Tag Archives: economy

How declining global labour costs and increasing robotics are conspiring against manufacturing there COMMENT | OTAVIANO CANUTO | In emerging markets, manufacturing has historically been a source of productivity, growth, and jobs. Since the 1950s, industrialisation has kept economies in Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe on a steady glide toward …

Lusaka, Zambia | AFP | International lenders and markets are growing increasingly concerned about “hidden debt” in Zambia, a situation similar to the one that plunged neighbouring Mozambique into a deep financial crisis. For several weeks financiers have demanded answers about the level of the country’s true external borrowing — …

Dubai, United Arab Emirates | AFP | Dubai is splashing tens of billions of dollars on infrastructure and hospitality projects related to the international trade fair Expo 2020, Dubai-based BNC Network said in a report published Sunday. The value of Expo-related projects underway hit $42.5 billion in March, according to …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Global watchdog Human Rights Watch on Thursday urged Zimbabwe to take urgent steps to stem child labour and other rights abuses on the country’s tobacco farms. In a report titled “Bitter Harvest”, the HRW revealed that children as young as 11 were working on tobacco …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Almost eight out of 10 companies and public sector bodies operating in Britain pay men more than women overall, said data published Thursday confirming long-standing gender inequality in the workplace. Prime Minister Theresa May introduced laws last year to force all employers with more …

Why policy measures that curtail the volume of bank lending to the business community must be avoided COMMENT | LOUIS KASEKENDE | I would like to begin by explaining why I think that a socio-economic impact assessment is a very useful initiative for the bank to have taken. Banks all around …

New York, United States | AFP | The US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday laid charges over a fraudulent cryptocurrency fundraiser that boxer Floyd Mayweather and rapper DJ Khaled touted on social media. Neither celebrity is accused in the scheme which the SEC said raised more than $32 million from …

But the public debt has increased by 9.4% to hit Shs 37.9trillion Kampala, Uganda | ISAAC KHISA | Uganda’s optimism in the first quarter of the Financial Year 2017/18 has been replaced with fear of a slow growing economy. The Central Bank’s latest quarterly report dubbed ‘State of the Economy’ …

Luanda, Angola | AFP | Tensions between Angola’s president and his long-serving predecessor have erupted into the open as an anti-corruption drive targets the former ruler’s family. President Joao Lourenco has pledged to crusade against entrenched state corruption and nepotism since taking over in September from Jose Eduardo dos Santos, …

Africa is the world’s last frontier market, and Western businesses need to take advantage of its potential COMMENT | LANDRY SIGNE | Since 2000, at least half of the world’s fastest-growing economies have been in Africa. And by 2030, Africa will be home to 1.7 billion people, whose combined consumer and business …