Welcome to The Journal of African Business. Since the inaugural issue was published as an annual in 2020, the quarterly format has been adopted, giving our team more opportunities to bring to readers up-to-date information and opinions and offering our clients increased exposure at specific times of the year.
We cover a broad range of topics, ranging from energy, agriculture, manufacturing and mining to tourism and skills development.
The Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PACCI) has supplied two highly topical articles for this edition. The occasion of a change in leadership at the top of the African Development Bank Group allows for a time of reflection and this article notes that the bank would do well to align itself closely to the goals of the African Union as outlined in Agenda 2063. Specific suggestions are made as to how this could be done, for example in the field of agriculture where agroecology, cooperatives and land redistribution programmes could be the focus, credit for smallholder farmers would be improved and food sovereignty, rather than the narrower issue of food security, would become a priority.
The other PACCI contribution outlines the concrete steps that are to be taken to create a meaningful dialogue between the AfCFTA Secretariat and the private sector.
Magalies Water is one of South Africa’s most important water utilities and a series of articles and interviews provides a view of how the company is expanding services supported by technology and science.
Interviews with two executives of SRK Consulting provide an updated insight into the challenges and opportunities of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) in the mining environment in Ghana. Another interview with an SRK executive based in China gives a perspective on that country’s interest in African minerals.
Engineer Peter Njenga, Managing Director and CEO of Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC (KenGen), reports on the entity’s goals, particularly with regard to the expansion of thermal power generation. A renewable-energy platform has been launched to accelerate efforts to connect the unconnected across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Rennie Naidoo, Professor of Information Systems at the University of the Witwatersrand, argues that smart cities can only be effective if they answer to the needs of communities. This article first appeared in The Conversation.
Ola Oyetayo, co-founder and CEO of cross-border payments platform Verto, shares his delight at winning the Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech. A FedEx executive offers an opinion on how SMMEs can from AfCFTA.
Global Africa Network is a proudly African company which has been producing region-specific business and investment guides since 2004, including South African Business and Nigerian Business, in addition to its online investment promotion platform www.globalafricanetwork.com.
