Africa

1. Growing African equity
2. Kenya’s Ruto heads to China
3. US ‘draft order’ confusion
4. Overhauling the AfDB
5. Nigerian Breweries’ profits
6. Congo Brazzaville forests
7. The Week Ahead

A British-Nigerian artist’s work goes on display in Antananarivo.

The impact of US tariff uncertainty, the shuttering of USAID, and the almost certain demise of the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) trade deal will top the agenda at this week’s spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC.

And while the various issues will play out in different ways, the combined volatility will make it harder for businesses across the continent to grow. We’ve reported on the obstacles African businesses face when trying to secure loans: Perceived high risk, foreign exchange volatility, and political uncertainty are just some of the challenges.

The current wave of global uncertainty follows the supply chain shocks of the last five years, tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine, that made raising debt even more expensive for African businesses. On that subject, I spoke with the head of the World Bank’s private investment arm about its strategy to help African businesses grow for the story below. Like many policymakers, he has a hectic week ahead.

The next few days will be packed with interviews from Semafor’s World Economy Summit, which we’re convening against the backdrop of the World Bank and IMF meetings. Yinka and I will be there, alongside more than 200 global CEOs, government officials, and central bankers to discuss ways to navigate uncertainty in the global economy. Reach out if you’ll be in Washington this week, we’d love to hear from you.

IFC targets rise in African equity

The World Bank’s private investment arm plans to “significantly” increase its equity stakes in Africa over the next five years to drive businesses’ growth, its top official told Semafor. The strategic shift comes as the continent’s economies and firms grapple with often crippling levels of debt.

Makhtar Diop, a former Senegalese finance minister who became the International Finance Corporation’s first African managing director in 2021, said the advantage of equity investment was that it gives companies the flexibility to scale and innovate “without the burden of immediate repayments,” which sometimes led to businesses becoming over-leveraged. Diop said the IFC would also increasingly look to mobilize funds from African pension funds and institutional investors.

Africa received the largest share of the IFC’s investments in 2024 — a record $14.2 billion in commitments, up 23% from the previous year. The IFC’s investments were spread across clean energy, digital infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing, and business development.

Kenya’s Ruto heads to China

Kenyan President William Ruto heads to China tomorrow, the first African leader to be hosted by Beijing since US President Donald Trump’s administration unveiled its unprecedented global tariffs.

Ruto is expected to try to position Kenya in a volatile and shifting geopolitical landscape, alongside more focused discussions on loans and infrastructure financing.

The closely watched trip comes amid an escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing. As a result, ties between China and Africa could also be reconfigured, analysts told Semafor. African businesses in particular are thinking “how do we diversify and make sure that we don’t depend on the US,” said Hannah Ryder, CEO of the consultancy Development Reimagined. “This is where China can come in.”

‘Draft US executive order’ raises concerns

A purported draft executive order that threatens to shut down large parts of the US State Department’s Africa operations sparked concern about Washington’s future presence on the continent. The document, seen by Semafor and first reported by The New York Times, outlined a massive reorganization of the department, eliminating the bureau of African affairs and shutting down all “nonessential” embassies and consulates in sub-Saharan Africa by Oct. 1. But the provenance of the document, which started circulating in Washington’s diplomatic circles on Saturday, remains unclear.

Administration officials denied its veracity: Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it “fake news” and a State Department spokesperson told Semafor it was a “fake document.” It is just one of several memos and proposals outlining a State Department overhaul to have surfaced in recent months. A former official, who recently left the Trump administration, said the latest document “makes zero sense given [the] continent’s growing importance.”

— Mathias Hammer

How to overhaul the AfDB

A month ahead of the African Development Bank’s election for a new president, Liberia’s former minister for public works — who once considered running for the top job — puts forward a case for how to overhaul the institution.

The incoming AfDB chief will lead in “times fraught with significant challenges as the very basis of international development is being challenged,” writes W. Gyude Moore in a new column for Semafor. He sets out three priorities: growing the bank’s investable capital, linking infrastructure development to value addition, and expanding Africa’s skilled labor force, creating “a lean and hyper-focused bank working in concert with others to close the human development gap on the continent.”

The World Economy Summit 2025 is bringing together the decision-makers who are shaping the future of global economic policy. The three-day summit, taking place from April 23–25, 2025 in Washington, DC, will focus on ways leaders across business, finance, tech, and beyond are navigating the complexities of tariffs, shifting trade dynamics, and evolving policy landscapes.

