- Through rain, shine and Covid-19, these women have been fronting some of South Africa’s coolest young startups. WHILE GENDER EQUITY VARIES from country to country, in South Africa, wealth managers and financial planners consistently state that the country needs to invest in its female entrepreneurs…
- TOPLINE Binance will back out of its agreement to buy rival cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Binance said Wednesday afternoon, the latest in the sudden unraveling of billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto titan FTX once valued at $32 billion, taking down the value of digital assets with it. KEY FACTS…
- TOPLINE Art amassed by late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen brought in more than $1 billion at Christie’s Wednesday evening, setting the record for the most valuable single-owner art collection ever sold at auction only one day into a two-day sale–here’s which pieces have fetched the most. KEY…
- “By 2050, this number is expected to double, making young people (15-34) more than two-thirds of the continent’s population. This has produced a great deal of moral panic, but very little in terms of reimagining what is required to ensure young people are included in the decision-making processes…
- TOPLINE The controversial former boss of FIFA decried the organization awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar as a “bad choice” Tuesday, citing human rights issues in the country, adding to a growing chorus of criticism before the tournament kicks off later this month. KEY FACTS “Qatar is a mistake…
- Afropolitan is aiming to create a digital nation bringing together the best of Africa. “It doesn’t matter how much you raise, we cannot entrepreneur our way out of these problems. We actually have to do the hard work of fixing these governance issues and letting the other sectors thrive.” The…
- TOPLINE As hundreds of world leaders descend on Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, for the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, officials are calling on rich nations to do more to stop climate change, issuing strong warnings from the first day of the summit. KEY FACTS During the opening of the…
- Funmi Adewara, the founder-CEO of Mobihealth International, is changing the narrative of Africa’s ailing healthcare sector, so critical in these times. DR FUNMI ADEWARA VIVIDLY REMEMBERS the first time she had a near-death experience in Kaduna State in Northern Nigeria. At the time, her mother who…
- TOPLINE Facebook’s parent company Meta is planning to lay off thousands of employees, according to the Wall Street Journal, which would make it the latest major tech company to implement job cuts as employers fear rising inflation could slide the economy into recession. TIMELINE Nov. 6, 2022The “…
- TOPLINE Twitter owner Elon Musk’s plan to right the social media company’s financial ship while also loosening its content moderation rules could face early headwinds, with several large companies taking a pause on Twitter ads until they have a fuller view of how the platform will look under his…
- TOPLINE Deaths directly linked to alcohol rose sharply during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accelerating a decades-long trend and underscoring the far-reaching impact the outbreak has had on society…
- It’s time to get business done better with MTN Business ICT Solutions. Running a digital business More and more, clients are looking for ways to keep their staff productive in a dynamically changing business environment. Whether your people are working from home, the office or abroad, there is a…
- The 12th annual Desmond Tutu International Peace Lecture took place in Cape Town, on October 7, the Archbishop’s birthday. Amina J Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), spoke at the in-person event, themed ‘A Vision for Hope and Healing’. Key in establishing the United…
- TOPLINE Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk plans to layoff nearly half of Twitter’s workforce by the end of this week in an effort to cut costs, according to several reports, as the billionaire also seeks to boost the social media platform’s ability to monetize its user base by charging for verification…
- BY TSHILIDZI MARWALA AS ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) breaks frontiers anew, it stands to reason that the very nature of conflict will undergo a seismic change too. We are already starting to see a manifestation of this. Last year, for example, an Iranian nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was…
- Ghana’s plethora of economic battles include the depreciating cedi, the ongoing IMF negotiations, cuts in government expenditure and salaries to free up funding, and businesses closing doors. Ghana’s economic prospects have been a mixed bag of emotions in recent years. Lauded globally for its…
- –Caroline Grant, Senior Education and English Programmes Adviser, Sub-Saharan Africa, British Council Incorporating digital e-learning teaching technologies into Africa’s primary school education systems provides an opportunity for technology to play a role as part of larger systemic efforts to…
