̶W̶a̶k̶a̶n̶d̶a̶ Africa Forever🙅🏻♀️
#162: The world has taken too much from you for you to still be considered a child. - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Hello Venturer,
The American superhero film, Black Panther is a metaphoric depiction of the African continent. The storyline depicts how the Wakandans use vibranium to develop advanced technology to stay ahead, isolate and shield themselves from the world - posing as a Third World country.
Like Wakanda, Africa has vast mineral wealth. It is home to 65% of the earth’s arable land and 10% of the internal renewable freshwater source. It also holds 30% of the global mineral reserves, 8% of natural gas, and 12% of the oil reserves. More so, 40% of global gold deposits and about 90% of its chromium and platinum are found in the continent.
But, unlike Wakanda, many African countries are not developed and have not been able to manage resources nor shield themselves from the West. Over 90% of African governments are roped in toxic and non-transparent debt resource-backed loans with the West.
This week, we discuss why Africa matters to the Big 5.
Ishioma Imokhai-Bello,
Staff Writer, Ventures Africa.
What’s new?
Why does Africa matter to the Big 5?
By 2030, Africa will be home to over a quarter of the global population under 25 years, making up 60% of the African total population, PwC research shows. By then, 15% of the world’s working population will reside in Africa. The continent would house the biggest workforce on the globe. These are some of the reasons why Africa matters to the Big 5. Read more.
Naira float: The good, the bad, and the ugly.
As Nigeria navigates through a series of economic changes, the aftermath of the naira float decision has brought mixed outcomes. On the positive side, payments are now flowing smoothly, with banks like Wema Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, and UBA raising their dollar rate limits and introducing innovative services like Flutterwave's Tuition for international school fees. Read more.
Alternative palliatives the FG should consider besides conditional cash transfers.
Last Thursday, the Senate approved the request of President Bola Tinubu to borrow a $800m loan from the World Bank. It also amended the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act to accommodate the provision for N500bn for palliatives to mitigate the effect of petrol subsidy removal on poor Nigerians. Read more.
Is the CBN’s role in agriculture an encroachment?
Funding is the lifeblood of every business and economy. For farmers, having adequate funding is crucial for scaling their operations, purchasing farm inputs, generating employment opportunities, and contributing significantly to economic growth and development. In the immediate term, the federal government aims to channel some of the savings from the fuel subsidy removal into the agricultural sector. Read more.
How Egypt’s tourism sector got its groove back.
Last year, the government projected 15 million tourists to visit Egypt in 2023. At the time, the projection of 15 million tourists seemed like a pipe dream. Global tourism was still in its infancy in its post-pandemic recovery. But it appears that Egypt is on track to achieve this target if its performance in the second half of the year aligns with the impressive numbers from the first half. Read more.
How Sudan’s civil war impacts Nigeria’s leather industry.
Hide and skin are crucial raw materials for Nigeria’s shoe, clothing, and furniture businesses. Despite having some of the best hides and skin globally, Nigeria still imports these materials from Sudan and a few other countries. The main African countries from which Nigeria imports these commodities are Tanzania, Madagascar, and Sudan. Read more.
MPJ: How Joynels Ogbogu got to live her dream of being famous through UX writing.
Joynels always wanted to be a celebrity. But that dream was often deterred by her parents. So she followed her parent’s dream to study microbiology. A couple of volunteering roles later, and a stint with a reality star, she eventually found her spotlight writing brand copies. Here is Joynels Ogbogu’s pivot journal. Read more.
IMF funding gives Burundi a new lease on life.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently approved a $271 million Extended Credit Facility for Burundi, with an immediate disbursement of more than $62 million. The loan facility would help address the country’s prolonged balance of payments needs, rebuild external buffers and support the government’s reform agenda. Read more.
The intercorrelation between Africa’s film industry and the ongoing Hollywood strike.
In the last few weeks, Hollywood has been brought to a screeching halt as over 160,000 Hollywood actors collectively initiated an industry-wide strike. After failed attempts to negotiate payment agreements, last Thursday, the SAG-AFTRA’s national board unanimously voted to issue a strike order against the studios and streaming platforms. Read more.
WEI: NFTs in Google Play Store, Nigeria’s food emergency, and Standard Chartered divestment.
Last week, Google announced plans to accommodate Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) into its Play Store, Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared a state of emergency on food security in the country and Standard Chartered plc had a tentative agreement to sell its subsidiaries in five sub-Saharan African countries. Read more.
Mini Issues
VivaTech 2023: Is AI truly limited?
Read the mini issue of our coverage of Viva Technology, Europe’s biggest technology conference, which was held in Paris, France, from June 14th to 17th, 2023.
Africa’s Business Heroes – Empowering Africa's next-gen entrepreneurs?
Since 2019, ABH, Jack Ma Foundation’s philanthropic program, has identified, showcased, and supported the next generation of African entrepreneurs through its inclusive and sector-agnostic prize competition.
Our weekly collectibles
Meta's Threads has been in the media for a couple of reasons. Now, there seems to be a growing beef. Find out why Meta unfriends the news industry in a growing rift with publishers.
Ukraine has repelled the Black Sea Fleet. And naval drones may not be enough to defeat it. Find out How oceans became new technological battlefields.
Did you know that public broadcasting was originally conceived to provide educational and cultural programming to underserved communities? find out what changed in The Tumultuous Early History of Public Media.
What do skin bleaching, appropriation, and colourism have in common? Find out in Minorities debate skin bleaching, appropriation, and colourism.
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