Tag: Africa

Abigail Makhubele Absa Business Banking and Dr Ivor Blumenthal ArkKonsult discuss how the establishment of informal businesses has been driven by necessity for economic survival.

The informal business sector is the next great frontier of Africa and it is undergoing an economic revolution – a new world of small people doing big things, transforming the continent. Prepare for this new generation, prepare for the Afripolitan Generation.

The world is fast approaching an incredible milestone in human development: for the first time in history more than half the world’s population will be middle class.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are critical for the growth of emerging economies and increasing employment, but access to finance is one of the biggest obstacles for SMEs to grow.

Driving financial inclusion amongst entrepreneurs and small business owners in Africa will ensure that they are equipped with the knowledge to transform their businesses into productive and sustainable contributors to the continent’s economy.

On Tuesday, China pledged to invest $14.7bn in South Africa and grant loans to Eskom and SAA. While this investment brings the country closer to President Ramaphosa’s target to raise US$ 100 billion in foreign direct investment, some argue that China’s intentions are not what they seem.

Africa has a higher percentage of companies affected by fraud, theft, money laundering or other financial crimes than the global average, according to one of the most comprehensive surveys of international business to date. Thomson Reuters commissioned the survey of more than 2,300 senior business leaders in large companies to shine a light on how pervasive such crimes have become across the world.

Most of sub-Saharan Africa’s cities are ill prepared for the rapid and dramatic population increase that will occur by 2035. For decades to come, sub-Saharan Africa’s economic and social future will be shaped by one of the most important megatrends on the continent: urbanisation.

Should women empower women or is it a man's job, you may ask. Can the disempowered empower themselves? In a world that belongs to men, as James Brown once sang, women are still critical players in the creation of balance & growth. It is proven that companies with women at the helm perform better. However, when so many doors remain closed to women (African women particularly), who needs to take responsibility for changing the status quo?

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Mastercard Foundation have published an ethnographic study on the perceptions and attitudes to digital financial services in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study will increase financial inclusion by helping financial services providers better understand the user of African digital financial services (DFS). The report A Sense of Inclusion: An Ethnographic Study of the Perceptions and Attitudes to Digital Financial Services in Sub-Saharan Africa, is based on...