Africa faces declining aid, rising debt, climate pressure and a weakening global order. Official development assistance, the technical term for foreign aid, fell by 23.1% in 2025, the largest annual contraction on record. It’s projected to decline by a further 5.8% in 2026, before accounting for strain from the current crisis in the Middle East….
For South Africa’s merchants and lenders, the most important question at the end of each month is a simple one: can customers actually pay? Behind every card swipe, debit order and instalment sits a household balance sheet under strain – and for the businesses that depend on those transactions clearing, reading the resilience of those…
Will customers be able to pay? (Image: Altron FinTech) For most of South Africa’s merchants, the question that matters at the end of each month is deceptively simple: will customers be able to pay? Behind every swipe, debit order and instalment lies a household balance sheet under pressure – and for the businesses that depend…
SpaceX is expected to debut on the United States’ public markets on Friday in what will be the largest initial public offering (IPOs). Artificial intelligence (AI) giants OpenAI and Anthropic are also widely expected to go public soon, and thanks to a new rule change by tech stock exchange Nasdaq, individual investors could own stock…
African security is conventionally analysed in terms of armed groups, peacekeeping, and counterterrorism. However, what increasingly shapes the political order African states can build is none of these. It is the rate at which states borrow money, in an architecture designed by their creditors. At a time when the multilateral peace and security architecture is…
Want to be a young retiree – or just have more financial freedom? Here’s 5 steps to set you on the right path. At some point, you’ve probably thought about it. How good it would feel to start your mornings unhurried, enjoying your perfectly brewed flat white in peace, without the crushing pressure to open…
There is a demand for accessible financial guidance, says FNB. First National Bank (FNB) aims to boost financial literacy by introducing My Advisor, a digital financial guidance tool aimed at helping South Africans better understand and manage their finances amid growing economic pressure. Available via the FNB mobile app, the AI-powered tool uses customers’ existing…
My stay in China as part of the DongFang scholarship program at Peking University (PKU) allowed me to immerse in the heart of China’s institutional and administrative architecture, to meet high-ranking officials responsible for strategic departments, as well as distinguished academics. Visits to cutting-edge industrial sites gave me the opportunity to observe remarkable technological advances,…
The African Union Credit Union (AUCU), in collaboration with AUDA-NEPAD and the AU Staff Association, successfully held the Financial Literacy Week from 18-20 May 2026 under the theme “Planning Today for a Secure Tomorrow.” The three-day event, which took place at the Medium Conference Hall of the AU Commission, equipped staff across all AU organs…
The Minister warns that Africa remains trapped by a “prejudice premium” in global finance, calling for urgent reforms to unlock affordable capital and drive industrial growth across the continent. Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has called for urgent reforms to the global financial architecture, saying Africa continues to…
