<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dasmKTa_H-0" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>Many analysts expressed some disappointment over Nigeria&#8217;s growth figures in the first quarter of the year. Economic growth slowed from 2.11 percent in the 4th quarter of last year to 1.95 per cent in the quarter that ended in March. Could this slow down trigger a change in the country&#8217;s Monetary Policy stance? CNBC Africa put this question to Tilewa Adebajo, CEO of CFG Advisory.</p>


How will Nigeria’s MPC react to Q1 GDP figures?

<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GvzZbuB6ymw" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>Emir of Kano and Former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Muhammadu Sanusi says improved transparency and how governments prioritise national revenues can go a long way to free up funds to drive industrialisation on the continent. CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor caught up with him on the side-lines of the annual meetings of the African Development Bank in Busan, South Korea to discuss ways Africa can create the right ecosystem to drive industrialisation.</p>


How Africa can create the right ecosystem to drive industrialisation

<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MQETjPuFbHQ" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>Verimark has released it&#8217;s earning for the year end-February and they reported an increase in revenue for the year at R508 million, up by 15.7 per cent. While headline earnings per share grew to 31.9 cents. The company&#8217;s prospects express excitement for the future and plans for expansion. Verimark&#8217;s CEO, Michael van Straaten joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Verimark admits leaving foreign markets was a mistake, they are going back

<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pbeDTBWbSkA" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>Renewable energy development has been a key part of the African Development Bank’s engagement with Morocco. CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor caught up with the AFDB’s Country Manager for Morocco, Leila Farah Mokaddem to discuss this and more.</p>


Understanding Morocco’s partnership with the AfDB

<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MwKLYKZ1S0o" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>General Data Protection Regulation, simply known as GDPR is a new data regulation aimed at tightening data control around personal data for EU citizens. The regulation could affect some of the biggest tech firms in the world. Joining CNBC Africa is Riaan Bekker, Riskonnect Solution Manager, Thryve.</p>


What you need to know about GDPR and how it affects you

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 730px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5788004939001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>Shining like the sun, that’s one of Africa’s newest renewable energy projects. 2 hours’ drive from the small town of Upington in the Northern Cape lies a solar plant, one of many green energy projects that will one day feed the national grid.</p>


This small SA town is big on renewables, here’s why

<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vD7K0YMcaCA" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>The Gauteng Provincial Government has been on a quest of attracting and facilitating foreign direct investment and domestic direct investment on its path to growing the Gauteng economy. Joining CNBC Africa to track the progress made in the previous and current fiscal period is Muzi Matema, from the GGDA.</p>


How Gauteng plans to attract foreign direct investment

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 730px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5787992082001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>The Rwanda Innovation Fund will target SMEs and ‘business innovations’. For more CNBC Africa spoke to Country Manager, Rwanda Country Office,   Martha Phiri.</p>


Rwanda Innovation Fund aims to boost SMEs

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 730px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5787980683001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>According to Ghana’s Minister for Aviation, Cecilia Dapaah, the continent&#8217;s air transport industry supports about seven million jobs and US$80 billion in GDP, but still faces numerous challenges.</p>


Rwanda, Ghana sign air service agreement

<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/17saFTRraTM" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>This year&#8217;s theme of the annual meetings of the African Development Bank focuses on accelerating Africa&#8217;s industrialisation. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Kenneth Igbomor caught up with Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank to discuss this and more.</p>


