Africa

1. Trump’s DEI ban impact
2. US deportation deals
3. S. Africa labor law case
4. Airtel-Starlink tie-up
5. Kenyan growth slows
6. China loan for Nigeria
7. Nigeria’s homegrown push

Why Abidjan is becoming a rap hub.

Trump’s DEI ban hits gender investments

African investment funds are struggling to raise capital for women-led businesses because many previous backers do not want to be associated with a gender-driven ethos that goes against US President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI drive.

Trump has issued executive orders restricting the use of the term “gender” in federal policies and ending government DEI programs to cut “waste” and push back against “gender ideology.” Several fund managers told Semafor that US institutional investors, who underwrite much of the development finance flows into Africa, were already backing away from funds that focus on the role of gender in achieving a financial return.

“Investors are pulling back from anything explicitly tied to DEI or gender equity,” Gwera Kiwana, an investment committee member at the Launch Africa Ventures fund, told Semafor, echoing comments made by others. Elena Haba, a senior official at the 2X Global membership organization that seeks to unlock gender-focused capital, said the dismantling of USAID had contributed to the drying up of capital that supported gender-based investments.

African countries mull Trump returnee deals

Several African countries are considering proposals from the Trump administration to accept deported migrants from the US, according to multiple reports. The plans would see these nations receive citizens of other countries. Rwanda is the only country that has publicly acknowledged it is in discussions with the White House to consider this plan: Kigali had previously agreed a similar arrangement with the UK in 2022, but that plan fell through after a change of government in London last year. Other African countries — including Angola, Benin, and Equatorial Guinea — have held talks with Washington, according to a report by CBS News, which cited internal government documents. Benin’s foreign minister also met with State Department officials this week, but details of the discussions were said to concern trade and regional security.

Trump has been pushing to expel millions of what he called “illegal migrants” to fulfill a campaign promise made last year. African countries including Chad, Congo Brazzaville, and Eritrea were among those whose migrants had some of the highest visa overstay rates last year, according to the US Department of Homeland Security.

— Yinka Adegoke

S. Africa’s DA challenges labor law

South Africa’s Democratic Alliance, the second-largest party in the coalition government, launched a legal challenge against a new labor law aimed at hiring more of the Black majority population.

The chairperson of the center-right DA, widely seen as a predominantly white party, said the Employment Equity Amendment Act discriminated against other groups. The DA argues the new law, which aims to tackle inequality stemming from former apartheid rule, will drive up unemployment and discourage companies from investing in Africa’s most industrialized economy. The case comes weeks after US President Donald Trump accused Pretoria of racism against the country’s white minority, offering them refugee status in America. White people in South Africa occupy around two thirds of top management positions despite making up only 7% of the population.

Airtel Africa teams up with Starlink

Telecom giant Airtel Africa reached an agreement with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to extend the availability of the satellite company’s Starlink internet service in Africa.

Starlink has obtained licenses to operate in nearly two dozen African countries since its debut in Nigeria two years ago. In many places, it has become a strong alternative to services from telecom providers, despite its higher equipment costs and monthly subscriptions.

Airtel operates in 14 African countries, with Starlink available in nine. The agreement between both companies is described by Airtel as a “strategic investment and partnership” that will enhance its “next-generation satellite connectivity offerings.” It mirrors a move by both parties in March to allow Starlink to use Airtel’s stores to distribute its kits in India, with Airtel potentially offering Starlink services to its customers.

Kenya’s slowing economic growth

Kenya’s economy last year expanded at its slowest pace since the COVID-19 pandemic. A 4.7% overall growth rate in 2024 was the country’s lowest since a 0.3% contraction in 2020, according to new data from Kenya’s National Bureau of Statistics. Contractions were noted in the construction, mining, and quarrying industries last year, the report said, while growth was recorded in sectors such as agriculture, finance, forestry, and real estate. Expected interest rate cuts this year should boost economic activity and growth, Kenyan Finance Minister John Mbadi said at a briefing on Tuesday.

Nigeria’s latest Chinese loan

The size of a loan Nigeria is taking from China Exim Bank to finance the construction of a major new road. The road will connect a sea port in Lagos and the Dangote oil refinery to at least a dozen southern states in the country, the government said. Chinese loans to Nigeria have totaled $9.6 billion since 2000, according to a Boston University database, with more than $6 billion allocated to transportation projects, mostly by Exim Bank. Nigeria’s debt to China grew to more than $5 billion last year, according to data from the Nigeria Debt Management Office.

Nigeria prioritizes local goods

The Nigerian government will begin mandating its agencies to prioritize locally-made goods in a push to grow local enterprise.

Locally made goods will “henceforth receive deserved priority in federal government procurement,” the government’s information minister said on Monday. President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet approved the new policy that is geared at ushering in an era of “self-belief and national pride,” the minister said. 

Nigeria’s import bill was $10 billion in the last quarter of 2024, an 83% increase from the previous year. China and India account for more than a third of imports into Nigeria, with solar panels topping the list of imported items. Nigeria placed a ban on solar panel imports in March, in a bid to domesticate manufacturing.

Business & Macro

🇰🇪 Kenyan businesses’ exports to the United States under the African Growth and Opportunity Act rose 19% year-on-year to $469 million, the Kenyan statistics body said.

🇿🇦 South African bank Absa named René van Wyk, a former head of banking supervision at the country’s central bank, as its new chairman.

Climate & Energy

🇿🇲 🇿🇼 Zambezi River Authority, a joint venture between Zambia and Zimbabwe, formed a team to seek investment in the $5 billion Batoka Gorge hydroelectric project.

🇳🇬 US oil major ExxonMobil plans to invest $1.5 billion over the next two years to develop its deepwater operations in Nigeria.

Geopolitics & Policy

🇸🇩 The International Court of Justice dismissed a case brought by Sudan accusing the United Arab Emirates of funding genocide in the country.

🇹🇿 Tanzania entered a technology transfer partnership with Cuba to enable the local manufacture of biofertilizers and malaria control products in the East African country.

Tech & Deals

🌍 The European Investment Bank intends to invest $30 million in a fund by private equity firm Alter Semper that aims to invest in Egypt, Morocco, and parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

🇿🇦 MTN South Africa will sell 4G smartphones to 1.2 million “carefully selected” prepaid customers at $5 each, as it seeks to include low-income households in the country’s shift to digital.

Young Franco-Ivorian artists are flocking to Abidjan to perform in festivals and shoot their music videos. They are drawn to the Côte d’Ivoire city for its energy and photogenic appeal, Le Monde reported, with musicians such as KT Gorique and the rising Parisian star Jeune Morty following in the footsteps of more established artists such as Laylow and Jok’Air. “French rap is losing momentum,” the director of the label Coast 2 Coast told the newspaper. “It needs to reinvent itself, and what better way than by going back to its roots?”

US President Donald Trump’s proposal to reopen Alcatraz is gaining some steam with Congressional Republicans, reported Semafor’s Burgess Everett and Shelby Talcott.

“The president said it … we’ll look into it,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told Semafor, adding that he wasn’t sure if Congress would need to send more funding to get it done. US President Donald Trump aides say the idea isn’t new, but it’s unclear where it originated — even less clear, for the moment, is how it would work.

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