Latent, potent forces against Africa’s prosperity in continental free trade:(1)
Olukayode Oyeleye
August 24, 2020
MONDAY, LAST WEEK, was the day of official handing over and commissioning of the secretariat building of the Africa Trade House in Accra, Ghana. The ceremony, attended remotely by many participants from outside Ghana – all over Africa – through online medium, marked the beginning of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) operationally from […]
Making Africa the world’s next food basket
Olukayode OyeleyeAugust 17, 2020
IN THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH of the explosion at the port of Beirut, capital of Lebanon, nearly two weeks ago, one of the high profile prompt responses was food supply, to keep the distabilised and devastated people of Beirut from starving and to keep the national supply steady. The World Food Programme (WFP), a prominent humanitarian […]
The role of the African Union in championing the apprenticeship model
MARTIN Ike-MuonsoAugust 17, 2020
The urgency for mainstreaming the apprenticeship system within the continent is evident. That also underscores its substantial adoption by some countries. Low levels of school enrollment, coupled with elevated levels of graduate unemployment, have made it imperative for some West African countries like Senegal and Ghana to rely on the scheme to narrow the gaps. […]
Registered as private, used for Kabukabu!
Francis EwheridoAugust 17, 2020
Two major incidents have changed the way some people use their vehicles in Lagos in the past one year. The first was the ban on tricycles (Keke Marwa) in some major routes in Lagos. Commuters had started lamentations, describing the government as insensitive for not providing alternative means of transportation before banning the tricycles. But […]
Poverty alleviation in Africa: the trade and globalization perspectives
Chris IkosaAugust 10, 2020
Globalization and international trade, which is its subset, are dynamically reinforcing. Trade among countries stands out as one of the most veritable levers of global interconnectedness. Africa’s contribution to global trade in 2017 was 2.4%. It grew by two percentage points to 2.6% in 2018. These performances are not cheering as they are only marginal. […]
Insurance penetration in Nigeria and the Canadian example
Chris IkosaAugust 3, 2020
Insurance practitioners in Nigeria have always been firm and uniform on the need to increase insurance penetration in Nigeria. But there are divergent views on whether or not the strict enforcement of the compulsory insurances should be a major tool to increase the penetration. A school of thought feels that relying on compulsion to increase […]
Apprenticeship models in selected African countries
MARTIN Ike-MuonsoAugust 3, 2020
Although the ‘igba-boi’ traditional apprenticeship system of the Igbo ethnic group in Nigeria appears to be the most efficient globally, other African countries equally have productive systems of apprenticeship that are worth appreciating. While virtually every culture seemingly has a unique apprenticeship system for transferring skills and aptitudes, we shall limit this discussion to only […]
Time to activate Africa’s idle magnetic force (5)
Olukayode OyeleyeAugust 3, 2020
THE COINAGE ‘NEW NORMAL’ has gained a global currency during this global Coronavirus pandemic more than at any other time since its emergence in a period of over a decade. It is an expression that, in the present circumstance, was meant to convey a contemporary and futuristic idea of the sea change expected to be […]
Time to activate Africa’s idle magnetic force (4)
Olukayode OyeleyeJuly 27, 2020
REFORMS ARE CENTRAL TO AFRICA’s pre-eminence in global trade. These reforms, though recognised as important requirements, are yet to be seen as widespread realities as Africa’s slowly reforming countries have slim chances of competing on the global trade turfs. “A slowly reforming society stagnates,” wrote Gordon G. Chang, a US global analyst. To paraphrase Chang […]
African culture supports prosperity creation rather than poverty alleviation
MARTIN Ike-MuonsoJuly 27, 2020
Africa has always been a prosperous continent. Apart from its natural resource endowments, it had a long-standing heritage of entrepreneurial prosperity until its weakening through slave trade and colonialism. The continent had several civilizations such as ancient Egypt, the Mali Empire, the ancient Carthage, the central African kingdoms, the kingdom of Ghana and the Songhai […]