Business + Economy – Views & Research

Chinese companies are changing the way they operate in Africa: here’s how

Elisa Gambino, University of Manchester and Costanza Franceschini, Leiden University

A group of people holding posters, some raising their fists

Dams for development? Unpacking tensions in the World Bank’s hydropower policies

Barnaby Joseph Dye, King's College London and Udisha Saklani, King's College London

A dark green whole fruit and some pale green sliced open fruit on a wooden board

Tanzania’s green gold rush: how avocado waste is hurting farmers and what should be done

Jonas Cromwell, University of Leeds

Coins scattered and piled next to a globe with map of Africa on it

Africa’s borrowing costs are too high: the G20’s missed opportunity to reform rating agencies

Misheck Mutize, University of Cape Town

Signage showing different coloured flags and a large block written 'Welcome G20 South Africa'

G20 in a changing world: is it still useful? Four scholars weigh in

Danny Bradlow, University of Pretoria; Ana Saggioro Garcia, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFFRJ); Kennedy Mbeva, University of Cambridge, and Sandy Africa, University of Pretoria

Nigeria scores well on electricity reform rankings, but power supply isn’t affordable and reliable. Here’s why

Taiwo Hassan Odugbemi, University of Abuja

Economic sanctions need a rethink: evidence shows they raise food prices and hurt the poor most

Sylvanus Kwaku Afesorgbor, University of Guelph

Two women carrying a sack of food between them while walking towards a larger group of women doing the same thing in a dry, arid area

Inequality in Africa: what drives it, how to end it and what some countries are getting right

Imraan Valodia, University of the Witwatersrand

A large steel turbine in the foreground is lit up while groups of people stand off to the side in the background

Ethiopia’s mega dam has taken 14 years to build: what it means for the Nile’s 11 river states and why it’s so controversial

John Mukum Mbaku, Weber State University

Gender equality is the goal, but how to get there? Case study of South Africa and Australia shows that context matters

Roula Inglesi-Lotz, University of Pretoria; Anna Maria Oosthuizen; Getrude Njokwe, University of Pretoria; Heinrich Bohlmann, University of Pretoria; Helen Cabalu; Hiroaki Suenaga, Curtin University; Jessika Bohlmann, University of Pretoria; Julian Inchauspe, Curtin University; Margaret Chitiga-Mabugu, University of Pretoria, and Nguyen Tuan Khuong Truong, Curtin University

Senegal’s rating downgrade: credit agencies are punishing countries that don’t check their numbers

Daniel Cash, Aston University

Graphic of jagged lines, bars and arrows

Kenya has introduced new banking policies. An economist weighs them up

XN Iraki, University of Nairobi

The front of a bank building foregrounded by a monument and street traffic

2 in 3 Africans will live in cities by 2050: how planners can put this to good use

Astrid R.N. Haas, University of Cape Town

Aerial view of city with highways and a variety of building types

African debt and climate change: how the ICJ’s Vanuatu ruling could be used for broader justice

Danny Bradlow, University of Pretoria

Investing that protects people and the planet is growing: new study maps the progress in South Africa

Kara Nel, Stellenbosch University; Nadia Mans-Kemp, Stellenbosch University, and Pierre Erasmus

Illustration of coins, green seedlings and a green globe

East African countries and open borders: great strides, but still a long way to go

Alan Hirsch, University of Cape Town

Map of Africa with a magnifying glass laid over the eastern part

8 policies that would help fight poverty in South Africa’s economic hub Gauteng

Adrino Mazenda, University of Pretoria; Catherine Althaus, UNSW Sydney, and Massimiliano Tani, UNSW Sydney

Bribery in South Africa: law now puts a duty on companies to act

Rehana Cassim, University of South Africa

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Business

Africa’s development banks are being undermined: the continent will pay the price

Danny Bradlow, University of Pretoria and Lisa Sachs, Columbia University

A man appears to draw the outline of the continent of Africa, using a light pen

Jobless young South Africans often lose hope: new study proves the power of mentorship

Lauren Graham, University of Johannesburg and Ariane De Lannoy, University of Cape Town

Shanty scene with washing lines, woman walking carrying a bucket and a basin, other women sitting and standing outside a corrugated iron shack

A basic income support grant can address extreme poverty and inequality in South Africa - economic model shows how

Shanty town with a mountain in the distance

Nigeria reduces inflation rate, but the cost of living remains high – here’s why

Taiwo Hassan Odugbemi, University of Abuja

A hand holding fanned-out banknotes in Nigerian currency

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Economy

A young boy walks along a road, holding a red flag, alongside a herd of cattle

Child labour numbers rise in homes where adults are jobless – South African study

Derek Yu, University of the Western Cape and Simbarashe Murozvi, University of the Western Cape

Nigeria’s Brics partnership: economist outlines potential benefits

Stephen Onyeiwu, Allegheny College

A man in suit addressing a large gathering

South Africa has taken over the G20 presidency from Brazil – what lessons can it learn?

Laura Carvalho, Universidade de São Paulo (USP)

Row of flags of members of G20 Group of Twenty and list of countries in a conference room

South Africa’s fight against extreme poverty needs a new strategy - model shows how social grants could work

Ramos Emmanuel Mabugu, Sol Plaatje University

Young men around a fire on open ground. A dense settlement in the background.

Poverty in Lagos isn’t just about money – here’s why

Oluwaseyi Omowunmi Popogbe, Crawford University

Debt

Africa’s debt crisis needs a bold new approach: expert outlines a way forward

Danny Bradlow, University of Pretoria

African countries can’t resolve their debt crisis under a system rigged against them

Carlos Lopes, University of Cape Town

People in a muddy street, some apparently selling goods at makeshift stalls, others walking past

Development finance: how it works, where it goes, why it’s needed

Abdul Latif Alhassan, University of Cape Town and Bomikazi Zeka, University of Canberra

People walking across a suspension bridge

Debt dangers in Africa: how defaults hurt people, and why forgiveness isn’t the answer

Philippe Burger, University of the Free State

Cost of living crisis

Young middle-class Nigerians are desperate to leave the country: insights into why

Jing Jing Liu, MacEwan University

Financial abuse from an intimate partner? Three ways you can protect yourself

Bomikazi Zeka, University of Canberra

Four ceramic piggy banks and one that is shattered into pieces

Inflation in Nigeria is still climbing while it has slowed globally: here’s why