- TOPLINE A textless meme of a dog in a T-shirt tweeted by the world’s wealthiest man Elon Musk sent one of the world’s largest cryptocurrencies up 12% Tuesday, the latest instance of tongue-in-cheek social media activity causing big money moves. KEY FACTS Musk’s tweet of a Shiba Inu adorned with a…
- Ady Fleming on the music thriving in Rainbow Nation. By Ross Holland If you want to truly understand house music, just ask Adrian Fleming, the South African house DJ, music and event promoter and overall music enthusiast also known by his stage name, Ady Fleming. Fleming has played in nightclubs…
- TOPLINE Pharma giant Pfizer on Tuesday said it would ask regulators to greenlight a vaccine designed to protect infants against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, following strong results in late-stage clinical trials, a potential gamechanger in efforts to combat the common but potentially lethal…
- Onyinye Anyaegbu, the London-based co-founder and CEO of African art trading platform ARTSPLIT, sees art as an alternative investment. The global art market is estimated to be worth a staggering $65.1 billion according to the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2022 and Nigerian artists are…
- TOPLINE Russian officials reneged on its deal with Ukraine clearing the Black Sea for grain exports, after it claimed Ukraine led a drone strike on its Crimean naval fleet—threatening what officials warn could become a global food crisis. KEY FACTS The drone strikes caused “minor damage” to two…
- AS THE YOUNG CREATOR OF GRAPHIC NOVELS, ZIMBABWEAN ARTIST BILL MASUKU IS BREAKING RULES AND BARRIERS. WITH LITTLE ELSE BUT HARD WORK AND A SUPPORTIVE MOTHER, HE NOW HAS PRODUCTIONS GOING WITH NETFLIX AND DISNEY. AS A YOUNG BOY FROM HARARE, THE BUSTLING capital of Zimbabwe, Bill Masuku always loved…
- Ekene Ngige discovered art in a cup of cappuccino and then used coffee as a medium to tell important African stories. For as long as Ekene Ngige can remember, he has never allowed his limitations to dictate how successful he would be in life. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Ngige experienced what he calls…
- On JetBlue Airways’ third-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, in which the company reported its first pandemic profit of $57 million, executives repeatedly cited air traffic control staffing challenges as an ongoing issue. JetBlue’s president Joanna Geraghty characterized the air-traffic-control…
- TOPLINE Rihanna confirmed Wednesday she will release her first new song in five years on Friday, marking the singer’s long-awaited return to music after focusing on her makeup and lingerie lines. KEY FACTS The single, called “Lift Me Up,” is part of the soundtrack for the upcoming movie Black…
- When she speaks, the world listens. Melinda French Gates is one of the most powerful advocates for women and girls in the world and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has, over the last 10 years, spent at least $10 billion to benefit sub-Saharan Africa. In an exclusive Zoom…
- TOPLINE Facebook parent Meta Platforms reported earnings Wednesday that fell short of expectations, pummeling the company’s stock in after-hours trading as the social media giant with metaverse ambitions scrambles to cut costs amid advertising headwinds spurred by concerns about the global economy…
- AS AFRICA’S ENTERTAINMENT AND MEDIA industry continues to grow globally because of its projects and people, Mo Abudu is excited to see how far it goes. “It’s about representation, isn’t it?” Abudu tells FORBES AFRICA. “Really, I want stories about me, for me, by me. It has been missing.” Known to…
- TOPLINE Many of Twitter’s most active users abandoned the platform in recent years and have shown no sign of coming back, according to company documents obtained by Reuters, sparking serious concerns about Twitter’s future just days before Elon Musk is slated to take control of it. KEY FACTS The…
- Over 600 people have died and 1.3 million people displaced in Nigeria, with heavy rains and the worst flooding in the past decade impacting the country. Flooding has hit 27 out of 36 states in Nigeria, with 90,000 homes and major swathes of farmland reportedly damaged or destroyed. Officials say…
- TOPLINE Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ song “Unholy” earned the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 on Monday after three weeks in the top ten, making them the first nonbinary and transgender artists, respectively, to rank No. 1 on the singles chart. KEY FACTS In the week ending October 20, “Unholy”…
- TOPLINE Former finance minister Rishi Sunak has been chosen to become Britain’s next prime minister, the third person to assume the mantle this year with the hopes of soothing the political and economic omnishambles left behind from Liz Truss’ brief tenure, after she replaced Boris Johnson. KEY…
