Greetings from Casablanca, Morocco. Catch up this week on the countries attracting global investors, September’s startup funding, the green wall and recent elections. 
But a quick request before the news: If you know someone who’d appreciate the Africa Brief, please share it via email, LinkedIn or your other socials. 

And of course, first here’s this week’s trivia.

Africa Trivia

Graphic of the Week 

• Progressive economic reforms across Africa are fueling rapid growth in FDI, drawing global investors.

• Africa is positioning itself as a prime destination for global investment, with renewable energy projects and innovative startups driving sustainable economic growth.

• For example, Uganda and Senegal attracted FDI inflows of 5.85% and 8.51% of GDP through progressive reforms in renewable energy, agriculture and manufacturing.

• As a comparison, in 2022 the U.S. attracted $177B of FDI, or 0.7% of GDP.   

TL:DR

• Burkina Faso: Russia and Burkina Faso have agreed to expand military cooperation after talks between their defense leaders (Reuters).

• Egypt: Hikes in energy costs drove inflation to 26.4% in September, halting the country’s disinflationary trend (Bloomberg).

• Ghana: China’s Zijin Mining Group is acquiring the Akyem Gold Mine Project in Ghana from Newmont Corp for $1B (Reuters) and the unlicensed gold-mining sector booms (Reuters).

• Kenya: The central bank is expected to cut interest rates again as inflation hits a 12-year low and the shilling stabilizes (Bloomberg); Kenyan lawmakers vote to impeach Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua (Bloomberg) who has, in turn, vowed not to resign (Bloomberg).

• Mauritius: The U.K. proposes relocating migrants from Diego Garcia, Chagos Islands to Romania for six months, with a possible move to the U.K. afterward (BBC).

• Mozambique: Mozambiqans await the results of Wednesday’s vote. The 49-year ruling Frelimo party is expected to remain in power (Reuters).

• Rwanda: Gov’t launches Marburg vaccine trials in an effort to contain the virus (BBC).

• Senegal: Moody's downgrades Senegal's credit rating, prompting eurobond losses and urgent fiscal reforms (Bloomberg).

• Sierra Leone: G-7's ARIA launches $25M deal to boost small business lending in Sierra Leone (Bloomberg).

• Somalia: Turkish company gears up for construction of $70M Hobyo Somalia port, expected to be operational in three years (Bloomberg). 

• South Africa: South Africa's Competition Commission is investigating retailers who fail to lower essential food prices despite decreased costs (Bloomberg).

• Tanzania: Authorities increasing hunting permits for elephants despite international calls to ban trophy hunting (Semafor).

• Tunisia: Tunisian President Kais Saied wins reelection with 90.7% of the vote, but turnout is just 28.8% (Bloomberg).

• Uganda: Anti-LGBTQ laws, introduced in May last year, have cost the nation up to $1.6B in lost foreign investment, aid, trade and tourism, according to a study by Open for Business (Bloomberg).

• Zimbabwe: Gov’t to adjust state workers' pay following a 43% devaluation of the ZiG currency (Bloomberg); Bulawayo to cut water for 130 hours a week in residential areas due to severe shortages from a 40-year drought (Bloomberg).

Business & Finance in Africa

Rand Volatility Calms to Nine-Year Low

• The South African rand is at its calmest in nine years, with volatility dropping below 12%, the lowest since 2015. 

• This stability comes from a decline in foreign bond holdings, now at their lowest since 2011, reducing the need for hedging. 

• Despite the downturn, foreign investors have cautiously returned post-May elections, with 2024 inflows set to be the largest since 2019. 

• For sustained interest, South Africa's economy needs to achieve growth above 1.5%, with GDP forecasted to rise 1% in 2024 and 1.7% in 2025.

September Startup Investment Update

• In September, African startups announced $138M worth of $100K+ deals, with 89% of the funds going to the Big Four (Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya) plus Ghana. A total of 61 start-ups raised more than $100K, with the majority coming from 12 countries.

Ghana’s Back in Play

• Key Stats: 

  • Africa reached $1.152T of debt on $3.1T of GDP by the end of 2023. Compare this to the U.S. which has $35T of debt on $25T of GDP. Africa is not the only place with a debt problem! 

  • But not all debt is equal. Africa borrows at costs that are almost 4 times higher than the U.S.

• FT reports that Ghana completed a $13B debt restructuring, reducing its debt burden by over $4B and exiting default just before the December elections. 

• The move enables a return to global capital markets after an economic crisis led to a $3B IMF bailout. 

• Ghana’s debt is set to fall below 80% of GDP next year, down from nearly 100% in 2022, though inflation remains above 21%. 

• The debt restructuring follows other nations like Ukraine and Sri Lanka, while Ethiopia’s talks remain contentious.

• A Group of 20 nations and the Paris Club formed the G20 Common Framework, a mechanism to coordinate debt restructuring, involving China, Saudi Arabia and other lenders.

Tech & Society in Africa

Google & Vodafone Team to Drive Growth in Africa 

• Tech companies are in a race to get new AI-powered technology into the hands of consumers and partnerships between tech and telecom companies are opening up markets, with the hope that new deals will drive up phone trade-ins and upgrades.

