African markets and business updates

Egypt has been a tourism success story in recent years. Visitor numbers ballooned from 13 million in 2019 to 19 million last year, according to government figures. Tourism helps sustain almost three million jobs and brings more than $15bn a year into the country's coffers. The surge in visitor numbers in recent years reflected the growing availability of cheap flights from Europe, as budget airlines and tour operators catered to holidaymakers attracted by Egypt's year-round sunny climate. Meanwhile…

When Nardos Bekele-Thomas, CEO of AUDA-NEPAD, addressed the Africa-Europe Finance Ministers' Platform during the World Bank Spring Meetings, she did not present a familiar narrative about Africa's financing gap or make an appeal for aid. Instead, she articulated a principle. Speaking to finance ministers, central bank governors, multilateral development bank leaders and senior European Union officials, Bekele-Thomas drew a firm conclusion. The era of Africa as a passive aid recipient has ended.…

The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and the Republic of Guinea have formalised a memorandum of understanding to deepen cooperation on financing priority development projects. The agreement was signed on 8 April 2026 in Accra, on the sidelines of EBID's 24th Annual General Meeting of the Board of Governors. It was endorsed by Dr George Agyekum Donkor, President and Chairman of EBID's Board of Directors, and Ismael Nabé, Guinea's minister of Planning, Development and International Cooperation.…

In 1848 Dutch botanists planted a cutting of oil palm - a plant native to the forests of western and central Africa - at the Kebun Raya Bogor botanical gardens in Java, modern-day Indonesia. Almost two centuries later, Indonesia and its neighbours are by far the most important global producers of palm oil, the edible vegetable oil produced from the oil palm's fruit. While Asian oil palm plantations bring in billions of dollars in export revenue each year…

Sub‑Saharan Africa entered 2026 with the strongest economic momentum the region had seen in more than a decade, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports in its April 2026 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub‑Saharan Africa - but added that the gains risk being eroded by the war in the Middle East. Presenting the report - subtitled Hard Won Gains Under Pressure - during a press briefing on Thursday at the IMF/World Bank Spring meetings in Washington DC, Abebe Aemro Selassie…

The global shift from a flexible trade settlement timeline of T+3 to a tighter T+1 framework is reshaping how markets approach post-trade risk, capital efficiency and competitiveness. A growing share of global trading activity now operates on T+1, led by North America and India, with Europe set to follow in October 2027. The advantages of settlement compression are well established. Shorter cycles reduce counterparty exposure…

Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has warned that the global economy is feeling the strain of the Middle East conflict, and that poorer, import‑dependent countries will bear the heaviest burden. "The impact on the global economy is already large. Even if the conflict is short lived, extensive infrastructure damage and supply chain disruptions are pushing prices up and slowing global growth down from 3.4% last year to 3.1% in 2026.…

Guinea's Minister, Ismaël Nabé, has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Governors of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), following a unanimous decision at the institution's 24th Annual General Meeting in Accra on 8 April 2026. He succeeds Ghana's finance minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, at a time when the regional development finance institution is seeking to expand its reach and strengthen its balance sheet amid a challenging global environment.…

The Board of Governors of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development concluded its 24th Annual General Meeting in Accra on 8 April 2026 with a renewed commitment to expand investment across West Africa over the next five years. The move signals an acceleration in the Bank's efforts to finance transformative projects and strengthen regional economic integration. The Board, which comprises finance ministers and, in some cases, ministers of planning and development from the region's fifteen Member States…

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that the war in the Middle East has forced a reassessment of its economic outlook for Africa in 2026 and into 2027. Speaking at a press briefing at the launch of its World Economic Outlook: Global Economy in the Shadow of War report on Tuesday in Washington DC at the ongoing IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings, Deniz Igan, division chief of the IMF's research department, said: "Now, with the war…