Kenya's failed $1bn Microsoft-G42 data centre project is a reminder that China has become an indispensable partner for African nations building digital infrastructure. In this @Semafor column, I look at how Beijing secured this role and why it matters. www.semafor.com/article/05/0...

View: China’s Digital Silk Road tightens grip on Africa

China has been the lynchpin in the rollout of transformative technologies in Africa over the past decade, while other nations have fallen behind.

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"South Africa is heading into a high-stakes stretch where a series of interconnected, anti-corruption efforts will land almost on top of each other," writes my colleague Tiisetso Motsoeneng in his debut @Semafor column, which is full of insights. www.semafor.com/article/04/2...

View: South Africa’s law and order test

Two major anti-corruption findings are due in the coming weeks.

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African governments are spending billions of dollars on the “smart” surveillance of public spaces using technology from China, according to new research from the UK-based @Institute of Development Studies. www.semafor.com/article/03/1... — via @Semafor

MTN is on the hunt for fintech startups it can acquire and plug directly into its platform to accelerate growth as a more diversified tech business, its CEO tells my @Semafor colleague Yinka Adegoke. www.semafor.com/article/02/0...

Exclusive: MTN targets fintech acquisitions, East Africa push: CEO

Africa’s biggest telecom group is focusing on growth rather than financial exits.

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Madagascar ended a 16-year ban on new mining permits while steelmaker ArcelorMittal extended a minerals deal with Liberia, as competition for Africa’s natural resources intensifies. www.semafor.com/article/01/3... — via @Semafor

Ghana is partnering with Google to develop AI-powered education tools in local languages, starting with Twi, Ewe, Dagbani, and Hausa. The program will later be scaled up to cover 12 approved Ghanaian languages. www.semafor.com/article/01/3...

Thank you to New African Magazine for including me on the 100 Most Influential Africans 2025 list. I'm honoured and incredibly grateful. This says more about the hard work of the @Semafor's Africa team than it does about me, so huge thanks to my colleagues 100.newafricanmagazine.com?utm_source=M...

Analysis: How Nigeria's security emergency has presented President Tinubu with his biggest crisis since taking office two years ago, and why his remedy combines police reinforcements and diplomacy. www.semafor.com/article/11/2... by me and Alexander Onukwue for @Semafor

Nigeria declares security emergency and names diplomats amid US tensions

The moves come after Washington threatened Abuja with sanctions over the treatment of the country’s Christians.

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"The summit declaration was a critical win, but the story is not over." Great @Semafor column by Hannah Ryder on how the US might continue "pressure enacted by absence" by denying South Africa a platform at the G20. www.semafor.com/article/11/2...

View: South Africa, the G20, and the new US presidency

The absence of the US at the G20 summit could threaten the future of Africa’s global voice, argues a development expert.

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"The most frustrating statistic in African geoeconomics is the claim that the continent has 30% of the world’s mineral reserves," writes Bright Simons in this brilliantly insightful @SemaforAfrica column. www.semafor.com/article/11/1...

View: The fallacy that unites Trump’s strategists and pan-Africanist champions

Africa has less of the world’s share of critical minerals than many seem to think.

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A chart showing recommended minerals prioritization for mining in Africa, based on their benefits continent-wide. (View: The fallacy that unites Trump’s strategists and pan-Africanist champions) www.semafor.com/article/11/1...

My view: Why Ethiopia’s COP32 success offers a climate opportunity for Africa and what South Africa's G20 build up teaches us. www.semafor.com/article/11/1... — via @SemaforAfrica

View: Ethiopia’s COP32 success offers opportunity for Africa

The country looks set to stage the UN climate summit in 2027, the first sub-Saharan African host since 2011.

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DR Congo suspended a major Chinese-owned copper and cobalt operation after a dam collapse spilled contaminated water into the country’s second-largest city. Elisha Iragi reported this @Semafor story about mining, EV batteries and pollution. www.semafor.com/article/11/1...

DR Congo suspends Chinese cobalt miner after chemical spill

Hundreds of Lubumbashi homes flooded with contaminated water in latest mining accident.

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"Sovereignty... means little in practice if the fundamental responsibility of a government to secure the lives and property of its citizens is not met." @MoghaluKingsley looks Trump's "guns-a-blazing" wake up call for Nigeria in this @Semafor column. www.semafor.com/article/11/1...

