Africa in Focus

Construction workers direct a crane at the Radisson hotel site in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, September 12, 2015. From Abidjan’s packed airport arrivals hall to the buildings mushrooming across the capital, Ivory Coast is booming, a rare African bright spot as the world’s biggest cocoa producer bounces back from a 2011 civil war. Buyers of luxury apartments include Ivorians living overseas, while promoters from Morocco, Turkey and China are attracted by tax breaks. Elections - the source of national unrest four years ago - are due in a month but there is no let-up in investment given expectations of an easy victory for incumbent Alassane Ouattara. The government predicts 9.6 percent growth this year, making the former French colony the standout performer on a continent hammered by a slump in commodity prices, capital outflows and tumbling currencies. REUTERS/Joe PenneyPICTURE 14 OF 33 FOR WIDER IMAGE STORY "IVORY COAST IS BOOMING". SEARCH "BOOMING PENNEY" FOR ALL IMAGES - GF10000219116

Figures of the week: Private investment trends in sub-Saharan Africa

Thursday, May 17, 2018

A machine is seen idle at Dangote tomatoes processing factory along the Kano-Zaria road in Kano, northwest Nigeria August 21, 2017.Picture taken August 21, 2017. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye. - RC1A6112C770

Point de vue prospectif sur l’Afrique: L’automatisation mine-t-elle les perspectives d’industrialisation de l’Afrique?

Mary Hallward-Driemeier and Gaurav Nayyar

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Kenya Railways attendants prepare to receive a train launched to operate on the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line constructed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and financed by Chinese government as it arrives at the Nairobi Terminus in the outskirts of Kenya's capital Nairobi May 31, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya - RC13462847E0

Point de vue prospectif sur l’Afrique – Engagement de la Chine en Afrique: que peut-on apprendre en 2018 de son engagement de 60 milliards USD?

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina addresses a news conference on the first day of the annual meeting of AfDB in Gandhinagar, India, May 22, 2017. REUTERS/Amit Dave - RC184335ACF0

Point de vue prospectif sur l’Afrique: Une Banque africaine de développement restructurée et plus efficace

Akinwumi A. Adesina

Monday, May 14, 2018

FILE PHOTO: A member of the ground crew directs an Ethiopian Airlines plane at the Bole International Airport in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, August 21, 2015. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo - RC159E9D1C00

Africa in the news: East Africa continues to integrate, Ethiopian Airlines scales up, and AIIB expands

Friday, May 11, 2018

A worker sweeps the floor under solar panels which provide shade for vehicles at a solar carport at the Garden City shopping mall in Kenya's capital Nairobi, September 15, 2015. The Africa's largest solar carport with 3,300 solar panels will generate 1256 MWh annually and cut carbon emission by around 745 tonnes per year, according to Solarcentury and Solar Africa. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya - GF10000206552

Figures of the week: Access to affordable, sustainable, and modern energy in Africa

Thursday, May 10, 2018

U.S. President Donald Trump shares a laugh with Guinea's President Alpha Conde (L), the Vice President of Nigeria Yemi Osinbajo (R) and other African leaders as they arrive to pose for a family photo with participants of the G7 summit during the Summit of the Heads of State and of Governments of the G7, the group of most industrialized economies, plus the European Union, in Taormina, Sicily, Italy, May 27, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane de Sakutin/Pool - RC1D3FEB60A0

Point de vue prospectif sur l’Afrique: Les États-Unis et l’Afrique en 2018

Witney Schneidman and Jon Temin

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a joint news conference with Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., April 30, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - HP1EE4U1D88ID

Africa in the news: Buhari-Trump meeting, third termism spread, and Kenya updates

Christina Golubski

Friday, May 4, 2018

Duncan Onyango, a game design developer at Planet Rackus works on MA3Racer, a 2D mobile game inside his studio in Kenya's capital Nairobi, July 15, 2014. Industry analysts have long hailed the explosive growth of mobile telecoms in sub-Saharan Africa - 635 million subscribers by the end of 2014 climbing to 930 million by the end of 2019 according to a report by Ericsson. But size isn't everything. It is the quality of those mobile phone connections, subscriptions and surrounding infrastructure that is holding up Africa's nascent games development industry, not the quantity of handsets. The number of expensive smartphones that can run sophisticated games and applications is low, accounting for only 14 percent of African mobile connections by the end of 2014, says research group Ovum. Planet Rackus's first edition of MA3Racer, a 2D mobile game, had more than a million downloads on Nokia's Ovi platform, reflecting strong demand. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya (KENYA - Tags: SOCIETY SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS TELECOMS) - GM1EA7F1HRG01

Figures of the week: The future of work in Africa

Thursday, May 3, 2018

A Congolese policewoman and customs officials secure the gate barriers at their border crossing point with Rwanda in Goma town in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo - S1BETDUZYLAA

Point de vue prospectif sur l’Afrique – Le mouvement audacieux de l’Afrique en direction de l’intégration: l’accord de libre-échange continental

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

South African union members march during a nationwide protest against a proposed minimum wage in Cape Town, South Africa, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham - RC16A0E91300

Africa in the news: Minimum wage in South Africa, protests in Madagascar, and fuel crisis in Sudan

Friday, April 27, 2018

Stockbrokers trade on the floor of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) in Harare, February 24, 2015. ZSE on Monday lifted the suspension of hotel group Meikles Africa after the company threatened to take court action, shelve new investment and a possible listing of a subsidiary. Meikles, which owns two premier hotels in the capital Harare and the resort town of Victoria Falls, was suspended last week to allow for an investigation on whether it overstated a debt owed by the central bank. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo (ZIMBABWE - Tags: BUSINESS) - GM1EB2O1NNF01

Figures of the week: Africa’s changing debt structure

Thursday, April 26, 2018

A general view shows the central business district of Kenya's capital Nairobi, April 10, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya - RC158B20C450

The state of African economies: Insights from the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Google's CEO Sundar Pichai (L) and country manager for Nigeria Juliet Ehimuan speak during a conference tagged 'Google for Nigeria' in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos, July 27, 2017. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye - RC193A6B3190

Africa in the news: Google Go launch, DRC humanitarian conference, and WB/IMF Spring Meetings

Friday, April 20, 2018

Figures of the week: Labor market and inequality in South Africa

Wednesday, April 18, 2018