Posts by Alastair Tempest
Population Trends – Africa Catching Up
In January the global population reached 8 billion but China’s population statistics showed a drop in the total population for the first time since the Great Famine of 1963. India now becomes…
Read MoreWomen in Business in Africa
According to research from the research company, TaiwanPlus, Angola has the highest percentage of women-owned businesses globally. 35% of Angolan women own a business, Guatemala was in second place (24.9%). Interestingly, only 9.9% of these women own established…
Read MoreRewarding Musicians Via an App
COVID made it far more difficult for musicians to make a decent living. Grammy-nominated Kenyan musician Bien-Aime Alusa of popular group, Sauti Sol, has co-founded a digital streaming and payment…
Read MoreSpace-X’s Starlink Project
In 2020 this Newsletter reported on the Starlink project by Elon Musk’s Space-X enterprise. At that time it was considered that SA would be active in the project, but it…
Read MoreWIPO – 2022 Saw Africa Climb Up the Global Tech Ladder
The 15th edition of the Global Innovation Index released recently by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ranks Mauritius, South Africa, and Morocco, which have significantly moved up closer to…
Read MoreUnderpaying IT Staff in Africa
As San-Francisco-based AI development firm OpenAI’s dream of achieving general artificial intelligence (AI) picks up speed (see the article on Big Tech above), reports of how it used 200 underpaid Kenyans…
Read MoreFintech in Africa – and the Global Figures for VC in 2022
Anyone looking to launch an African startup in 2023 must be sorely tempted to do so in the fintech space (provided they have the relevant background and expertise). After all,…
Read MoreCross-Border Payments – Concerns and Opportunities
Last year we saw the launch of both the PAPSS payment system from the Afreximport Bank and TCIB by BankServAfrica. These initiatives, both pilots at present are designed to reduce…
Read MoreThe Effects of Chinese Trade on Africa
And while on the subject of SA’s partners in BRICS, China is now the African continent’s largest trading partner, accounting for trade worth US$254bn in 2021. It is also the main country of…
Read MoreWhere Does South Africa Want to Go – BRICS or the AfCFTA?
In its policy meetings in early January, the ANC has demanded that SA use its 2023 chairmanship of the BRICS group of nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA) to…
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