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Africa Can and Should Feed Itself

I have worked on analyzing Africa issues for more than 40 years, and during that time, I have constantly heard appeals for humanitarian food assistance to African countries lest their…
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Africa: Time for a Reset for U.S.-Africa Trade Relations

Washington, DC — The African Continental Free Trade Agreement is a Game Changer Key Points: The new African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) will bring economic development across the continent, as well as…
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Africa’s Next Trillion-Dollar Empire Is Already Rising – And It’s Not Where You Might Expect

While the world races to invest in AI-driven agriculture, the real story unfolding across Africa is far more grounded – and far more powerful. When I was a child, we…
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African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): Ensuring Africa’s Data Security in a Unified Digital Market

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a landmark agreement that seeks to accelerate economic growth, reduce poverty, and promote regional integration among African countries (African Union, 2018). One…
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African Elections Matter in 2023

­For more than two decades now, Americans have held polarized views about the integrity and accuracy of votes in our national elections. As someone who once taught African election observers…
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Angola: An African partner to the US

When President Joe Biden promised during the December 2022 African Leaders Summit to visit Africa before his term ended, many observers probably thought he meant to South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria…
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Can Wakanda Become a Real Place in Africa?

When the Marvel Studios film Black Panther hit theaters in 2018, it created a couple of sensations. The first, of course, was that a major movie featured not only a…
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Chinese critical minerals monopoly challenged

As the international community moves toward an energy future featuring renewable energy, the source of critical minerals and the location of their processing become increasingly important. Some time ago, I…
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Cryptocurrency and Emerging Markets

Being left out of industrialization for so long has been an obstacle for emerging markets in Africa and Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC). However, Japan and Germany had their…
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Doing Business in Africa is Neither Simple or Easy

Over decades of working on African issues – analyzing governments and economies and working with businesspeople wanting to enter African markets – it has become clear to me that while…
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Ethiopia’s Bridge Leader Meets the Bridge’s Vice President in Zambia

November 2024 - Reflection on my recent trip to Zambia was an incredibly enriching experience, marked by meaningful engagements and invaluable opportunities to contribute to critical discussions shaping Africa’s economic…
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Expecting a Color-Blind Society Is a Dangerous Fantasy

Throughout history, people with strong beliefs have often taken their beliefs too far, provoking an opposite reaction from those who believe otherwise. Such appears to be the case with the…
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How to reconcile Africa’s long-term economic development with its short-term development objectives?

On December 18 2023, the Financial Times published an article that had an international resonance, which argued that Africa cannot grow without increasing productivity of labor. The article noted that in contrast to the…
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Inflation Plagues African Nations in 2024

In 2024, several African economies experienced some of the highest inflation rates on the continent, with prices for goods and services escalating dramatically. This sharp rise in inflation contributed to…
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Kenya Poised to Lead Global Internet Advertising Growth, PWC Report Finds

A report released on January 28, 2025, by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) forecasts that Kenya will become the world’s fastest-growing internet advertising market in the coming years. The report projects that, over…
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Social Capital: Africa’s Untapped Engine for Sustainable Development

Africa, a continent rich in cultural diversity and deeply rooted in communal values, holds a powerful yet underutilized asset that could transform the trajectory of its development: social capital. While…
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Sudan: The Neglected Crisis

While the international community focuses on Israel’s war with Hamas and now Hezbollah, the Ukraine-Russia conflict and speculates about a possible struggle involving China and Taiwan, the world’s greatest humanitarian…
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The Lobito Trans Africa Corridor – Opening Up Opportunities For Africa’s Transportation

American President Joe Biden visited Angola to meet with President Joāo Lourenço, as well as the Presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia and the Vice President…
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The US International Tariff Regime and Africa

During the last decade, the international economic order has been in significant turmoil – from the immediate and ancillary impacts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict to the growing scope and economic…
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The US-Africa Business Bridge congratulates the governments of the USAand Zambia

The US-Africa Business Bridge congratulates the governments of the USA and Zambia for the signing of a partnership compact through the Millennium Challenge Corporation on October 17, 2024. This Farm…
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U.S. Summit Competition Disadvantage

For two decades, the United States has held a trio of conferences that used to be considered summits: the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Ministerial, Private Sector Forum and…
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US-Africa Business Bridge: Lobito Corridor investment boosts trade, empowers women.

We at the US-Africa Business Bridge are hopeful that the significant US investment in the Lobito Corridor rail line will open up opportunities for trans-African trade, including for women business…
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What the Diaspora Needs to Do in 2023

Now that the New Year is upon us, we in the African Diaspora need to plan for joint action to better ensure that emerging markets under Diaspora control really are…
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What to Expect from Africa-China Relations in 2025

Africa-China relations in 2025 kicked off with a trip to the continent by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi from January 5-11. Since 1991, China’s foreign minister has made Africa his…