World
China Offers Assistance to Africa on AfCFTA Implementation
By Adedapo Adesanya
China has extended a hand of assistance to African countries as it set to launch its continental free trade and investment platform known as the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The Asian giant said it has a huge experience from its international trading transactions with other continents, according to the deputy director-general of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (ICC-NDRC), Mr Hao Chang.
Mr Chang, while speaking at the International Cooperation Centre, noted that China will enhance trade in Africa through its implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to connect 70 countries through infrastructure.
“We are prepared to assist African countries through the promotion of trade facilities, building Africa’s industrial capacity to develop its value chain and building complete proposals for China and African countries to implement the various partnerships which exist between them,” he said.
Addressing a virtual meeting of top economic policy think tanks during the seventh Africa Think Tanks Summit, Mr Chang said building the trade relationship between China and Africa is currently focused on how China can facilitate the implementation of AfCFTA.
He explained that China has signed agreements with 39 countries in Africa to establish cooperation in building industrial capacity to promote the local manufacturing of goods in Africa.
According to him, the cooperation with African countries is focused on how to make the BRI beneficial to the African continental trader under the AfCFTA and how the Chinese experience in trade could be shared with African countries to facilitate trade at all levels.
China is working with African countries at three levels to implement broader goals aiming to fight poverty.
They include working with African countries under the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) frameworks and cooperation under the AU Agenda 2063.
Agenda 2063 prioritises the launching of the AfCFTA to accelerate trade among African countries to improve Africa’s economic well-being, Mr Chang said.
He said his think-tank will help to support African countries to implement their national strategic goals, including increasing industrial production, agriculture and infrastructure development.
He said ICC-NDRC is among the major backers of the Harare-based African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), the African Union Specialised technical agency tasked with managing the capacity constraints.
The Think Tank Summit is an annual event that aims to propose strategies and actionable recommendations for think tanks to enable them to contribute meaningfully to tackling policy implementation challenges facing Africa within the context of Africa’s Agenda 2063 and the SDGs.
The ACBF is currently working with other nations to accelerate efforts to ensure that countries are ready to trade continent-wide.
“We can further explore cooperation and the connectivity between trade and investment which is very important. China is one of the biggest trading partners to Africa and Africa is China’s biggest trading partner. This AfCFTA will form a big trading partnership between China and Africa,” Mr Chang added.
Also adding an input, Mr Kevin Urama, Senior Director at the African Development Institute at the African Development Bank (AfDB), explained that upon entry into force and with the deposit of 22 instruments of ratification and membership, AfCFTA will become the largest Free Trade Area (FTA) in the global economy, covering a market of 1.2 billion Africans with a combined wealth of $2.5 trillion expected to reach $29 trillion by 2050.
According to Mr Urama, the AfCFTA could deepen and expand intra-Africa trade from its very low base of 15 to 52 per cent. At the national level, the estimated welfare gains of around 2.64 per cent of continental GDP will be shared among all participating countries.
On an individual level, the AfCTA will increase real wages for both skilled and unskilled workers in diverse sectors as employment shifts from agricultural to non-agricultural sectors like manufacturing and services.
It is estimated that implementing the AfCFTA could boost Africa’s income by $450 billion, bring 30 million people out of extreme poverty and raise the incomes of 68 million others.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
For transforming cross-border payments through its deployment with Global Money Exchange, Comviva has been named Best In-Class Cross Border Payments.
The global leader in digital transformation solutions clinched this latest accolade at the IBS Intelligence Global FinTech Innovation Award 2025.
The recognition highlights how Comviva’s mobiquity Pay is helping shape a modern cross-border payment ecosystem that stretches far beyond conventional remittance services.
Deployed as a white label Wallet Platform and launched as Global Pay Oman App, it fulfils GMEC’s dual vision—positioning itself as an innovative payment service provider while digitally extending its core money transfer business.
The solution allows GMEC to offer international money transfers alongside seamless forex ordering and other services. These capabilities sit alongside a broad suite of everyday financial services, including bill and utility payments, merchant transactions, education-related payments, and other digital conveniences — all delivered through one unified experience.
“This award is a testament to Oman’s accelerating digital transformation and our commitment to reshaping how cross-border payments serve people and businesses across the Sultanate.
“By partnering with Comviva and bringing the Global Pay Oman Super App, we have moved beyond traditional remittance services to create a truly inclusive and future-ready financial ecosystem.
“This innovation is not only enhancing convenience and transparency for our customers but is also supporting Oman’s broader vision of building a digitally empowered economy,” the Managing Director at Global Money Exchange, Subromoniyan K.S, said.
Also commenting, the chief executive of Comviva, Mr Rajesh Chandiramani, said, “Cross-border payments are becoming a daily necessity, not a niche service, particularly for migrant and trade-linked economies.
