Weekly Roundup | 08.13.2024
Your curated selection of weekly Africa business and investment headlines.
Welcome to Africa Vantage, the Africa business and investment section of the Emerging Real Estate Digest—your insider's guide to investing and doing business on the African continent. Stay informed about the Lobito Corridor with our "Thoughts on the Corridor" section, and keep up with general business trends across Africa through "Africa Vantage."
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Headlines
🎦 Africa Is Not Poor Because of Colonization
The State of South Africa’s Property Market Q2 2024
Europe to Burn More Coal as it Encourages Africa To Use Less
📸 Africa’s Oldest Billionaire ($7 Billion) is 92
Africa’s Largest Airline Plans to Build Africa’s Largest Airport
🎦 Zambia’s President Explains Why More Debt Shouldn’t be the Priority
Swiss Prosecutors Fine Glencore $150 Million In Corruption Case
Africa’s Top Gold Producer Opens First Gold Refinery
🎦 Goldman CEO Doesn’t See Rate Cut Before September
Kenya’s Maker of Rugged Cars for African Roads Closes
African Infrastructure Investment Managers Closes Fund at $748 Million
📸 Africa’s Richest City Has a $12 Billion Infrastructure Backlog
Africa
🎦 Africa Is Not Poor Because of Colonization
📰 The State of South Africa’s Property Market Q2 2024
South Africa’s listed property is back on investor’s radars as the best performer of the different asset classes during the first half of 2024, according to Rode’s State of the Property Market for Q2 2024… Read More
📰 Europe to Burn More Coal as it Encourages Africa To Use Less
Some European countries that are able to generate electricity from coal may be turning to their coal-fired units for power this winter, in lieu of natural gas, whose prices have increased since the low reached in February… Read More
📸 Africa’s Oldest Billionaire ($7 Billion) is 92
Nathan Kish made his fortune from ventures in retail and real estate in Eswatini (i.e., Swaziland) and ranks the 407th oldest billionaire globally.
📰 Africa’s Largest Airline Plans to Build Africa’s Largest Airport
The planned capacity of the upgraded airport would be 100 million annual passengers coming close to Atlanta’s 110 million and exceeding Heathrow’s 80 million passengers annually. Phase one alone would cost $6 billion… Read More
🎦 Zambia’s President Explains Why More Debt Shouldn’t be the Priority
📰 Swiss Prosecutors Fine Glencore $150 Million In Corruption Case
The group was previously fined $1 billion worth of penalties for corruption by the US Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as well as nearly $400 million in Brazil and the UK.… Read More
📰 Africa’s Top Gold Producer Opens First Gold Refinery
The refinery will be 80% owned by an Indian firm with 20% going to the Bank of Ghana. The refinery will process 400 kilograms primarily from artisanal and small-scale miners. The objective is to reduce gold smuggling… Read More
🎦 Goldman CEO Doesn’t See Rate Cut Before September
African currencies continue to weaken against the dollar. Africa needs FED rate cuts ASAP.
📰 Kenya’s Maker of Rugged Cars for African Roads Closes
Mobius, founded by a London-born investor who experienced the continent's bumpy roads while working for a forestry company in Kenya, found tax hikes in the East African country meant its business model was no longer sustainable. Early models of the no-frills SUV went for $13,000… Read More
📰 African Infrastructure Investment Managers Closes Fund at $748 Million
The close was 50% larger than anticipated pointing to investor sentiment for Africa improving. Commitments were raised from 29 investors, with around 25% of funds raised from institutional investors in Africa, 42% from EU countries and the UK, 14% from Canada and the US, and 17% from the Middle East and Asia. If co-investment commitments are included the fund capacity sits at $954 million… Read More
📸 Africa’s Richest City Has a $12 Billion Infrastructure Backlog
Financial and political turmoil in recent years has beset the city of about 5 million people that’s had eight mayors since 2019 due to constantly shifting coalitions. While the African National Congress and Economic Freedom Fighters are the largest parties in the ruling coalition with 119 seats between them, they have installed a mayor from the Al-Jama-ah party, which has just three seats… Read More
