From a remarkable near-quadripoint in the Zambezi basin to a prospective joint airline and a regional oil refinery, Southern and East Africa are quietly assembling the...
The continent's distribution trap is hiding in plain sight - and most multinationals walk straight into it.
When powerful nations wage trade wars, the cost is always borne by those who had no voice in starting them.
While the Middle East descends into conflict and disruption, exporters still clinging to Gulf markets are ignoring a continent-sized opportunity taking shape right before them.
From Casablanca to Kigali, a continent-wide network of industrial zones is quietly becoming one of the most consequential developments in 21st-century trade.
By Danilo Desiderio Africa’s trade lifelines run through a handful of critical maritime chokepoints. That geographic reality is both a testament to the continent’s integration into...
The old assumption - that industrialization is engineered within national borders - has expired. Africa's economic future will be shaped not by the walls that divide...
By John Kourkoutas Everyone, it seems, is talking about China’s ports in Africa. Policymakers, investors, and analysts have spent years debating Beijing’s coastal ambitions – the...
By Dishant Shah Most conversations about Africa begin the same way. Someone leans across a boardroom table and asks: “Is it safe?” Another follows with: “Can...
By Ziad Hamoui Three months of uncertainty revealed what reliance on non-reciprocal arrangements truly costs the continent. The US House of Representatives approved the African Growth...
By Ziad Hamoui Ghana’s president is right to call current trade arrangements neo-colonial. But diagnosis without execution changes nothing. Ghana produces the cocoa. Switzerland pockets US$130...
By Des H Rikhotso The mathematics of African prosperity tell a stark story. While the continent’s combined gross domestic product is projected to reach US$3.32 trillion...
By Lance Chisue Only a few weeks into 2026, and the signals are already unmistakable. Tariffs, geopolitical fragmentation, and friendshoring are forcing companies to fundamentally rethink...
By John Kourkoutas When Western executives dismiss Africa as “too hot” for serious business operations, they reveal more about their own biases than they do about...
By Lance Chisue A striking pattern is emerging across Africa’s economic landscape. After decades of fragmented markets and externally oriented trade, the continent is finally turning...
By Kelly Mua Kingsly Global recession anxieties persist. European growth stagnates. Western markets have reached saturation. Yet amid this economic malaise, Africa is demonstrating what resilient...
By Michele Moscaritoli For decades, Africa occupied a singular role in the global imagination: the perpetual recipient. Aid packages, charitable donations, development programs – always framed...
By Michele Moscaritoli Intra-African commerce has quietly transformed from aspiration to reality – and the implications are profound. For decades, the refrain echoed through development conferences...
By Danilo Desiderio The global trading system is fracturing, and Africa faces a pivotal choice: become a strategic player or remain a passive bystander in a...
By Farhia Noor An African proverb warns: “When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.” The recent escalation of American policy toward Venezuela represents far...
By Ryan Elcock Canada’s recently released Senate report on its Africa Strategy reads like a medical diagnosis that stops just short of prescribing treatment. After a...
By Kelly Mua Kingsly Africa proclaims the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as the world’s largest free-trade zone, spanning 1.4 billion people across 54 countries...
By Des H Rikhotso The narrative surrounding Africa has shifted dramatically in recent years, and for good reason. While other regions grapple with aging populations and...
By Victory Azimih For much of the past half-century, analysts speculated about when Africa would “rise.” That question is now obsolete. The real issue is how...
By Dishant Shah Africa’s greatest obstacle was never its colonial-era borders. It was the enduring belief in their permanence – the idea that African economies must...
By Farouk Mark Mukiibi Africa accounts for less than 3 percent of global trade – a figure so persistently low it defies mere coincidence. Conventional wisdom...
By Mark-Anthony Johnson Africa stands at a historic inflection point. By 2026, the continent’s economy is projected to reach US$3.32 trillion – a figure that commands...
By Dr. Princess C. Mutisya Every time a Kenyan exporter ships goods to Uganda and pays US$20 in foreign-exchange fees to settle the transaction, it’s not...
By Danilo Desiderio As global trade grows increasingly fragmented, Africa stands at a crossroads. According to UNCTAD, average tariffs imposed by major economies – including the...
By Danilo Desiderio The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has become the most celebrated economic initiative on the continent. Leaders, policymakers, economists, and business associations...
By Kelly Mua Kingsly Africa’s trade volume is surging – its exports to global markets reached record highs in 2024. Yet beneath the headline numbers lies...
By Farhia Noor I am African. And I ask a simple, urgent question: How long will we remain strangers in our own homeland? When colonial powers...
By John Kourkoutas Africa is no longer a frontier market – it’s a battleground for global economic influence. And while European and American businesses continue to...
By Davida Ademuyiwa When the future of Africa is discussed in global boardrooms, policy forums, or development summits, the narrative often turns to external partnerships: Europe’s...
By Davida Ademuyiwa Africa is no longer on the periphery of global geopolitics. Over the past two decades, it has emerged as a pivotal arena for...
By John Kourkoutas While much of the world grapples with aging populations and shrinking workforces, Africa is experiencing a demographic revolution – one that is redefining...
By Dishant Shah While the world remains fixated on the intensifying rivalry between the United States and China, a quieter but equally transformative shift is unfolding...
By Emmanuel Musaazi From the fifteenth century onwards, Africa’s path has been shaped by external powers who saw the continent less as a partner and more...
By Dishant Shah It is a simple question – but one that cuts to the heart of Africa’s economic future. Right now, most African countries trade...
By Danilo Desiderio In an increasingly competitive global economy, African nations face mounting pressure to protect their domestic industries from unfair trade practices such as dumping,...
By John Kourkoutas This map isn’t just a collection of ports and shipping lanes – it’s a strategic blueprint of global influence unfolding before our eyes....
By Mark-Anthony Johnson Today, March 21, 2025, marks a pivotal moment in Africa’s trade history as we commemorate the 7th anniversary of the African Continental Free...
By Godfred Zina The growing diplomatic ties between Eritrea and Saudi Arabia are poised to reshape the power dynamics in the Red Sea and the Horn...
Apparel and footwear, but especially footwear, are among the U.S. industries that have benefited most from the African Growth and Opportunity Act. Now that AGOA is about to...