“This recognition from IBS Intelligence validates our focus on building payment platforms that combine global reach with local relevance, operational resilience and a strong user experience. The deployment with Global Money Exchange Co. demonstrates how mobiquity® Pay enables financial institutions to move beyond remittances and deliver integrated digital services at scale.”
“The deployment of mobiquity Pay for GMEC showcases how scalable, API-driven digital wallet platforms can transform cross-border payments into seamless, value-rich experiences.
“By integrating remittances, bill payments, forex services, and AI-powered engagement into a unified Super App, Comviva has reimagined customer journeys and operational agility.
“This Best-in-Class Cross-border Payments award win stands as a testament to Comviva’s excellence in enabling financial institutions to compete and grow in a digitally convergent world,” the Director for Research and Digital Properties at IBS Intelligence, Nikhil Gokhale, said.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
At the end of an extensive consultation with African foreign ministers, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, has emphasized that Moscow would advance its economic engagement across Africa, admittedly outlining obstacles delaying the prompt implementation of several initiatives set forth in Strategic Action Plan (2023-2026) approved in St. Petersburg during the Russia-Africa Summit.
The second Ministerial Conference, by the Russian Foreign Ministry with support from Roscongress Foundation and the Arab Republic of Egypt, marked an important milestone towards raising bilateral investment and economic cooperation.
In Cairo, the capital city of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Lavrov read out the final resolution script, in a full-packed conference hall, and voiced strong confidence that Moscow would achieve its strategic economic goals with Africa, with support from the African Union (AU) and other Regional Economic blocs in the subsequent years. Despite the complexities posed by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, combined with geopolitical conditions inside the African continent, Moscow however reiterated its position to take serious steps in finding pragmatic prospects for mutual cooperation and improve multifaceted relations with Africa, distinctively in the different sectors: in trade, economic and investment spheres, education and culture, humanitarian and other promising areas.
The main event was the plenary session co-chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration, and Egyptians Abroad Bashar Abdelathi. Welcome messages from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdelhak Sisi were read.
And broadly, the meeting participants compared notes on the most pressing issues on the international and Russian-African agendas, with a focus on the full implementation of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan for 2023-2026, approved at the second Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg in 2023.
In addition, on the sidelines of the conference, Lavrov held talks with his African counterparts, and a number of bilateral documents were signed. A thematic event was held with the participation of Russian and African relevant agencies and organizations, aimed at unlocking the potential of trilateral Russia-Egypt-Africa cooperation in trade, economic, and educational spheres.
With changing times, Africa is rapidly becoming one of the key centers of a multipolar world order. It is experiencing a second awakening. Following their long-ago political independence, African countries are increasingly insisting on respect for their sovereignty and their right to independently manage their resources and destiny. Based on these conditions, it was concluded that Moscow begins an effective and comprehensive work on preparing a new three-year Cooperation and Joint Action Plan between Russia and Africa.
Moreover, these important areas of joint practical work are already detailed in the Joint Statement, which was unanimously approved and will serve as an important guideline for future work. According to reports, the Joint Statement reflects the progress of discussions on international and regional issues, as well as matters of global significance.
Following the conference, the Joint Statement adopted reflects shared approaches to addressing challenges and a mutual commitment to strengthening multifaceted cooperation with a view to ensuring high-quality preparation for the third Russia-Africa Summit in 2026.
On December 19-20, the Second Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum was held in Cairo, Egypt. It was held for the first time on the African continent, attended by heads and representatives of the foreign policy ministries of 52 African states and the executive bodies of eight regional integration associations.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Social media platform, TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance has signed binding agreements with United States and global investors to operate its business in America.
Half of the joint venture will be owned by a group of investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX, according to a memo sent by chief executive, Mr Shou Zi Chew.
The deal, which is set to close on January 22, 2026 would end years of efforts by the US government to force ByteDance to sell its US operations over national security concerns.
It is in line with a deal unveiled in September, when US President Donald Trump delayed the enforcement of a law that would ban the app unless it was sold.
In the memo, TikTok said the deal will enable “over 170 million Americans to continue discovering a world of endless possibilities as part of a vital global community”.
Under the agreement, ByteDance will retain 19.9 per cent of the business, while Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX will hold 15 per cent each.
Another 30.1 per cent will be held by affiliates of existing ByteDance investors, according to the memo.
The White House previously said that Oracle, which was co-founded by President Trump’s supporter Larry Ellison, will license TikTok’s recommendation algorithm as part of the deal.
The deal comes after a series of delays.
Business Post reported in April 2024 that the administration of President Joe Biden passed a law to ban the app over national security concerns, unless it was sold.
The law was set to go into effect on January 20, 2025 but was pushed back multiple times by President Trump, while his administration worked out a deal to transfer ownership.
President Trump said in September that he had spoken on the phone to China’s President Xi Jinping, who he said had given the deal the go ahead.
The platform’s future remained unclear after the leaders met face to face in October.
The app’s fate was clouded by ongoing tensions between the two nations on trade and other matters.
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