- In November last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk became the first person in history to obtain a $300 billion fortune. A lot has happened since then. He’s on the verge of buying Twitter after months of back-and-forth and reportedly plans to lay off 75% of its staff if the deal goes through. He had secret…
- For months, the pandemic has driven an upswing in burnout among workers, focused attention on employees’ mental health concerns and fueled a wave of departures known as the Great Resignation, most noticeably on the front lines. But the latest quarterly survey released Thursday from Future Forum, a…
- TOPLINE Billionaire Elon Musk plans to shrink Twitter’s staff by nearly 75% after his long-delayed deal to take over the social media company closes, according to the Washington Post, in a massive downsizing that could impact user experience. KEY FACTS Musk reportedly informed prospective investors…
- TOPLINE Actress Judi Dench on Wednesday became the latest high-profile critic of the upcoming season of The Crown on Netflix, pushing the streaming service to clearly label the show a work of fiction, as worries grow that the series could portray the royal family—and the new king, Charles III—in a…
- TOPLINE U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss has resigned after just six weeks in office, marking an abrupt end to the shortest premiership in British history after weeks of policy flip-flops, disastrous u-turns and economic chaos. KEY FACTS Speaking from Downing Street, Truss said she was stepping down…
- TOPLINE A team of scientists from Korea and Egypt have discovered a better way to grow insect-hunting fungi in a lab, according to research published Wednesday in Frontiers in Microbiology, a breakthrough that could pave the way to investigating a new range of cancer- and virus-fighting treatments…
- Topline South Africa’s rand strengthened in early trade on October 14, trading at R18.30/$, as the dollar dropped after investors moved towards global stock market considerations. The rand is trading at R18.14/$ as of October 19. Brent crude is trading at $90.56. Key Background Markets were…
- Rwanda’s approach to handling human- animal conflict through inclusivity and investment has changed the way the nation protects its wildlife. The white rhinos are proof as FORBES AFRICA found on a recent visit to the Akagera National Park. BY RIDHIMA SHUKLA WILD GRASS WITH GOLDEN TIPS SWAY under…
- At age 51, she landed her family a reality TV show that would change everything. Fifteen years later, the “momager” still gets a cut of her kids’ 15 businesses and, more recently, is striking out on her own. Kris Jenner is art directing her own Forbes photo shoot. “That’s cute!” Jenner, 66, beams…
- TOPLINE Netflix gained 2.4 million new paid subscribers in the third quarter of this year, the company said in an earnings report Tuesday, a reversal for the streamer after reporting losses for the first time in 10 years over the last two consecutive quarters. KEY FACTS Netflix reported 223.09…
- Digital businesses are changing the face of the entrepreneurial world globally. It’s estimated that the rise of online businesses is set to surpass the popularity of mainstream ventures. With the advent of technology, anyone with a working computer and internet can become financially independent.…
- Foluso Ogunwale, the Founder and CEO of I-Fitness, wants to make sure Africa’s most populous country is also a healthy one. ANY FAST- paced city with an urban populace comes with its share of lifestyle diseases and the need for a well-defined fitness and wellness culture. Lagos is no different, yet…
- Are African financial markets in a better place than a year ago? As the leading banking group on the continent, this is a key question we consistently interrogate across our operations. While it is very difficult to model for outlying events such as the COVID-19 pandemic or events in Russia and the…
- TOPLINE French dairy and food giant Danone on Friday announced plans to exit the Russian market, following the likes of Pepsi, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and other global food brands to exit the country amid its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. KEY FACTS In a press release, Danone said it has begun the…
- Top Line With most businesses now moving into the hybrid mode of working, whether working from home or office, internet connectivity needs to be at its best. A recent study by Surfshark reveals that South Africa has the best internet in all of Africa, although globally, it only ranks 66. Key Facts…
- TOPLINE Crypto markets tumbled Thursday morning in anticipation of new federal data, which revealed consumer prices rose 8.2% over the past 12 months—continuing crypto’s fall as investors fear rising inflation and a new round of potential interest rate hikes could tip the economy into a recession…
- Liked Black Panther? The Woman King, starring Viola Davis and Thuso Mbedu, is a tough, rewarding epic on sisterhood and empowerment. Director Gina PrinceBythewood tells us more about the just-released historical film shot in South Africa. ‘Telling the story of us!’ BASED ON A TRUE STORY, THE WOMAN…
