The political parties based on former freedom movements are losing ground, commodity prices still decide the economy, and agriculture faces climate challenges. Nordic Africa Institute’s director, Iina Soiri, looks into African trends for the year 2018. With the help of the Institute’s researchers, Soiri has identified ten trends and observations for the upcoming year:​ 1. […]

The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), have signed a US$100-Million agreement and a EUR 50-Million Murabaha agreement with the aim of facilitating and financing exports amongst African countries and between Africa and the rest of the world.  The ITFC is a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) […]

CinemAfrica, a Sweden-based organization that promotes African films, will hold a filmmaking workshop in February next year. According to information posted on its website, the organization said the workshop which is scheduled for February 5 to 11 in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, is intended for Afro-Swedes interested in filmmaking, who are over the age of […]

Two Ebola survivors have filed a suit at the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) Court against the Sierra Leonean government’s handling of the 2014 epidemic. The epidemic claimed thousands of lives. The two survivors, backed by the Freetown-based Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL), are accusing the government of violating its […]

Sweden’s Finance Ministry today presented the latest forecast of the country’s economy and public finances. The employment rate and labor force participation have been revised upwards and growth continues to gain strength. “Our GDP forecast for this year remains unchanged. For next year, we have revised the forecast for growth slightly upwards, mainly because global […]

Over 800 participants from 70 countries gathered in Muscat, capital city of the Sultanate of Oman on 11-12 December for the UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture, an official event in the calendar of the International Year for Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017. The conference held under the patronage of Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud […]

The African Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (AGF) which assists financial institutions in Africa to scale up their SME financing through the provision of partial loan guarantees and capacity development assistance has received an Insurance Financial Strength (IFS) rating of ‘AA-‘ (very strong) from the globally renowned Fitch Ratings agency. “Since our establishment […]

The European Union (EU) wants to increase aid to African countries, but on condition that they take action to prevent migration to Europe. This approach is cynical and does not reduce migration, according to Lisa Åkesson, a researcher at Nordic Africa Institute (NAI), who participated in a recent seminar in Stockholm, Sweden, linked to last […]

As the world focuses its attention on preventing irregular migration and protecting refugees coming out of Africa, the displacement that happens behind its own borders persists at an alarming rate. A new report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) reveals that since the beginning of 2017, 2.7 million […]

Leading digital money transfer service WorldRemit has raised $40m to drive its next phase of global growth, aiming to serve 10 million customers connected to emerging markets. Half of these customers will be in Africa.    As part of the expansion, WorldRemit will enable customers in Africa to transfer money to 148 countries as easily as […]