Africa

1. Stable handover
2. Africa @ COP29
3. A new startup fund
4. Mental wellbeing
5. Time for transition

Also, a breakthrough in the fight against plastic pollution.

Welcome to Semafor Africa, where we’re not done with elections yet. The US may have clarity now, but here in Ghana the race to win votes ahead of the Dec. 7 election is reaching its climax. Shuttling between meetings and conversations in bars in the capital Accra, it’s clear that the economy is the key issue. Ordinary people are grappling with high inflation, which hit 22% last month. And while that’s well down from the 54% recorded early last year, I saw shoppers at a supermarket wince at prices in aisles already covered in Christmas decorations.

Last year, billboards of a masked presidential aspirant dotted the capital. Now the streets are lined with the faces of the two main candidates, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the ruling party and former President John Dramani Mahama of the main opposition.

Bawumia, an economist and former central banker, says he would revive the economy through business-friendly tax reforms. But Mahama’s supporters have likened the vice president to Kamala Harris, saying he’s inextricably linked to the current administration’s challenges. Kweku Awotwi, a prominent Ghanaian executive who chairs the board at United Bank for Africa (Ghana), told me it will be hard for whoever wins. “The last couple of years have been tough and the prospect is that it’s not going to get any easier for a while.”

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Investment hub Mauritius maintains stability

Mauritius’ opposition coalition won the country’s election emphatically. It paves the way for a peaceful handover that would buttress the country’s credentials as a stable investment hub after a high-profile wiretapping scandal last month.

Alliance du Changement, led by three-time former premier Navinchandra Ramgoolam (pictured), took all seats in the country’s parliament. Pravind Jugnauth, the Indian Ocean island’s prime minister since 2017, on Monday conceded that his L’Alliance Lepep was heading for a “huge defeat” after Sunday’s parliamentary election.

Mauritius routinely tops rankings of African investment destinations, due its economic performance and political stability. But recordings leaked in recent weeks suggested government-sanctioned wiretapping has been widespread, prompting fears that civil liberties were under threat. The government briefly banned social media in response to the scandal.

“The fact that Mr Jugnauth conceded early is a positive reflection of the credibility of state institutions and belief in democratic principles,” said Jacques Nel, head of macro at advisory firm Oxford Economics Africa, in a note.

Africa’s bigger slice of the climate finance pie

African officials and activists are in Azerbaijan this week for COP29, pushing for increased investment in climate-related projects as well as the reform of the global financial system.

Central to the discussions is the setting of new climate finance targets to support developing countries in climate adaptation and mitigation. The proposed “New Collective Bargaining Agreement” is meant to replace a 15-year-old commitment by developed nations to provide $100 billion annually to developing countries, which was only achieved in 2022 after years of missed targets.

Reforming the financial architecture to unlock more funds to back clean energy projects also remains a major concern for African participants at the conference. The African Development Bank unveiled a new program to factor Africa’s environmental resources, such as using carbon sinks, in estimating the continent’s wealth. The bank said this would allow countries to access greater funds from international markets.

Preliminary estimates by the bank indicate that carbon sequestration alone could have boosted Africa’s nominal GDP in 2022 by $66 billion — a 2.2% increase.

— Martin K.N. Siele

Funding new African tech companies

The amount tech accelerator Startupbootcamp, Mara Group and Blend Financial Services are planning to invest in new African technology companies, following a deal signed at the Future Investment Initiative in Saudi Arabia. Mara Group’s founder Ashish Thakkar said the initial fund — expected in the next three to six months — will target startup funding rounds and pre-IPO rounds in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, and Egypt.

Founders open up on stress

Inflation and currency devaluations are among the most significant stresses African startup founders face, a survey of executives in 13 African countries found. More than eight in 10 founders said running their companies impacts their mental health, with fundraising and company management among the other stressors. But many founders would still start another company if the current one failed, according to the report by Flourish Ventures, an investor in fintech startups including Flutterwave.

“The wellbeing of a founder is not a nice-to-have for a business but a strategic imperative for success,” Ameya Upadhyay, a venture partner at the firm, told Semafor Africa. He hopes the report draws more attention to the need for open and honest conversations between founders and investors, given that 41% of founders believe investors only care about founder wellbeing to the extent that it affects return on investment.