AfDB affirms the need to accelerate Africa’s industrialisation

<p><em>By Hendrik du Toit is co-CEO of Investec Group</em></p>
<p>I remember a time, over 20 years ago now, when virtually no professionally-managed capital moved across borders in Africa.  When aid and corruption drove the investment narrative. When Africa was called the “<a href="https://www.economist.com/node/333437">hopeless continent</a>”. When sustainability wasn’t even part of an investor’s vocabulary. We’ve come a long way.</p>
<p>The millennium heralded rapid growth across the African continent. At around 3%, default rates on African infrastructure are some of the lowest in the world.  Africa has the fastest growing population and is seeing a wave of innovation and entrepreneurship sweeping across the continent. The latter is strongly enabled by mobile phone technology which has directly facilitated a financing revolution. Off-grid solar panel installations have proliferated, purchased via monthly payments made on cell phones, through companies like <a href="http://plugintheworld.com/">Mobisol</a> and <a href="http://www.m-kopa.com/">M-Kopa</a>.</p>
<p>Of course, global and domestic events, including the 2014 oil-price shock hit major economies especially hard; we’ve seen recent declines in performance in Angola, Nigeria, and my home country of South Africa.  But overall, African economies have been resilient and the continent’s long-term growth story – particularly green growth – remains compelling.</p>
<p>Billions of dollars have been invested in renewable energy across the continent. Late last year, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/01870140-3364-11e8-ac48-10c6fdc22f03">Nigeria issued a N10.69 billion (US$29 million) green bond</a> to fund local solar and forestry projects.  This is Africa’s first sovereign green bond – one of only a handful in the world (alongside China, France, Poland, Fiji and Indonesia). Kenya will soon follow.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/28932/9781464811630.pdf">World Bank</a> also estimates that aggregate growth in Sub-Saharan Africa for 2018 will be around 3.2%, up from 2.4% last year. The continent is expected to host six of the 10-fastest growing economies of the world in 2018, while traditional assets under management (including pension and mutual funds) are forecast to grow to around US$1.1 trillion by 2020, up from US$634billion in 2014.</p>
<p>In short, Africa is very much “open for business”, particularly<strong> </strong>for investors who are chasing yield and diversification. China’s got the message, committing to US$60 billion in new investment in major capital projects across Africa.  Indeed, China has been an integral part of Africa’s rejuvenation by becoming Africa’s largest export destination, its largest source of imports and more recently its largest source capital, both equity and debt.</p>
<p>These are positive signals, but a lot more capital is still needed, particularly from large institutional investors.  Estimates put the <a href="http://www.ey.com/gl/en/industries/government---public-sector/dynamics---collaborating-for-growth_addressing-africas-infrastructure-deficit">African infrastructure deficit at around US$90 billion</a> every year for the next decade.  Across the continent, 620 million people still don’t have electricity; 319 million people are living without access to reliable drinking water; and only 34% have road access.</p>
<p>There are a few things which can help. Firstly, “blending” public and private capital can improve an asset’s risk-return profile, so vehicles which use development money to mitigate investor risks can attract much needed commercial investment.  Some of these vehicles – like <a href="https://www.tcxfund.com/">The Currency Exchange</a>, which offers FX hedging in emerging markets – have successfully mobilised billions of dollars of private money for African projects.</p>
<p>Another example is the <a href="http://www.eaif.com/">Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund</a> (EAIF) with projects ranging from water supply in Rwanda to solar power in Uganda.  The EAIF is part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (with equity from governments including the UK, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands) and recently announced that it had <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/8363cb78-3bf0-11e8-b9f9-de94fa33a81e">attracted its first commercial lender in global insurer Allianz</a>, as part of a $385 million fund-raising round.  This investment signals a shift in appetite for African risk from institutional investors. These vehicles need to be scaled and replicated.</p>
<p>Secondly, to attract investment for high-impact assets like climate-resilient, sustainable infrastructure, development banks need to be more effective at crowding <em>in</em> private capital using instruments like political risk insurance and guarantees, not crowding them <em>out</em>. At best, the <a href="https://www.blendedfinance.earth/better-finance-better-world/">multilateral development banks (MDBs) mobilise less than $1 of private capital for every public dollar across their portfolios</a>.  They should target much higher mobilisation ratios and sharply increase their share of private sector activities (which currently only account for around 30% of MDB activities).</p>
<p>Thirdly, frontier countries must compete for investor dollars by making it easier for the private sector to do business.  This requires strong, political leadership, depth in local capital markets, the right legal framework and transparent policies.  In particular, local policies should support regional simplicity to facilitate cross-border operations that can generate scale.  For example, a very important, but much-overlooked regulatory amendment recently saw the amount that <a href="http://www.internationalinvestment.net/regions/africa/changes-s-africas-regulation-28-welcomed-asset-managers/">South African retirement funds could invest into the rest of Africa increase from 5% to 10%</a>. It’s only when public markets are deep enough for strong exits that we’ll see bigger and bigger deals happening.</p>
<p>Most importantly, if we really want to see sustainable growth and the associated economic and financial returns, the investment community needs to lead.  We need to take a leaf out of China’s book, embracing African infrastructure as an investment opportunity, taking advantage of risk mitigation tools and addressing the huge gap in risk perception between emerging and developed markets. We can also use our investing power to drive value for shareholders while prioritising “green”, sustainable development (e.g. through initiatives like <a href="http://www.climateaction100.org/">Climate Action 100+</a>).</p>
<p>This is all part of how we move away from an “aid-based” narrative to one of business and investment.  It is also how we can provide the platform for economic inclusion of the world’s most youthful and fastest growing labour force.  I dream of a future shaped by bold and wise investment decisions.</p>


