivity, efficiency and collaboration for businesses and their employees by combining connectivity and security to create a user experience that is unparalleled. In the age of remote...

Last year, Facebook Marketplace passed one billion global users. With this, it has become a giant in the consumer-to-consumer commerce space, allowing individual Facebook users to buy and sell seamlessly.

Online retail in South Africa has more than doubled in just two years and with 29.5 million-strong Facebook users, more than half of the country’s population has a Facebook account...

As the East African region seeks to tackle energy poverty by connecting its population that has no access to national grid to power, it is embracing clean, green and renewable energy sources with great success.

Governments, private sector players and development partners, in a bid to respond to the clarion call for just energy transition, have invested in innovative products and services that are delivering last mile connectivity to the underserved communities.  This, as the sector emerges as a new frontier...