Top stories
Top stories

On the news and on paper, the countryโs economy is recovering and stabilising, but it appears that peopleโs bellies and tradersโ inventories are yet to see this in reality.

Nigeriaโs 2026 fiscal strategy hinges on tighter cash control, selective divestments and PPPs. Global precedents offer hope, but execution risks could test credibility and growth.

Januaryโs disbursements, which includes a record $500 million auction, represents 82% of the $780 million sold throughout 2025, highlighting a significant acceleration in the scale of market operations.

Official data show Zimbabweโs annual inflation slowed sharply to 4.1% in January, from 15% in December and 10.1% a year earlier, as the countryโs gold-backed currency strengthened on the back of record bullion prices.

The European Union has lifted its high-risk designation for six African countries, after years in which the listing reshaped how capital moved in and out of their economies.ย

Over the past decade, Chinaโs lending to Africa has plummeted, with annual commitments falling below $5 billion since 2020, after consistently exceeding $10 billion between 2012 and 2018, as the worldโs No. 2 economy increasingly prioritises strategic engagements.

Central bank data shows Ugandaโs gold exports reached $5.8 billion in 2025, representing a 75.8% increase from $3.3 billion in 2024 as record global prices attracted new traders

South Africaโs Nedbank Group has submitted a strategic investment proposal and notice of intention to acquire a controlling stake in NCBA Group PLC, signalling a significant push into East Africaโs banking market.

Fresh data from the World Federation Exchange (WFE) indicates that the GSEโs equity market value surged by 117%% year-on-year to $16.4 billion, extending a three-month run.

For businesses and households, the shift means higher tax burdens as policymakers return to a more aggressive revenue mobilisation push.

From South Africa to Ghana, Africa’s top ten economies introduced debt securities to finance the economy, balance fiscal deficit, and settle maturing debts amid leading macro economy indicators.

For a long time, Africaโs investment landscape has been framed as a market-size problem. Over time, it appeared that the solution was simply to scale up: bigger populations, faster urbanisation, rising consumption. Yet capital inflows remained uneven.

The topline figure represents the cumulative difference between the previous capital regime implemented in 2015 and the newly approved requirements across all affected categories.

The trade concession, announced on Thursday by the Ministry of Trade, comes as East Africaโs largest economy remains heavily dependent on imports from China.

To avoid an artificial spike in December’s headline inflation, the NBS replaced the single-month reference point, set as December 2024 during last yearโs rebasing, to a 12-month index reference period averaging all months of 2024.

When Musa, a food commodities trader in southwest Nigeria, secured a buyer in Accra, the distance looked manageable. The route hugged the Atlantic coastline, demand was strong, and the margins worked on paper. Then came the borders.

Nigeriaโs new tax reform redraws how companies structure themselves, by widening the tax net while scaling back the myriad of overlapping levies previously imposed on large businesses.

Zambiaโs external debt rose to $16bn in Q3 2025, driven by growing reliance on multilateral loans as market access stayed limited after its 2020 default.

For most investors and exporters, trade agreements matter only when they start changing costs, timelines, and risk. Until then, they remain political documents. Nigeriaโs engagement with the African Continental Free Trade Area largely fell into the second category for years.

Egypt and Afreximbank are studying a pan-African Gold Bank to anchor gold refining, vaulting and trading on the continent and reduce reliance on offshore hubs.