Author: Victor Olayiwola

Nigeria’s Acting High Commissioner to South Africa, Alexander Ajayi, has disclosed that the Federal Government has begun documenting the commercial businesses, vehicles, and real estate left behind by Nigerian returnees ahead of planned anti-immigrant protests in South Africa. Speaking during a live broadcast on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, Ajayi stated that the state-backed evacuation program is designed to protect both human lives and the cross-border capital investments of its citizens. The mission will actively collaborate with South African authorities to verify these abandoned assets and pursue formal legal channels for financial compensation. The announcement coincided with the arrival of…

According to the latest data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has swiftly recovered from a massive market downturn, bringing his total fortune back to $36.5 billion. The financial rally represents a remarkable $6.55 billion year-to-date gain for the industrialist. The rebound follows a highly volatile period just a week prior, during which a sharp correction on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) wiped out approximately $1.2 billion from his holdings in a single trading session, dragging his paper valuation down to $34.3 billion. The brief downturn was triggered by the NGX’s worst trading session of the…

British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution, deployed £1.07 billion across Africa in 2025, representing 59% of its total £1.8 billion global investments. The figures, disclosed in BII’s upcoming Annual Review, show that the remaining capital was split between Asia (£712 million) and Ukraine (£40 million). Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria remain BII’s largest markets by portfolio size. Under its newly unveiled institutional strategy, BII announced it will now mandate that at least 25% of all new capital commitments be allocated to UN-designated frontier markets (least developed countries) to drive inclusive grassroots development. The institution’s annual climate…

International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff and Egyptian authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on the seventh review of Egypt’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the second review of its Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). Upon final approval by the IMF Executive Board, Cairo will secure access to approximately $1.5 billion under the EFF and $136 million under the RSF. This newest tranche will push cumulative disbursements under the joint structural reform programs to roughly $7.2 billion, providing vital liquidity to help President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s administration anchor macroeconomic recovery amid heightened regional volatility. Despite external vulnerabilities stemming from trade disruptions…

Between July 2023 and April 2026, the World Bank Group’s Mission 300 initiative successfully connected 50 million Africans to electricity, making headway against the continent’s massive energy deficit. The initiative aims to provide electricity to 300 million people across Africa by 2030 through a combination of grid expansions, decentralized mini-grids, and off-grid renewable energy. World Bank Group President Ajay Banga emphasized that the initiative goes beyond generating power, serving as a fundamental driver for employment, healthcare, and economic opportunity. Despite this progress, the latest tracking report highlights that nearly 600 million Africans still lack power, leaving the continent with the…

British International Investment (BII), the United Kingdom’s development finance institution, committed over £1.07 billion to African enterprises in 2025, according to its upcoming Annual Review. The capital injection represents 59% of BII’s total £1.8 billion global investments for the year—with the remainder directed toward Asia (£712 million) and reconstruction projects in Ukraine (£40 million). The funding focus underscores the institution’s mandate to support long-term economic development, job creation, and private sector expansion across its largest African portfolio markets: Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa. For the first time in its history, BII’s annual green energy and climate finance commitments surpassed…

Behind the seamless second-long experience of a cross-border digital payment lies a highly sophisticated infrastructure connecting banks, mobile money operators, card networks, and payment processors. For nearly a decade, payments infrastructure firms have been quietly building the financial rails to unite Africa’s historically fragmented banking systems. This foundational work has become critical as the continent’s digital economy accelerates—spurred by initiatives like the AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol, a booming e-commerce market projected to reach $113 billion by 2029, and a massive mobile money landscape that handles $1.43 trillion in annual transaction value. Moving money across African borders has historically been slow…

Kenyan law firm RONN Law has named co-founder Sean Omondi as its new managing partner, succeeding Anthony Njogu, who completed a six-year tenure in the role. The leadership transition officially took effect on June 1. The firm credited Njogu with guiding its strategic development, including overseeing a major corporate headquarters relocation in 2025 and driving critical partner talent acquisition. Njogu will remain active within the firm, transitioning back into full-time practice as a partner. Omondi, who co-founded RONN Law in 2020 alongside Njogu and fellow partners Muthoni Runji-Pertet and Njau Mukuha after departing Bowmans, specializes in complex commercial litigation and…

A new green energy initiative under the Productive Use Financing Facility (PUFF) is rolling out solar-powered agricultural equipment across Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The program will fund the deployment of solar cold storage facilities, refrigerators, water pumps, and grain mills to boost processing efficiency and preserve fresh yields. Implementation is being led by Clasp, a Washington, D.C.-based clean energy access non-profit. Rockefeller Foundation President Rajiv Shah highlighted the scalable potential of the framework during a site visit to a solar-powered cold hub in Nairobi, noting that country-specific resource allocations are expected to…

The grandfather of Africa’s angel investing and ecosystem builder is asking 71 friends to help unlock digital opportunities for Nigerian students as he marks his 71st birthday. Instead of birthday gifts, serial entrepreneur and tech ecosystem pioneer Tomi Davies is doubling down on legacy. As he celebrates his 71st birthday, Davies has launched a campaign called #71ForTheNextGeneration, inviting exactly 71 friends and supporters to invest in the future of public-school children through Laptops4Learning Nigeria (L4L) — a charity he co-founded. “After all, before we can find future founders, we must first help children imagine a future worth building.” — Tomi…