Analysis from the desk

27 September 2026

7 min read

African FDI fell 26% in 2025. What the headline figure shows

Two editions, two headlines, one $35bn transaction behind both. What the underlying number is, and what the quiet revision from $97bn to $94bn should tell you.

27 September 2026

7 min read

Africa processes two thirds of global mobile money value and attracts 8% of the fintech projects

Usage and capital formation have separated. The gap between $1.4tn in transaction value and 18 FDI projects points to a significant difference between market adoption and capital formation.

27 September 2026

7 min read

Africa’s critical-minerals position is stronger in cobalt and platinum-group metals than in lithium

Reserves and production are routinely conflated in critical minerals commentary. The correction changes which countries matter and which theses survive.

27 September 2026

7 min read

Africa hosts under 0.02% of the world’s data centres and takes 3% of the investment

Every AI and cloud thesis on the continent runs into the same physical constraint, and the constraint is electricity before it is capital.

27 September 2026

5 min read

Fifty of fifty-four countries have ratified AfCFTA. About half that number have gazetted the tariffs.

A signed trade agreement and an operational one are different investable propositions. How to tell which you are underwriting.