Position Papers

Analysis in brief: The goal of the African Continental Free Trade Area is to make Africa a single market with no trade restrictions between countries. The work to make that a reality is being carried out on local levels between countries.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a structural blueprint awaiting construction. The treaty’s architects have finished their work. A majority of African nations required to put the plan into effect have signed on. What remains is for engineers to begin working in individual nations to enable legislation to support this initiative and for builders like financiers, contractors and operators to carry out actual projects. Essentially, the AfCFTA seeks to further open Africa to cross-border trade by dropping tariffs and other trade barriers, thereby facilitating easier trade among African countries.

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Analysis in brief: Africa’s energy goals are closely tied to advancements in battery storage technology – not only in the generation of electricity but also in its efficient storage and distribution. Considerable progress in the past two years show a continent-wide commitment to expanding battery storage capacity.

Achieving water security requires more than waiting for rains as it also relies on the storage of the rainwater until it is needed. Africa’s energy security likewise needs to increase its electricity generation and its storage capacity. Traditional grid-based energy distribution will not achieve universal electricity access for all Africans. Over the past 20 years, electricity access in Africa has nearly doubled from 25% to 47%. This is despite the inability to extend long-distance power lines to remote rural areas due to it being financially impractical, leaving 600 million people without electricity in 2025, while 150 million more face unreliable supply. Off-grid energy solutions, powered by battery storage technology, present the most viable path to universal access.

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Analysis in brief: Africa, with its developing export economies, is more vulnerable than other continents to the US-initiated global trade war. To avoid major economic disruptions, countries like South Africa are making strategic plans.

The US sparked a global trade war in January 2025 by mounting an offensive against, first, its largest trade partners and then the entire world, prompting defensive responses from other nations. Retaliatory tariffs put in place by targeted countries became countermeasures in response to sudden and high US tariffs on their products. Major Western countries were astounded but not daunted because of the size and resiliency of their economies. Unfortunately for African countries whose developing economies are delicate and more vulnerable to external shocks like tariffs, the US trade war might lead to the collapse of industries and increased unemployment and poverty.

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Analysis in brief: 2025 is predicted to be a tipping point for the mining of rare earth minerals in Africa. The continent’s output will make significant strides towards a projected accomplishment of providing 10% of global supply within five years. This begins this year as new mining endeavours in Malawi, South Africa and other countries begin operations.

While rare earth minerals are commonplace throughout the earth’s crust, they are described as rare because they tend to be distributed widely but not in concentrated areas that make mining viable. Advantaged by several areas of concentrated minerals, China is the world’s leading producer of rare earth minerals today, accounting for 70% of global supply. There are also abundant pockets in parts of Southern Africa. When Malawi’s Songwe Hill and South Africa’s Steenkampskraal advance to full mining production in 2025, the African continent will take two large steps towards exploiting its critical mineral reserves. These stand at nearly one-third of the world’s reserves (30%), which are being exploited now at a growing rate.

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Analysis in brief: Investors seeking profits in Africa are centring their focus on four broad sectors: energy, agriculture, healthcare and infrastructure. The application of new technologies is making opportunities in Africa even more appealing for the new year.

This article focuses on four key economic sectors that will drive investment trends across Africa in 2025, emphasizing their Pan-African scope rather than focusing on specific countries. For example, every African country has an agriculture sector in need of expansion, and each has (to some degree) sunshine and wind that can be harnessed as a source for clean and renewable energy, with the consequence that investors are focusing on the development of technologies and energy solutions that may be applied in most parts of Africa. Healthcare is another area whose scope is continental, yet every country has infrastructure requiring improvement.

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Analysis in brief: The past year brought developments that should reap political, economic and cultural opportunities for Africa in 2025. A summation of the most important of these shows an economically maturing Africa, gaining prominence on the world stage.

Each new year brings new opportunities for investment and business deals that are made possible by encouraging economic developments, which in turn are facilitated by promising political developments. The year 2025 offers new opportunities based on 2024’s advancements, which established trends that seem likely to come into greater focus in the months ahead. This article discusses five forecasts that are likely to influence the fortunes of investors in 2025.

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Analysis in brief: Political developments in 2024 were largely extensions of events from the previous year and further back into the past. Key elections, though presenting what appeared to be political ‘surprises’, were actually predictable.

Wars and coups d’état are events that often appear to break out suddenly. However, long-term observers of political developments recognise that such acts always have antecedents. This was the case in 2024, when no surprises startled political and economic observers closely following African trends. Looking at the year, it is apparent that seeds for 2025’s developments have been sown across every field of human endeavour, just as the events of 2024 were rooted in the recent past or in decades-long but ongoing developments.

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Analysis in brief: Nicknamed Nollywood, Nigeria’s filmmaking sector has succeeded both financially and in establishing Africa’s first film product to win continental viewers and global audiences, potentially expanding the sphere for investment in the industry.

In 2024, a historical trend was reversed. Nollywood, the film industry of Nigeria, has outsold Hollywood films in Nigerian cinema for the first time, while extending its reach to all corners of the globe accessible by satellite feed.

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