• This week, Google and Vodafone formed a partnership to drive sales of Google’s Pixel devices across Europe and Africa. 

• Vodafone, which is dominant in Europe and Africa, has caught the attention of Google, who hope to get more of its AI-powered devices into the hands of the next largest consumer market. 

  • SIDEBAR: See if you can follow this. Vodafone owns a 65.1% stake in Vodacom, which operates across Sub-Saharan Africa. Vodafone also indirectly holds influence over Safaricom in Kenya, as Vodacom owns 34.94% of Safaricom. M-Pesa, the mobile money platform developed by Vodafone, is operated by both Safaricom in Kenya and Vodacom in other African countries like Tanzania and Mozambique. Together, Vodafone, through Vodacom and Safaricom, leverages M-Pesa and its telecommunication infrastructure to drive digital and financial inclusion across Africa.

• And you can see why Google needs a partner to get them more phones in Africa…

Climate in Africa

Heard of the Great Green Wall In A While? Neither Have We…Here’s Why

• The Great Green Wall initiative, launched by the African Union in 2007, aims to combat desertification across Africa’s Sahel region. 

• Despite a $19B investment boost in 2021, progress lags due to a lack of local involvement.

• Recent articles highlight how projects from Senegal to Ethiopia show that success depends on adapting strategies to fit local needs, rather than focusing solely on tree counts. The challenge lies in balancing large-scale ambitions with grassroots realities. Without this shift, the project risks failing to deliver meaningful change for communities.

• Tying the issue to current events, there’s ongoing research into the impact of Saharan dust and hurricane formation in the Atlantic. The jury’s still out, but this story may be much bigger than deforestation and economic livelihoods in Africa… 

Democracy in Africa

Africa’s 2024 Elections Calendar

This year, over 20 countries were scheduled to vote.

• Comoros: On January 16, 2024, Comoros announced President Azali Assoumani’s triumph securing 63% of the votes over his opponents in the election. 

• Senegal: On March 24, 2024, Senegal elected Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the youngest president in Africa, at 44 years old. Voter turnout was 61% among more than seven million registered voters.

• Togo: On May 4, 2024, Togo re-elected President Faure Gnassingbe extending his 19-year rule by securing 108 out of 113 seats in parliament.

• Chad: On May 6, 2024, Chad’s military ruler, Mahamat Déby, won the presidential elections, securing 61% of the votes.

• South Africa: On May 29, 2024, Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected by the South African parliament as a result of a historic coalition agreement between the opposition parties and the ruling African National Congress (ANC), mainly pertaining to ANC only receiving 40.8% of the votes losing its parliamentary majority.

• Madagascar: On June 13, 2024, President Andry Rajoelina's Tanora Malagasy Vonona party only won 80 of the 163 seats, losing their majority. 

• Mauritania: On June 29, 2024, Mauritania re-elected President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani for a second term, with voter participation at 55%.

• Rwanda: In contrast, Rwanda's elections on July 15 showed a different outcome. Paul Kagame secured a fourth term, winning 99.2% of the vote. He has been in power since 2002.

• Algeria: On September 7, Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune was re-elected for a second term, receiving 94.6% of the vote. Voter turnout was low, at only 24%, with 5.6 million ballots cast out of an electorate of roughly 24 million.

AND THIS WEEK…

• Tunisia: On Sunday, Tunisian President Kais Saied won a second term in the election, securing about 90.7% of the votes. However, voter turnout was also low, with only 28.8% of the 9.7 million eligible voters participating. This low participation rate reflects growing dissatisfaction with Saied's authoritarian governance style in a country that was once the birthplace of the Arab Spring revolts.

• Mozambique: On Wednesday, Mozambique began voting for a new leader despite an ongoing Islamist insurgency and stalled liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects.

And, in other political news, the Deputy President of Kenya, Rigathi Gachagua, is facing an impeachment motion over allegations of violating the constitution.

Explorations in Africa

Tears of Joy

• Above, Ethiopia's Milkesa Mengesha collapses on the ground with relief after winning the Berlin Marathon in Germany on September 29.

• Sports in Africa is a growth sector. Today, it represents a $12B market and could grow to $30B by 2030.

• Here are some insights you can drop at your kids’ next track meet from Born to Run: Why Do East Africans Dominate Long Distance Running Events?

  • Did you know that Kenyan and Ethiopian runners have won two-thirds of all gold medals in long-distance events (800m and above) over the last three Olympic Games?

  • Eliud Kipchoge is the name of the Kenyan runner who holds the world marathon record at 2:01:09 (2022) and became the first person to run a marathon in almost under two hours.

  • Many successful East African runners train at high altitudes (2,000-2,500m), boosting endurance.

Africa Trivia Response

Answer: Burkina Faso

Fact: Burkina Faso, formerly known as the Republic of Upper Volta, held its first free and fair elections in 2015, earning recognition as one of the youngest democracies in the world. Read more.

Shoutout to Shaynerose Magabi, Ruth Ayalew and Mary Ann Achieng who comb and curate each week! See you all next Friday!