View: Trump’s threat to Nigeria is a wake-up call

Abuja must realize that the security and prosperity of Nigerians are the most important indicators of progress.

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African banks need to take the lead in more effectively organizing and deploying the continent’s capital for investments that will boost growth, say top bank execs. www.semafor.com/article/11/0... — via @Semafor

Nearly half of the world’s 50 most economically unequal countries are in Africa, finds a new report on global inequality led by the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. www.semafor.com/article/11/0...

Election violence in Tanzania that opposition groups say left hundreds dead is damaging investors’ confidence in East Africa and hampering regional trade, Kenya’s trade minister, tells @Semafor in an exclusive interview. www.semafor.com/article/11/0...

Kenya sounds alarm as Tanzania unrest hits regional trade

Nairobi’s trade minister warns electoral violence is damaging investor confidence.

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Nigeria’s lack of senior diplomatic presence in Washington and an absence of lobbyist support has left it vulnerable to President Trump’s threat of military action over alleged Christian persecution. www.semafor.com/article/11/0...

Nigeria scrambles for US influence without ambassador or lobbyists

Filings seen by Semafor show a separatist group in Nigeria has outspent Abuja in the Washington lobby.

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Paul Biya, the world's oldest head of state, will contest Cameroon's election on Sunday at the age of 92. He's been in power for more than 40 years. Here's my Semafor column on the problems caused by African leaders remaining in officer for decades. www.semafor.com/article/10/1...

The dangers of African leaders clinging to power

Cameroon’s president, seeking re-election after 43 years in power, is not an outlier among the continent’s leaders.

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Senegal is grappling with a debt crisis. Now a rift between the president and prime minister threatens the government's handling of the economy, reports Joël Té-Léssia Assoko for @Semafor www.semafor.com/article/07/2...

Africa topped China’s Belt and Road investments in the first half of 2025, reaching $39 billion, according to a new report. www.semafor.com/article/07/2...

Four African billionaires are now richer than 750 million of the continent’s population combined. Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, South Africans Johann Rupert and Nicky Oppenheimer, and Egyptian businessman Nassef Sawiris control a combined $57.4bn. www.semafor.com/article/07/2...

"Kenya’s effort at fiscal consolidation to reduce deficits and debt levels will become a casualty to the need for bigger budgets to placate both elites and voters." Ken Opalo lays out the challenges faced by President Ruto in a @Semafor's #OneBigIdea column www.semafor.com/article/07/2...

Why did Ghana’s central bank announce an "emergency" meeting, only to avoid announcing policy decisions? Nana Oye Ankrah and I report on the uncertainty stoked by the move, and why many had expected a rate cut. www.semafor.com/article/07/2...

"Lagos’s lack of free beaches illustrates the way in which the city continues to squeeze its poorer residents." This, by Aanu Adeoye, is a brilliant piece looking at how privatisation has led to the neglect of public services in Nigeria. on.ft.com/4lDdq2o

Lagos is surrounded by water — so where are all the beaches?

Lack of free access illustrates the way in which the city is squeezing its poorest residents

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"Emerging markets, like those in Africa, should pay attention. Local-currency stablecoins, backed by short-term government debt, could offer a vital tool for monetary resilience." Wale Ayeni's @Semafor column making the case for stablecoins in Africa www.semafor.com/article/07/1...

Why Africa’s emerging markets need their own stablecoins

They offer an alternative to the outdated compliance regulations of major banks that lock African economies out of global finance.

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Cameroon’s 92-year-old President Paul Biya, who came to power 43 years ago and scrapped term limits in 2008, will seek an eighth term in October’s elections. www.semafor.com/article/07/1... — via @Semafor

The Trump administration has slashed visa stays for Nigerians. A three-month visa will only allow single entry to the US. Previously, a multiple entry visa would allow Nigerians to stay in the US for up to six months. www.semafor.com/article/07/0... — via @Semafor

Medicine to treat babies suffering from malaria is approved for the first time and is expected to be rolled out in Africa within weeks, with the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives each year. www.semafor.com/article/07/0... — via @Semafor

Air travel passengers pay more in taxes to fly from Africa than counterparts departing from Europe or the Middle East, a report by the African Airlines Association shows. www.semafor.com/article/07/0...