1Common Misperceptions about Unconditional Cash Transfers in Africa

Research conducted by the Transfer Project, a multi-partner initiative that includes the UN agencies for children and food, national governments besides national and international researchers found that unconditional cash transfers, or UCT, are different from universal basic income in that they are time-bound and are given to poor households who make spending decisions consistent with their needs. And even though the transfer size to families in respective countries differed, the results showed cash injections generally empowered beneficiaries to invest, seek their own entrepreneurial initiatives, and didn’t lead to price distortion or inflation at a local market level.

SOURCES: Quartz Africa

2The Transitional Stabilization Program to Revive Zimbabwe’s Economy

President Emmerson Mnangagwa says he wanted all state-owned companies that provided services such as electricity, water and transport, to run efficiently.The National Railways, with a debt of more than $300 million despite an influx of tax dollars, is one of those expected to turn around by this program.

SOURCES: VOA

3Africa’s Offshore Oil and Gas Industry

With the oil price back at levels last seen in late 2014, and oil company coffers swelling, Africa’s leading hydrocarbons producers are hopeful that they can draw investment back to the continent’s upstream oil and gas sector after some lean years.

SOURCES: African Business Magazine

4Changing Mobility Solutions for Africa

Uber announced the launch of their motorcycle taxi service UberBoda in Nairobi, Kenya, six months after launching the service in Kampala, Uganda. The Boda service is aimed at providing residents of Nairobi with quick and affordable commute options across the city using the Uber app and is set to compete with Taxify which launched its Boda service in March, Uganda-based SafeBoda which launched in Kenya just three months ago, and other services like GetBoda, VutaRide and BusyBoda.

SOURCES: Ventures Africa

5Female Entrepreneurs on the Rise in Senegal

From a car mechanic to a courier, CNN profiles women who are transforming their passions into online enterprises and discovering how digital tools are helping to improve gender equality in Senegal.

SOURCES: CNN

6There’s a New Bank in Ghana

Consolidated Bank Ghana, which was formed in August through a merger of five failed lenders, will issue institutional investors five-year bonds yielding 7.5% for fixed-term savings that were held with the liquidated companies. The same investors previously earned annualised rates of as much as 19% on savings with terms of three months to two years.

SOURCES: Business Day Live

7Nigeria’s Central Bank Puts a Hurdle Before Fintech Companies

In a draft policy document, the Central Bank of Nigeria says products by fintech companies are “gaining acceptance” but argued their emergence would heighten existing risks in the financial system. To solve this, officials require fintech startups to have minimum shareholder funds ranging from $275,000 to $14 million before obtaining licenses for their operations.

SOURCES: Quartz Africa

8Why You Should Invest in Zimbabwe

Despite all the critics, Zimbabwe is still making progress as a result of a dedicated and hard-working populace that believes in the country. Avoid the politics and talk business and you will see its potential. Here are recommendations (in no particular order of importance, or of the potential internal rate of return (IRR)) for investors looking to play a role in the growing change on the ground.

SOURCES: Africa.com

9Local Producers of Heineken in Africa

Rwanda’s biggest brewer, Bralirwa Ltd, will start making Heineken beer locally next month in a move that will allow it to cut retail prices by a fifth. Bralirwa, which produces local beers like Primus, has been importing Heineken made in the Netherlands. The beer will also be exported to neighboring countries such as Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo.

SOURCES: Reuters

10Ghana and Ivory Coast Invest in the Cocoa Value Chain

Ghana is close to finalising a $600m loan from the African Development Bank, some of which is expected to support cocoa processing. It is also seeking Chinese help to build a state-run processing plant. Observers see cocoa as a test-case for African industrialisation, but it is not a very useful model. They say cocoa is unlikely to bring much revenue or many jobs.

SOURCES: The Economist

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