— Alexander Onukwue

Kenya races to transition Haiti force

NAIROBI — President William Ruto is pushing for the transition of the Kenya-led security mission in Haiti to a UN peacekeeping operation, amid concerns about its effectiveness and funding.

The proposal featured in US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s phone call with Ruto last week. Ruto said the move was meant to “enhance the capability of the mission.” The UN-backed multinational security mission was meant to quell Haiti’s gang violence, but its impact has been limited.

Some 430 Kenyan police officers were deployed in June, with the number expected to rise to 2,500 including more officers from Kenya and other countries.

The US has footed much of the bill for the mission but future funding is unclear following the election of Donald Trump and Republican control of Congress when they take office in January. A shift to a UN peacekeeping operation would unlock new sources of funding.

— Martin

Deals

🇿🇦 South African firms Old Mutual Private Equity and Sphere Investments will acquire Much Asphalt, a large-scale commercial producer of asphalt and bitumen, in a 1.1 billion rand ($62 million) debt and equity deal.

🇺🇬 African food sector investor Sahel Capital provided a $1 million working capital loan to Sukuma Commodities, a Ugandan-based coffee beans exporter to Europe.

🌍 US payments company Visa said it has invested in four African startups — OkHi, Workpay, Oze, and Orda — that graduated from its inaugural Africa Fintech Accelerator program.

🇰🇪 AgDevCo, a UK-based investor in African agriculture, provided $9.5 million in a mix of debt and equity to Agventure, a Kenyan company that offers farmers advisory on sustainable production practices.

🌍 Tokyo-based finance multinational Gojo has taken a 16.4% stake in pan-African microfinance group Baobab for an undisclosed sum. Baobab operates in seven African countries including Burkina Faso, DR Congo, and Nigeria.

🇨🇮 The African Development Bank approved a €24.6 million ($26.4 million) loan to Côte d’Ivoire to boost the development of fisheries and aquaculture value chains, and contribute to its wider blue economy.

Governance

🇲🇱 Australian gold miner Resolute Mining said its chief executive and two other employees were temporarily detained in Mali on Friday after discussions about its business practices with the mining and tax authorities.

🇿🇦 South Africa partially reopened its border with neighboring Mozambique on Saturday. It had closed the Lebombo port of entry following post-election protests.

Markets

🇿🇦 South African retailer Pick n Pay offered up to 40% of its discount grocery chain Boxer for its initial public offering at a valuation of up to $1.4 billion. It is expected to list shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Nov. 28.

Commodities

🇬🇭 Ghana’s cocoa regulator Cocobod said it will increase the fixed farmgate price for cocoa farmers by 3.3% for the 2024/25 season in a bid to deter smuggling. Farmers now will receive 49,600 Ghanaian cedi ($3,062) per metric ton.

Trade

🇰🇪 Kenya last Thursday shipped 35 containers in its maiden exports to South Sudan, Zambia, and DR Congo under the African Continental Free Trade Area framework, including maize, wheat flour, milk powder, soaps, and baking powder.

Tech

🇿🇼 Zimbabwe will require admins of WhatsApp groups collecting data from more than 50 members for commercial use to get a license from the country’s data protection authorities.

🇰🇪 The Communications Authority of Kenya directed internet service providers to temporarily block access to Telegram after blaming the platform for enabling cheating in ongoing national examinations.

Scientists in Nairobi have discovered a new weapon in the battle against plastic waste: a polystyrene-eating insect. The material, also known as plastic foam, is widely used in packaging but is hard to break down with traditional recycling methods creating pollutants. The scientists found larvae of a Kenyan lesser mealworm can chew through the material and break it down in their guts.

It’s the first time an insect native to Africa has been found to break down plastic, though species capable of this have been discovered elsewhere. The team at Kenya’s International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology hopes to isolate the microbes and enzymes produced by the African insect to create tools that get rid of plastic waste.

The previous two US administrations played mostly defense when it came to tech policy. The first Trump term focused on curbing the ability of China to rip off American innovation. Biden officials picked up where Trump left off, with new export restrictions on US technology and the CHIPS Act, aimed at onshoring and diversifying the semiconductor supply chain. But the next four years will likely include a hefty bit of offense, Semafor’s Reed Albergotti writes.

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— Yinka, Alexis, Alexander Onukwue, Martin Siele, and Muchira Gachenge.