Semafor Africa

DR Congo plans stock exchange launch DR Congo plans to launch its first stock exchange, its finance minister told Bloomberg. Kinshasa hopes the bourse, which will list securities in both the local currency and the US dollar, will tap into global interest in its mineral endowments

Billionaire maps next chapter for southern Africa sugar giant A worker inspects harvested sugarcane in South Africa. Sign up for Semafor Africa: A rapidly growing continent’s crucial stories. Read it now. Title icon [...] After a messy process to rescue the firm, Gumede’s Vision

That is why the collapse of USAID should be viewed not only as a humanitarian crisis but also as a political reckoning. It is an opportunity to question a structure of exchange in which the geographies where indispensable value is extracted receive so little of that value. As Sem

Scientists, health officials, and industry leaders argue that a long road remains to building an African life sciences industry. Success will depend less on constructing facilities than on securing long term buyers, trusted regulators, technology transfer, and patient capital tha

View / The danger of South Africa’s fragile anti migrant protests Flags over a protest in Durban. Sign up for Semafor Africa: A rapidly growing continent’s crucial stories. Read it now. Tiisetso’s view [...] Unrest in 2021 — when tens of thousands ran amok, looting and torching s

Rising fuel costs boost African EV sales Overall vehicle sales in sub Saharan Africa are expected to grow at a slower rate than previously forecast, mainly due to rising fuel costs triggered by the Iran war, but EV purchases on the continent should remain robust, according to a n

Nairobi, Kigali sign fuel import agreements Nairobi and Kigali signed three agreements to expand landlocked Rwanda’s access to petroleum imports. They come as African nationsattempt to boost energy security and diversify supplies while a fuel crisis bites across the continent. Rw

World Bank lends $750 million to Kenya Akhtar Soomro/File Photo/Reuters The World ​Bank approved a $750 million loan to Kenya to support the government’s efforts to bolster the economy by increasing investment. The financing will help Kenya fund a $37 billion budget, a third of w

Senegal lawmakers move to limit presidential powers Senegalese lawmakers voted to curtail the president’s powers, deepening political turmoil in the nation as it grapples with a debt crisis. The proposed reform — which sparked scuffles in parliament and protests in the streets —

Ebola outbreak could cost Africa $3.6 billion Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/Reuters The UN warned that the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Central Africa could cost the continent as much as $3.6 billion and hundreds of thousands of jobs. A worst case scenario involved the outbreak spreading be