Featuring on-the-record conversations with Doug Burgum, US Interior Secretary; Sean Duffy, US Transportation Secretary; Jörg Kukies, Federal Minister of Finance, Germany; Éric Lombard, Minister of Economy and Finance, France; Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, United Kingdom; Chris Wright, US Energy Secretary, and more, the summit will facilitate in-depth discussions on how countries are adapting to these challenges and building resilience in a rapidly changing world.

April 23-25 | Washington, DC | Learn More

Nigerian Breweries posts revenue jump

Nigerian Breweries recorded a 69% year-on-year rise in revenue in the first three months of the year, its unaudited results show.

The increase took place against the backdrop of an economy that remained volatile despite slowing inflation and relative stability in energy prices, a key factor in production and transportation. Nigerian Breweries, which is owned by Dutch company Heineken, attributed the revenue growth to deeper market penetration and improved customer engagement, as well as “enhanced supply chain efficiencies.”

Nigerian Breweries has looked to strengthen its position as other drink makers, such as Guinness, scale down in Nigeria due to inflationary pressures and other macroeconomic challenges. Its full acquisition of the Nigeria business of South Africa’s Distell Wines and Spirits last month will see it expand beyond beers into producing and importing spirits and wines.

— Alexander Onukwue

Congo Brazzaville forests under threat

The amount of intact forest in Congo Brazzaville that overlaps with oil blocks, according to new analysis. Earth Insight, an advocacy group, used World Bank data to map how global forests are under threat from extractive industries. It found that Congo Brazzaville, the country with the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in the Congo Basin, has the highest industrial overlap in the sub-region with around 20% of the country’s intact forests also under mining concessions. The government is currently in the process of opening up the country’s most biodiverse national park, Conkouati-Douli, to oil drilling, the report pointed out, arguing that there was “still time for this trajectory to shift.” Tyson Miller, Earth Insight’s executive director, said: “Sovereign debt and natural resource extractivism often work hand in hand.”

The Week Ahead

• Apr. 21-26: The World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings take place in Washington, DC.
• Apr. 23: South Africa publishes its Consumer Price Index for March.
• Apr. 23-25: Semafor hosts its annual World Economy Summit in Washington, DC.
• Apr. 23-25: Southern Africa Telecommunications Association holds its annual conference in Johannesburg.
• Apr. 24: The Center for Global Development hosts a talk on how Africa should navigate the new development and climate finance landscape.
• Apr. 24: ​Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to visit South Africa, where he will hold talks with President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Business & Macro

🇰🇪 The Central Bank of Kenya set a six-month deadline for banks to shore up reserves to levels needed to handle panic withdrawals for 30 days without collapsing.

🇿🇦 Abu Dhabi National Oil and Swiss firm Gunvor are among the contenders to buy Shell’s downstream assets in South Africa that are valued at $1 billion.

Climate & Energy

🇹🇿 Tanzania has lost $468 million in potential carbon trading revenue due to weak coordination, a national auditor’s report found.

🇳🇬 Nigeria plans to increase the capacity of the electricity grid by 4,000 megawatts by 2026 and has started engaging engineering companies for the purpose, its power minister said.

Geopolitics & Policy

🇨🇩 DR Congo suspended the political party of former President Joseph Kabila and moved to seize his assets over his alleged support for M23 rebels.

🇧🇯 An al-Qaida affiliate killed 70 soldiers in Benin, the biggest death toll claimed by militants in the West African country in at least a decade.

Tech & Deals

🇰🇪 London-based exploration company Tullow Oil will sell its business in Kenya to Gulf Energy for $120 million.

British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare is marking his first solo exhibition in Africa. Safiotra (Hybridities), which opened in Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo this month, features artworks spanning his 20-year career. The showpiece display is The African Library, an installation of 6,000 books wrapped in Dutch wax cloth, each inscribed on the spine with the name of a person who shaped postcolonial Africa. “When I studied history it was mostly about European achievements and not so much about Africans,” Shonibare, 62, told RFI. “I think it’s important that all of our voices can be heard and registered.”

It’s been 10 years since Publicis, the French advertising giant, shook the industry with its $3.7 billion acquisition of digital consultancy Sapient, and six years since it appointed Nigel Vaz to run the combined Publicis Sapient. The division now generates 15% of the group’s revenues and employs one in five of its 100,000 people, Semafor’s Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson wrote.

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— Alexis Akwagyiram, Preeti Jha, Alexander Onukwue, and Yinka Adegoke.