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Each year, I construct a Misery Index. The idea of such an index to measure economic misery was introduced by economist Art Okun in the 1960s as a way to provide President Lyndon Johnson with an easily digestible snapshot of …
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What do Slobodan Milosevic, Robert Mugabe, and Nicolás Maduro have in common? Other than being leaders who kept the Communist Manifesto at their bedside, all three ushered in devastating hyperinflations.
Hyperinflations are rare. They have only occurred when the supply
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Not long after Nigeria’s National Assembly agreed to an upward review of the minimum wage from ₦18,000 ($50) to ₦30,000 ($83), the federal government considered increasing value-added tax (VAT), which it believes will create more revenue to fund …
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Emmerson Mnangagwa, the new president of Zimbabwe, will have a hard time digging his country out of the economic hole that it fell into during the 37 years it was led by Robert Mugabe. But it can be done.
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It looks likely that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will be implemented in the next few weeks. Only 22 African nations need to ratify the AfCFTA before it can be enacted, and thus far, 19 countries have done …
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Almost a year since Robert Mugabe was removed and months since elections, Zimbabwe’s economic crisis continues to deepen. A severe lack of foreign currency has crippled local businesses. Inflation is skyrocketing. And dire shortages of fuel, medical supplies, and other …
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Kenya is among the top 10 wealthiest countries in Africa ranking at position 5 with US$104 billion.
This is according to the latest instalment of the AfrAsia Bank Africa Wealth Report.
South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Morocco lead the pack …
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In the aftermath of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), we must resist the slightest extension of what is true and fake. We must resist the temptation to be swept by a social media frenzy fed on ignorance.
A …
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Many years ago, the brilliant Lucius Banda had a lamenting line in one of his haunting songs, in which he mimics an Asian boast: dziko ndi wanu, ndalama ndi wathu (you, Malawians, own the country but we, Asians, have the …
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Despite immense mineral wealth, Africa’s economic success stories are few. Outside Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius, and Rwanda, economies on the continent have been held back by decades of state interventionism, corruption, petulant government spending, and irresponsible borrowing. National debts have reached …
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