African markets and business updates

Data from Africa: The Big Deal shows that momentum from late-2024, when Moniepoint and Tyme reached billion-dollar valuations, failed to carry into the following year. Instead, 2025 became one of the quietest years for Africa's top-valued private tech companies since 2020. Late-stage funding dries up African unicorns raised only about $100 million in equity funding in 2025, driven largely by the completion of Moniepoint's Series C round. When debt financing is included, notably from Wave and MNT-Halan…

What are you anticipating at Indaba 2026? We expect another record year. Over 70 percent of the exhibition space was sold within weeks of 2025 closing, signalling strong trust and demand. Delegates return because Mining Indaba consistently delivers value through access to deal-making in the Investment Village, a broader Ministerial Symposium, and Partnership Spotlights where ministers and CEOs engage in solution focused conversations. How successful was Mining Indaba 2025 and what resonated most with delegates?…

The Democratic Republic of Congo is quietly laying the groundwork for a return to international capital markets, a move that, if well executed, could mark a turning point in the country's financial trajectory. Officials in Kinshasa have signalled that a Eurobond issuance is under consideration, reflecting both growing confidence in macroeconomic management and an acute need to diversify sources of financing. This bond, with a targeted size of $1.5bn…

The intermittent effect of peace accords between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda / M23 continues to create confusion and instability in the eastern part of the DRC. There were high hopes in 2025 that the conflict would be finally resolved when the DRC and various parties involved, including Rwanda and M23, signed two major peace deals…

Mining Even as the government focuses on diversification, the country continues to generate enormous interest in its mining sector. Significant investments in tin, copper and cobalt and increasingly, lithium, are flowing in from countries such as China, the UAE and Kazakhstan. From 2019 to 2023, the DRC received about $13.56bn in investment commitments under its Investment Code - with the extractive sector being the largest recipient. According to the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2024 the DRC attracted about $1.…

The Democratic Republic of Congo's economic potential remains largely unexploited. The mining sector is the centrepiece of the national economy, with the US State Department estimating the value of its mineral resources at $25 trillion in 2023. Yet it also possesses huge hydroelectric potential, a rapidly growing population and the world's second-biggest rainforest with potential for valuable carbon credits. Once its strategic location at the heart of Africa is thrown into the mix…

The chairperson of the African Union Commission has commended the electoral process in Uganda even as the Union's own electoral observers expressed concern about the vote. Uganda's electoral commission declared that President Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, had secured a seventh term in office with 71.61% of the vote (7.9m votes) on 15 January. The commission said that opposition leader Bobu Wine - who has rejected the outcome - gained 24% of the vote (2.7m votes). In a statement…

Presented by CGECI - The Ivorian Employers' Association, this measure reflects a strong commitment to positioning the digital economy as a strategic driver of national competitiveness and value creation. Three-Year Tax and Financial Incentives The new regime provides tax exemptions and financial incentives over a three-year period for eligible startups. In addition, beneficiary companies will enjoy simplified access to public procurement opportunities and improved access to financing mechanisms…

Securing a reliable supply of life's most precious commodity - water - has long been challenging across large parts of the African continent. But the situation will almost certainly worsen in the years to come as droughts become increasingly frequent and severe. Crises in other parts of the world provide a warning for Africa. In Iran, for example, officials have warned they may have to evacuate Tehran, owing to a critical shortage of water caused by the failure of seasonal rains.…

For decades, Africa's energy future has been discussed, debated - and too often decided - in rooms where African voices were secondary. Policies were designed abroad, narratives shaped by institutions far removed from the continent's realities and strategies imposed with little regard for the lived experience of hundreds of millions of Africans. Yet with 600m people still lacking access to electricity, 900m without clean cooking solutions, and a population set to reach 2.5bn by 2050…