Global private equity investors remained bullish on their prospects in Africa in 2018, promising to increase their allocations and doubling down on their decade-long plans, a new study shows. At least 76% of those surveyed planned to increase or maintain their provisions to African private equity over the next three years, while 53% anticipated increasing their allocation to the continent. Of those surveyed, 67% said they would consider investing in a first-time African fund. Nearly...

REUTERS/Jok Solomun/File Photo Corruption, mismanagement and opaque business practices have for decades defined Africa’s commodity markets. A Chinese billionaire says deploying new technologies might be the solution that could help African nations trade their minerals and natural resources more efficiently and profitably. Bruno Wu, chairman and co-CEO of technology company Ideanomics (formerly Seven Stars Cloud Group), says blockchain and artificial intelligence could create efficient systems...

It’s been exactly five years this month since Uber launched in Johannesburg, South Africa, marking its first entry into the African continent. Since then, the ride-hailing service has disrupted Africa’s fragmented transport market, garnered 1.3 million riders in sub-Saharan Africa alone, and grown its footprint to 15 cities in 8 countries including North Africa. But the journey has also been a bumpy one, marked by violent protests, price wars, regulatory challenges, and accusations of growing...

Kenya held one of Africa’s most expensive elections in 2017, with its electoral body alone using more than $530 million to conduct the polls. Allegations of tampering and hacking, voter boycotts, and violence dogged the voting, and the supreme court eventually annulled the August presidential results and ordered a new election in October. After the electoral irregularities of 2007 and 2013, the crisis solidified mistrust of the electoral commission. Now the Independent Electoral and...

Ant Financial, the payments and financial services arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, is expanding to Africa. In a partnership with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) along with the International Financial Corporation, the firm says it will promote digital financial inclusion in the continent through investments and technical assistance. The offering will target smaller businesses and would look to cater to largely unserved consumers, including displaced people and...