Africa

1. Universities lag on AI
2. Kenya’s rising debt risks
3. Ghana licenses crypto
4. E-sports boom
5. The Afro-European century
6. Nigeria wins WAFCON
7. The Week Ahead

Tributes pour in for Ghanaian musician Daddy Lumba.

African universities lag on AI

African universities risk being left behind if institutions fail to adapt to the growing use of artificial intelligence by students and faculty, experts warned. The lack of formal policies on AI use in many African universities is a significant concern, several academics and AI researchers told Semafor.

Nearly 70% of US universities have adopted written policies about the use of generative AI tools in learning and teaching, according to a survey conducted late last year. African universities, by contrast, lack similar policies, with the notable exception of some institutions in South Africa. African universities need “robust guidelines that balance technological advances with traditional teaching methods,” recommended a research paper published last month.

Caroline Wandiri Mwea, a researcher at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, said many African institutions were grappling with funding challenges that limit their ability to adapt to new technologies. “What will matter in the job market is how fast we embrace new technologies to our benefit,” she said.

Kenya’s rising debt costs

Kenya’s foreign debt burden came under the spotlight in two separate ratings agency reports. Last week Moody’s said the country’s debt servicing costs would remain stubbornly high as it relies “predominantly on the domestic market to meet its fiscal financing needs.” Approximately two-thirds of Kenya’s financing, just under 4% of its GDP per year, comes from domestic sources, the agency said in a report.

Fitch also flagged the ongoing risks of high public debt, putting Nairobi’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating at B-. “This higher level of credit risk indicates that the ratings agency believes there is a material default risk for Kenya when it comes to repaying its foreign currency debts,” MarketForces Africa wrote, adding that “a limited margin of safety remains.”

Kenya has so far managed to avoid debt default, but President William Ruto is coming under increasing political pressure with a spate of deadly protests against his administration in recent months.

Ghana plans crypto licensing

Ghana’s central bank plans to license cryptocurrency platforms to capture digital asset transactions in the formal economy. The bank is finalizing a regulatory framework to send to parliament by September, Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Asiama told Bloomberg. He said the proposed law would help the West African country boost cross-border trade, attract investment, and collect financial data. Crypto transactions in the country from July 2023 to June 2024 stood at $3 billion, an analyst told the outlet.

Only registered exchanges and wallet providers will be allowed to operate under the proposals. The platforms will also be required to maintain minimum capital thresholds and report suspicious transactions. The planned regulation will position Ghana alongside South Africa and Nigeria, which have both taken steps toward regulating digital assets.

Africa’s e-sports boom

The most recent valuation for Africa’s e-sports market, according to data analytics company Stears. The e-sports industry — which comprises at-home amateur video game players as well as those playing in transnational competitions — is expanding at six times the global rate across the continent, with Stears estimating that Africa was home to 350 million players in 2024. Online mobile gaming makes up 95% of users. While this has largely been driven by increased internet access in the world’s youngest continent, there continue to be technology obstacles for players: “A good amount of e-sports is rooted in online multiplayer games and Africa doesn’t exactly have the best infrastructure,” one Accra-based professional player told The Guardian, referring to internet connectivity and speeds. African players “are at a heavy disadvantage.”

The Afro-European century

Africa and Europe should build a new partnership to “secure their place in a reshaped global order,” argues a statecraft expert in a column for Semafor.

Looking ahead to the triennial EU-Africa Summit later this year, W. Gyude Moore writes that a “reimagined relationship” can help Europe’s aging economy and Africa’s underutilized population to forge an Afro-European economy to match Asia’s vibrancy and America’s size. But to achieve this, the continents need “a new compact,” he says: Europe needs to invest in African industries, and in return, Africa can provide labor, growing markets, and dynamism to Europe. “The continent with the most to gain from Africa’s rise is Europe — but only if it acts accordingly,” says Moore.

Nigeria wins WAFCON

Nigeria staged a stunning comeback to beat hosts Morocco 3-2 in a thrilling Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final. The Atlas Lionesses led 2-0 in the first half of the match at the Stade Olympique in Rabat. But the Super Falcons equalized after the break, and Nigerian substitute Jennifer Echegini scored the winning goal in the 88th minute. It gave the Nigerians their 10th Africa Cup of Nations title, extending their record of wins in the tournament’s 13 editions, and confirmed the Super Falcons as “the queens of women’s football in Africa,” wrote Al Jazeera. Ghana finished third in the tournament on Friday, winning a penalty shootout 4-3 against defending champions South Africa after a 1-1 draw in regular time.

The Week Ahead

• Jul 28-29: The AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum, hosted by Afreximbank and the Grenada government, takes place in St George’s, the Caribbean island’s capital city.
• Jul 28-29: The Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa holds its Consumer Committee meeting in DR Congo.
• July 30: Ghana’s central bank announces its interest rate decision.
• July 30-31: The Annual African Finance Association Conference is held in Cape Town.
• July 31: Zimbabwe’s finance minister presents his mid-term budget.

Business & Macro

🇿🇦 South Africa approved $5.3 billion in new guarantees for state-owned rail and port operator Transnet, part of which will cover the company’s debt repayments till 2030.

🇰🇪 British American Tobacco Kenya reported a 37% year-on-year increase in net profit to $23 million for the first half of this year.

Climate & Energy

🇳🇬 Nigeria’s state oil company NNPC said it will build a compressed natural gas plant and a liquefied natural gas plant in Kogi state.

🇰🇪 British energy company Tullow Oil will sell the company holding its Kenyan assets, which include 463 million barrels of oil to Auron Energy, a subsidiary of Kenya-based Gulf Energy, for $120 million.

Geopolitics & Policy

🇸🇩 A coalition led by the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group in Sudan formed a parallel government to oversee parts of the country under its control, with the group’s leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo as head of the administration.

🇨🇩 The treason trial of former DR Congo President Joseph Kabila began in a military court in Kinshasa, with the ex-leader accused of supporting M23 rebels involved in the ongoing conflict in the country’s east.

Tech & Deals

🇳🇬 Nigeria’s tax collector is mandating payment providers to integrate a new real-time portal it has created to track all electronic transactions eligible to be charged for value-added tax.

🇿🇦 South African telecom provider Telkom spent nearly $9 million on restructuring costs, especially voluntary severance and early retirement packages, in the financial year that ended in March.

Ghanaian highlife musician Daddy Lumba died on Sunday aged 60, stirring a wave of tributes. Born Charles Kojo Fosu in a small town in Ghana’s Ashanti region, Daddy Lumba took his early cues from a high school choir at 16, where he formed a group with three friends. The singer-songwriter burst into popular consciousness with songs that tapped into Ghanaian immigration and experiences of life in the diaspora. Daddy Lumba’s career spanned nearly four decades and included more than 30 albums. “Lumba’s unmatched musical genius provided the soundtrack to our lives, carrying us through various phases of life,” Ghana’s President John Mahama posted on Facebook.

Helping out on his family’s farm is a side job for Jeff Rowe, CEO of the agrochemical giant Syngenta.

But he tells Semafor’s Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson it gives him a valuable connection to the farmers who rely on his company’s fungicides, seeds, and digital tools, as he tries to humanize Syngenta in a country where many consumers increasingly distrust “Big Ag” and politicians view Chinese-owned companies with suspicion.

“We’re a big industry; we’re easy to hate,” Rowe admits.

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— Alexis Akwagyiram, Preeti Jha, Alexander Onukwue, and Paige Bruton.