Africa Digest : Trends and issues in macro environment Vol. 11

• Main Author: Burger, Johan
• Other Authors: Nanyang Business School
• Format: Newsletter
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Business; Business::General; Africa; Macro Environment
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/142776
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The Africa Digest is a fortnightly e-newsletter scanning the key trends in the macro-environment and industry to promote knowledge and raise understanding of business in Africa. This issue explores: 1. Trends in Agriculture - The agriculture sector is one of the main drivers for Africa's economies. Emerging industry trends include reforms, protectionism, efforts toward value addition and the increasing use of technology (especially mobile technology) to support farmers. 2. Geothermal Trends - Geothermal sources play a significant role in the provision of energy to East African countries such as Kenya. New sources in these countries are being discovered, while new countries are trying to develop their sources of geothermal energy to address their electricity shortfalls. 3. Trends in Mining - Discoveries of mineral reserves continue to emerge across the African continent. These discoveries include gold, oil and gas. They drive shifting “power balances” — Ghana has taken over from South Africa as the major player for gold. However, even this new pecking order may change with discoveries of new reserves in other countries on the continent. 4. Trends in Sustainability - Africa appears to be increasing its operational capability to respond to sustainability issues. Several African governments banned the use of single-use plastic bags. Other entities convert plastic waste into bricks to build schools (Cote d’Ivoire), and use it as an ingredient to build better, cheaper and longer-lasting roads (South Africa). 5. Technology Trends - The use of technology is frequently a principal driver of change, locally and globally. This technology includes mobile phones, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, blockchain, and the Internet, to name the obvious. While technology adoption in Africa lags the rest of the world some areas, the continent has embraced technology in a number of important sectors. These include the financial services sector, agriculture, artificial intelligence and e-commerce.