African markets and business updates

Ministers from Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda have agreed to push ahead with a plan to develop a satellite that will improve access to communication and broadcasting services across the region. The Northern Corridor Regional Communication and Broadcasting Satellite Initiative (NCRCBSI) aims to reduce reliance on foreign satellites and help extend digital services to under-served areas. To date, only around 65 satellites have been launched by African countries. The majority are government-owned and used for functions including earth observation and climate monitoring. By comparison, more than 5,000 satellites have been launched by US-based entities. As a next step for the NCRCBSI, the four countries agreed at the Connected Africa Summit in Nairobi to jointly fund a comprehensive feasibility study. In a statement at the conclusion of the summit, Kenya's cabinet secretary for information, communications and the digital economy, William Kabogo Gitau, said: "Through this collaboration, we are strengthening regional cooperation and advancing the development of digital infrastructure to enhance connectivity, service delivery, and economic growth across our countries." His Ugandan counterpart, Chris Baryomunsi, added that the four states must now "move from preparation to implementation". However, the timeline for launching the satellite remains unclear, with the feasibility study expected to take 12-18 months to complete. If development of the satellite does move forward, it will most likely have to be launched from a commercial facility outside the continent, such as the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan or the Guiana Space Centre in South America. Several spaceport facilities have been proposed in Africa as more established launch sites become increasingly congested, though none have yet moved into construction. Space economy While Africa's space economy remains under-developed compared to other regions, there is growing evidence that the sector is gaining traction. A report published last month by the market intelligence agency Space in Africa states that governments around the continent allocated $828m to the space sector this year. The figure marks a 32% increase from 2025, while spending has increased by some 142% since 2018. Much of this spending is concentrated in a handful of projects. For example, South Africa is investing heavily in the Square Kilometre Array, part of a project being jointly developed with Australia to construct a massive configuration of radio telescopes to help astronomers monitor the night sky. The total size of the African space economy reached $25bn in 2024, up from $19bn in 2021, according to Space in Africa. A key priority for the continent's space leaders is to bring the newly formed African Space Agency (AfSA) into full operation. The body was officially inaugurated last year, with a headquarters established at the 'Egyptian Space City' in Cairo. The agency's objectives include harmonising national policies to foster private sector investment, promoting the pooling of resources through projects like climate monitoring satellite AfDevSat, and avoiding the duplication of resources. Speaking in April, AfSA president Tidiane Ouattara said that improving the coordination of space programmes would allow Africa to become the "next El Dorado of space affairs".

President Brice Oligui Nguema is in Angola on a state visit

The Federal High Court in Port Harcourt rejected CNPC’s attempt to overturn a $100 million judgement awarded to Cutra International in a long-running dispute over OPL 471.

Botswana's former president Festus Mogae, who led the southern African country for a decade from 1998, winning praise for the fight against HIV/AIDS, has died at the age of 86, the presidency said on Friday.

Lors de son assemblée générale tenue début mai 2026, les actionnaires de ont approuvé le changement de nom de la société en HBM Nigeria Plc. Une décision logique, qui acte formellement le passage de relais entre Holcim et son nouveau propriétaire chinois. En décembre 2024, le groupe suisse Holcim avait accepté de céder sa participation de 83 % dans Lafarge Africa au cimentier chinois Huaxin Cement. HBM, pour Huaxin Building Materials, reflète directement cette nouvelle identité. Le conseil d'administration a été autorisé à modifier les statuts de la société et à prendre toutes les mesures nécessaires pour finaliser le changement. L'exercice 2025 a été exceptionnel : le chiffre d'affaires a f

Aimable Karasira died on Wednesday from a drug overdose, according to Rwandan authorities. But Human Rights Watch called Karasira's death suspicious, saying Kigali bore the burden of proving he was not unlawfully killed

Zimbabwe said it will return 67 foreign-owned commercial farms that were seized during the country’s controversial land reform programme under former president Robert Mugabe.

Changes in the development finance world – especially the sharp drop in – have pushed taxation back into the Africa has entered a new “ ”. As external funding dries up, many African countries are now relying more on their own ability to raise money through taxes. But large parts of African economies are informal, and that’s widely seen as an obstacle to collecting tax revenue. , too, shows that countries with high levels of informality tend to collect less tax revenue and face other related challenges. Governments struggling to pay wages and deliver public services have two main choices: raise more taxes from the formal sector by increasing rates, introducing new taxes, or reducing tax incen

Petrol prices have soared and fertiliser imports have been severely impacted, causing financial distress, reduced planting, and raises concerns about increased food shortages.

Scandal over theft at his private game farm in 2020 has dogged South Africa’s president