Op-Ed: Why the world should follow China and invest in Africa’s future

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 730px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5787670027001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>New research from Citrix reveals that some 92 per cent of businesses across South Africa’s key industry sectors agree that digital adoption has a direct impact on company profits.</p>


The role of technology in shaping SA businesses

<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IhWFuULAQE4" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>The ANC government held a land summit at the weekend to discuss how best to deal with the thorny issue of land reform. On the agenda was the party&#8217;s resolution to expropriate land without compensation. But the party says this should be done without harming the economy or compromising food security. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Fifi Peters filed this report.</p>


ANC convenes summit to discuss land reform

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 730px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5787657178001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>South African auditing firm Nkonki was dropped by the Auditor-General following reports that the firm’s former CEO procured a management buyout which was funded by an associate of the Gupta family.</p>


Auditing firm Nkonki applies for business rescue

<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VfXGJPBVbiU" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>Pioneer Foods reported an increase in headline earnings per share 30 per cent to 317.1 cents per share, as well as operating profit margin which sits at R949 million. The company&#8217;s CEO, Tertius Carstens joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Pioneer Foods reports solid earnings despite decline in turnover

<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uiYYEDWLR_Y" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>CNBC Africa&#8217;s Chris Bishop sat down with Sdumo Dlamini, President of Cosatu about the mining industry as well as issues around the minimum wage in South Africa.</p>


Mining magnate Patrice Motsepe brings Barcelona to SA, Cosatu’s take on the minimum wage

<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5BwEe4X2Akw" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>The results of Thursday&#8217;s referendum in Burundi which could allow President Pierre Nkrunziza to stay in office for 17 more years are set to be announced this evening. To help CNBC Africa understand the mood on ground is Moses Havyariaman, a journalist in Bujumbura.</p>


CNBC Africa

How will Nigeria’s MPC react to Q1 GDP figures?

How Africa can create the right ecosystem to drive industrialisation

Verimark admits leaving foreign markets was a mistake, they are going back

Understanding Morocco’s partnership with the AfDB

What you need to know about GDPR and how it affects you

This small SA town is big on renewables, here’s why

How Gauteng plans to attract foreign direct investment

Rwanda Innovation Fund aims to boost SMEs

Rwanda, Ghana sign air service agreement

AfDB affirms the need to accelerate Africa’s industrialisation

Op-Ed: Why the world should follow China and invest in Africa’s future

The role of technology in shaping SA businesses

ANC convenes summit to discuss land reform

Auditing firm Nkonki applies for business rescue

Pioneer Foods reports solid earnings despite decline in turnover

Mining magnate Patrice Motsepe brings Barcelona to SA, Cosatu’s take on the minimum wage

Burundi referendum: Update

News Tips

Advertise With Us

CNBC Africa

How will Nigeria’s MPC react to Q1 GDP figures?

How Africa can create the right ecosystem to drive industrialisation

Verimark admits leaving foreign markets was a mistake, they are going back

Understanding Morocco’s partnership with the AfDB

What you need to know about GDPR and how it affects you

This small SA town is big on renewables, here’s why

How Gauteng plans to attract foreign direct investment

Rwanda Innovation Fund aims to boost SMEs

Rwanda, Ghana sign air service agreement

AfDB affirms the need to accelerate Africa’s industrialisation

Op-Ed: Why the world should follow China and invest in Africa’s future

The role of technology in shaping SA businesses

ANC convenes summit to discuss land reform

Auditing firm Nkonki applies for business rescue

Pioneer Foods reports solid earnings despite decline in turnover

Mining magnate Patrice Motsepe brings Barcelona to SA, Cosatu’s take on the minimum wage

Burundi referendum: Update

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Newsletters