Africa for years has struggled to attract the notice of — and money from — American pension funds. But in the past two years, U.S. pension fund trustees and other billion-dollar asset owners appear more open to investing in some of Africa’s 50-plus countries, particularly in infrastructure. Institutional investors are encouraged by a U.S. government-led...Read More

There is need and available funding, together with a large pipeline of potential projects—but not enough money is being spent. Most of Africa lags the rest of the world in coverage of key infrastructure classes, including energy, road and rail transportation, and water infrastructure. Taking electricity as an example, entire communities across large swathes of...Read More

The head of Milwaukee’s Omanhene Cocoa Bean Company says African markets present a huge export opportunity for Wisconsin businesses.  Steve Wallace, the company’s president and founder, yesterday discussed demographic and social trends that make Africa such an attractive export destination during a virtual panel hosted by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce World Trade Association. ...Read More

It’s one year into Google’s five-year, $1 billion plan to boost digital services across Africa, and on the heels of its latest investment — announcing South Africa as its first cloud region on the continent — the internet services giant also gave an update to lay out how it’s making good on its commitment. It has built infrastructure —...Read More

Africa’s creative industries have grown rapidly in recent years, as its music, films and fashion increasingly attract a global audience. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development defines creative industries as comprising a wide range of areas: arts and crafts; audiovisual media (film and TV); design (architecture and fashion); new media (video games); performing arts (musical instruments);...Read More

Africa has long suffered from a risk perception gap – one of the main factors contributing to the continent’s estimated $200 billion trade and investment financing gap. More recently, the world has been hit with the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the resultant global food and energy instability, coupled with soaring interest rates and debt...Read More

Mobilizing national savings is crucial to meeting Africa’s development needs and the continent’s sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are one important source of financing that can support Africa’s sustainable development.  These funds represent a growing pool of assets that can be used to support domestic investments that are aligned with the type of long-term investment needed...Read More