African countries should look within to the private sector to fund their own infrastructure rather than borrowing from international markets to plug financing gaps, said Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank.
Nigeria’s former minister of agriculture, Adesina spoke at the Fourth African CEO Summit underway in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, SABC reported.
Motivational speaking is a strong point for Adesina, who was named 2013 Forbes African of the Year. In his acceptance speech, he urged young Africans to see agriculture as a business rather than a development tool and predicted that Africa’s future billionaires will get rich from agriculture, according to AfricanFarming.net.
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, says he’s rolling out an investment plan with hopes of expanding Nigeria’s sugar sector to make the country self-sufficient. “These are hard times, but hard times bring opportunities,” Dangote said at the African CEO Summit, according to TheAfricaReport.
Financial experts worry that African countries could slip back into debt crisis as local currencies depreciate, demand for Africa’s natural resources sink and global interest rates rise, SABC reported.
“What we have to see now from Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa is austerity, cutbacks in government spending and budget cutbacks,” said Martyn Davies from Deloitte.
Source
Why Freight And Logistics Companies Make Such a Killing In Africa
Most sub-Saharan Africa countries including Nigeria do not own their own shipping fleets, putting them at the mercy of foreign shipping companies.
Nigeria is working towards creating an enabling environment for public-private partnerships in transport through new policies, legislation and institutional frameworks that support improved trade, according to a report in the NationalMirror.
The CEO of the Nigerian Shipping Council appealed to the governments and people of sub-Sahara to invest in ship building and vessel ownership to promote international trade.
This will help improve connectivity and lower the cost of African transport, said Hassan Bello, CEO of the Nigerian Shippers Council.
“A new premium is being placed on being able to move goods from A to B rapidly, reliably, and cheaply,” Bello said. “Being able to connect to what has been referred to as the ‘physical Internet’ is fast becoming a key determinant of a country’s competitiveness.”
Here’s an idea of how much poor transportation connectivity coats sub-Saharan African countries compared to developed economies.
Source
‘Africa Can Finance Its Own Development’ Says AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina
African countries should look within to the private sector to fund their own infrastructure rather than borrowing from international markets to plug financing gaps, said Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank.
Nigeria’s former minister of agriculture, Adesina spoke at the Fourth African CEO Summit underway in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, SABC reported.
Motivational speaking is a strong point for Adesina, who was named 2013 Forbes African of the Year. In his acceptance speech, he urged young Africans to see agriculture as a business rather than a development tool and predicted that Africa’s future billionaires will get rich from agriculture, according to AfricanFarming.net.
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, says he’s rolling out an investment plan with hopes of expanding Nigeria’s sugar sector to make the country self-sufficient. “These are hard times, but hard times bring opportunities,” Dangote said at the African CEO Summit, according to TheAfricaReport.
Financial experts worry that African countries could slip back into debt crisis as local currencies depreciate, demand for Africa’s natural resources sink and global interest rates rise, SABC reported.
“What we have to see now from Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa is austerity, cutbacks in government spending and budget cutbacks,” said Martyn Davies from Deloitte.
Source
Boko Haram Terrors in West Africa
Twenty-two worshippers were killed when two female suicide bombers attacked a mosque in North-Eastern Nigeria’s Maiduguri on the 17th of March. It is reported that eighteen others were injured in the attacks which coincidentally happened in the birth-place of Boko Haram.
“We were just a few metres away from the mosque when a loud bang erupted and all we could see was dark smoke and bodies littered around,” said a witness told the Associated Press. This attack comes at a time when it is apparent that Boko Haram has now adopted a new approach to its terror attacks after losing considerable territory to the Nigerian army. Interestingly, the Nigerian President claimed Boko Haram had been defeated last December and this proclamation brought with it considerable scepticism and for good reason too now that Boko Haram is manifesting itself through suicide bombings by women and children. The Boko Haram death toll is now way over 20 000 and this is a ridiculously high number.
Boko Haram is the most aggressive response to Western civilization yet in Africa. It is now an extension of the Islamic State as it declared allegiance last year. ISIS is bad news on its own and pursues the same objectives of resisting the West by killing off people. The logic is hard to follow but clearly in the case of Boko Haram, Western civilization and education is “haram” (forbidden) and abductions of school children together with killings are meant to remind people of just how “haram” their way of life is.
Source
Scrap birth certificate requirement or risk downgrade, warn business leaders
South Africa needs to scrap the unabridged birth certificate requirement to save the economy and increase revenue from the tourism sector, business leaders have warned.
Colin Coleman, MD and partner of Goldman Sachs International; Christo Wiese, Chairman of Shoprite and the controlling shareholder of Brait and Steinhoff; and Cas Coovadia, MD of the Banking Association South Africa presented this recommendation, along with others, after attending an investment roadshow in London, Boston and New York, led by Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan.
Source