Kevin Mwanza

  • Higher Oil Prices By End Of 2017 Could Lift Nigeria’s Economy

    oil prices By Kevin Mwanza, 5:04 am

    Nigeria, the second biggest oil producer in Africa, is likely to enjoy increased earnings from its exports by the end of 2017, when global prices are expected rise to $60 per barrel, an increase that will boost the nation’s struggling economy. Global oil prices fell from a peak of $115 per barrel in June 2014 to below $35 in February last year before recovering to $50 per barrel in December.

  • Mobile Money Services Like M-Pesa Key to Poverty Reduction In Africa

    Mobile Money Revolution By Kevin Mwanza, 6:32 am

    M-Pesa, the world’s largest mobile money network, could be the key to poverty eradication in the developing world based on its success in Kenya where almost 200,000 households headed by women are living above the poverty line as a result of the innovation, according to a study by Journal Science. The service, owned by telecom service provider Safaricom has economically improved the lives of many families in rural parts of East Africa’s biggest economy in the last six years.

  • South Africa Drops Mathematics Pass Mark To 20% For Students In Basic Schools

    financial inclusion Africa South Africa By Kevin Mwanza, 6:28 am

    South Africa will promote pupils who score 20 percent in Mathematics from Grades 7 and 9 to Grade 10 or Further Education Training (FET) after the government lowered the Mathematics pass mark from 40 percent, as the nation steps up efforts to deal with one of its biggest problems in the education sector. Authorities in the Western Cape Province however, said the mark should be adjusted to 30 percent,

  • Nigeria Leads West African Nations In Banning Dirty Fuel From Europe

    By Kevin Mwanza, 7:17 am

    Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, and its neighbors, Benin, Ghana, Togo and Cote d’Ivoire banned the importation of dirty fuels from Europe, in a move that the United Nations said will save at least 250 million people from air-borne infections. They took the decision after meeting with UNEP, in a move that banned fuels that cannot be sold to European markets because of their high sulphur levels.

  • Tension Grips Ghana As Opposition Candidate Leads In Close Presidential Election

    presidential election By Kevin Mwanza, 7:09 am

    Ghana is gripped in tension after hackers targeted the Electoral Commission’s (EC) website, as two private radio stations said that Nana Akufo-Addo, of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), had won the election based on projections from provisional results. The NPP urged the polls body to release results that have been delayed for the first time since 2000.

  • How Solar Energy Boosts Women Entrepreneurs In Tanzania

    By Kevin Mwanza, 1:06 am

    Solar energy, a cheap power alternative to the vast population in sub-Saharan Africa with no access to electricity, has economically empowered the women entrepreneurs in Tanzania who work even after night falls. In Bunambiyu, a village in the northern region of East Africa’s second largest economy, solar-powered lanterns have greatly improved the social-economic lives of the rural population.

  • Nigeria Finalizing Plans To Issue $1B Eurobond In Early 2017

    naira loses By Kevin Mwanza, 12:28 am

    Nigeria is finalizing plans that will see it issue a Eurobond in the first quarter of 2017, a first since 2013 for the Africa’s second biggest economy. The $1 billion Eurobond is part of the government’s efforts to plug a growing budget deficit and stimulate growth in its economy, which slumped into recession in August. The rise in global oil prices last week to $55, the highest this year and expectations within the international community that the struggling economy is adopting reforms

  • Made In Africa: Johannesburg Startup To Make First Smartphones In Africa

    By Kevin Mwanza, 6:05 am

    Johannesburg-based startup, Onyx Connect, is set to become the first firm on in Africa to manufacture smartphones when its starts rolling out its phones in the first quarter of 2017 to capitalize on the rich African market where high prices have been a major hurdle to handset ownership. The firm, with a $10.5 million in funding, will produce the handsets under a licensing deal with American tech giant, Google.

  • Nigeria And Morocco Wealth Funds Plan Natural Gas Pipeline To Europe

    By Kevin Mwanza, 5:33 am

    Nigeria has signed a deal with Morocco to construct Trans-African gas pipeline that will connect the continent’s largest oil producer to Europe’s lucrative gas market. The 4,000 kilometer-long pipeline, to be funded by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority and Ithmar Capital, a Moroccan sovereign wealth fund. The two governments signed the joint partnership during a state visit by Morocco’s King Mohammed to his Nigerian counterpart,

  • Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Pays $3M For 9.5% Stake In Kenyan Tech Firm

    By Kevin Mwanza, 4:41 am

    Toyota Tsusho, owned by one of the world’s leading auto-mobile makers, Toyota Group, bought a 9.5 percent stake in Kenyan-based tech firm, Seven Seas Technology, in a deal worth $3 million. The deal was carried out through CSV Africa, a Toyota Tsusho venture fund set up in 2014. The investment is set to prepare the Kenyan firm for its initial public offering set for 2020 when it will list on the Nairobi Stock Exchange