Top stories
Top stories

African equities entered 2025 with caution. Inflation was still biting in several economies, currencies were volatile, and foreign investors remained selective about frontier exposure.

Ethiopiaโs manufacturing sector is losing employment share despite strong economic growth, highlighting structural bottlenecks that could complicate the countryโs industrialisation strategy, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The disruption of shipping and energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, which handles roughly 20% of global seaborne oil trade, has pushed crude prices 40โ50% higher in recent weeks, raising concerns about renewed inflationary pressure across global markets.

Nigeria is developing the Lagos International Financial Centre to attract global banks, deepen capital markets and position Lagos as a regional hub for international investment flows. Here’s all you need to know.

The last time female billionaires appeared on the list was in 2020, when Angolan tycoon Isabel dos Santos and Nigerian oil magnate Folorunsho Alakija were included.

Inflation continued to cool across several of Africaโs largest and most closely watched economies in February, extending a downward trend that gathered pace through much of 2025 and the opening weeks of this year.

The price increases come against a backdrop of heightened volatility in international energy markets, where crude oil prices have surged more than 25% since January due to disruptions in Middle Eastern supply chains.

Yields on South Africaโs benchmark 10-year government bond surged by 36 basis points on Monday, extending a rapid climb that has taken place over the past 10 days

Nigeriaโs recent disinflation trend is facing a fresh threat as escalating tensions in the Middle East send global oil prices sharply higher, raising concerns that rising fuel and logistics costs could reignite inflationary pressures across Africaโs most populous nation.

The announcement comes as Zimbabwe, once barred from borrowing from the World Bank, African Development Bank and Paris Club creditors after defaulting in the late 1990s, inches toward rejoining the global financial mainstream.

African equities are outperforming global frontier markets in 2026, with Nigeria and Tanzania leading gains as commodity producers, financial firms and small-cap stocks power returns.

Nigeriaโs central bank auctions โฆ1.05 trillion in Treasury bills as markets gauge investor demand and yield direction following the first policy rate cut of the year. We know the results this Thursday.

Nigeria rebounded strongly after a January dip ended its 13-month expansion streak, supported by higher new orders, improved affordability, and currency stability. Yet Uganda remained the continentโs top performer.

Taiwo will replace Doris Uzoka-Anite, who has been redeployed as Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, her third portfolio in the administration

Escalating USโIsrael strikes on Iran are disrupting Gulf shipping routes and pushing oil prices higher, forcing costly maritime reroutes and exposing Africaโs dependence on imported fuel and goods.

Currency swings are quietly eroding insurersโ profits across Africa, as FX losses and rising claims costs turn strong premium growth into weaker bottom lines.

The decision, announced on Wednesday by Polite Kambamura, Zimbabweโs Mines and Mining Development Minister, marks a sharp acceleration of Harareโs long-standing push to force more mineral processing to take place at home.

South Africaโs 2026 budget scraps a proposed VAT hike, targets sustained primary surpluses and debt stabilisation, while expanding savings incentives and infrastructure spending.

In a striking turnaround that few would have predicted just a few years ago, foreign investors are pouring back into Nigeriaโs equities market with unprecedented force. International deal volumes on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) surged to a staggering $1.97 billion.

In the financial world, a credit rating is supposed to be an objective score. In reality, these ratings are often clouded by what many spectators perceive as bias.