East African Business Notifier

John Nkengasong TORONTO – The first reports of an unknown respiratory infection spreading in Wuhan, China, came during the quiet days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve in 2019.  At the time, I was director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control, the African Union’s public-health agency, and was trying to recharge after months spent fighting a deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). But, recognizing the severity and urgency of this new virus, I summoned the Africa CDC team back to headquarters in Addis Ababa. The Africa CDC had never confronted a crisis of this scale. Early worst-case projections from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa suggested that up to  1.2 billion Africans  could be infected and over  three million  could die from the disease now known as COVID-19. Coordinating a response for 55 AU member states, with a population of more than one billion people, required using all the expertise and skills at...

In a garment studio in Addis Ababa, hundreds of young women work behind rows of sewing machines, cutting fabric for local and export markets. Some enrolled after years working as domestic labourers abroad. Others came seeking work in a city where formal jobs are scarce. A number are former sex workers rebuilding their lives through training and paid work. For Sara Mohammed, the school’s founder, the studio addresses a gap she saw while traveling internationally as a fashion model. On major runways, she rarely encountered Ethiopian garments. What she did see was how branding translated into contracts, factory orders and jobs - a link she felt was missing at home. In 2004, she founded  Next Fashion Design College  in Addis Ababa to connect training directly to employment. Over time, the programme expanded to support returnee migrants and women seeking re-entry into the formal economy. Sara said since its launch, the college has trained more than 5,800 women, about 30 per cent on...

  By Bethuel Karanja From Washington to Beijing, the global economic weather is turning unpredictable. Trade rules that once anchored international commerce are fraying under the strain of protectionism, geopolitical rivalry and economic nationalism. For a small, open economy like Uganda’s deeply plugged into global commodity markets, capital flows and donor financing these global tremours are not abstract. They shape growth prospects, currency stability and fiscal choices at home. The world economy is slowing. Global growth is projected at just 2.7 percent in 2026, weighed down by weak investment and long-running structural constraints. The International Monetary Fund offers a more sanguine view, forecasting growth of 3.3 percent in 2026 and 3.2 percent in 2027, arguing that technology investment particularly artificial intelligence alongside supportive fiscal and monetary policies and private-sector adaptability, could offset the drag from trade fragmentation.   Implication ...

  Across many African contexts, healthcare is still largely sought only when illness becomes unavoidable, a pattern that is often interpreted as negligence or lack of awareness. This reflects the realities of access and resources: According to Health Policy Watch,   only about 48 % of Africans have access to basic primary healthcare services ,  leaving millions without convenient entry points for early care Moreover, according to the African Mission Healthcare, sub-Saharan   Africa has just ~1.3 health workers per 1,000 people , far below the WHO-recommended minimum density for routine and preventive services.     Even for conditions like childhood illness, data show that up to 15 % of caregivers do not seek formal care at all , and many of those who do typically wait until symptoms are pronounced Delayed care is not a behavioural problem. It is a design problem. In many settings, healthcare systems unintentionally condition people to treat medical car...

The African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) has announced the appointment of James Mutonyi as its Chief Executive Officer, marking a significant milestone in the organization’s evolution and long-term strategy. Mutonyi succeeds Joseph Mwangangi, who has served as Interim CEO since late 2024 following the departure of the previous CEO. Mr. Mwangangi will continue to serve AFAP in an executive role, ensuring leadership continuity and sustained strategic direction. James Mutonyi is a foundational figure in Africa’s agricultural market development ecosystem, with a professional journey closely intertwined with the origins of AFAP and its parallel market-systems work alongside the Agricultural Market Development Trust (AGMARK). His appointment reflects both continuity of AFAP’s mission and a renewed ambition to scale its impact as a leading African social enterprise. A rural development expert and agricultural specialist with over 20 years of experience, Mr. Mutonyi has worke...

In business, not every company has the tools, skillset and capacity to meet their customers' expectations, there for to ensure that the gaps are filled, many organizations turn to outsourcing these services which is technically called Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). The term BPO is a driving force in transforming Uganda’s digital economy, offering significant opportunities for its youthful population.  In an episode of the Ugandan podcast brought by the Ministry of IT and National Guidance in collaboration with MultiChoice Uganda, Dr Amina Zawedde, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance and Hassan Saleh, Chief Executive Officer at MultiChoice Uganda shed light on the immense potential of BPO. Dr. Zawedde defined BPO as a business which involves an entity performing a service or task for an organization or company, typically on a contract or part-time basis, without being a full-time employee .  These include, a production team for a show or podcas...