Congo is losing $750 million of all mining revenue due to corruption – Africa Business RoundUp

In a report published on Friday, Global Witness said at least $750m paid by companies to the Congo’s tax agencies and state-owned mining company Gecamines disappeared between 2013 and 2015.
At least some of the funds were distributed among corrupt networks linked to President Joseph Kabila, the group said.

Congo is Africa’s top copper producer and the world’s biggest supplier of cobalt, which is used in mobile phones and electric cars. It also produces coltan, diamonds, tin and gold. Read  

Acacia Mining Shares Nosedive over dispute with Govt of TZ

Shares in gold miner Acacia Mining tumbled again after it laid bare the financial cost of its dispute with the government of Tanzania.

Revenue at the FTSE 250 company crashed 29pc to $391.6m (£301.8m) in the six months to June 30 as it reeled from a ban on exporting gold concentrate, a powdered form of the precious metal, which was imposed in March.

Acacia shares slid 20pc to 224.60p on Friday afternoon as it revealed its cash reserves sank from $318m to $176m over the period. It managed to contain the fall in its pre-tax profits to just 2pc, at $99.5m, but it will not pay an interim dividend for the first time since it was founded in 2000. Read:  Related: Uganda Embroiled in Corruption within its Mining Sector – Africa Business Roundup 

Airlines losing traffic to Ethiopia on price, connectivity

International and domestic airlines operating in Nigeria are gradually losing passenger traffic to Ethiopian Airlines over the East African carrier’s relatively cheaper fares, easy connectivity and most recently, concerted efforts by the country at becoming a one-stop-shop for tourists in Africa.

“Again, Ethiopian Airlines has one of the most modern aircraft operating into Nigeria, they fly the Airbus A350, which is among the latest aircraft in the world. They have about 16 Boeing 787, which are also the latest. Also, as an African carrier, the connections are shorter and because of the conversion rate, the fares are not as high as you will find in other currencies.” Read:

How global markets undermine African development

African countries do not have the economic power to introduce their own quantitative easing – and even if they had, there are likely to be market, investor and industrialized-country backlashes against them.

Industrialized countries argue for free trade, but most have high tariff barriers for manufactured and processed goods from Africa. However, industrial countries insist that African countries open up their markets to both agricultural and manufactured goods from industrial countries. Read

Get used to failure to succeed – Jack Ma

 Jack Ma, the founder of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba, spoke in Nairobi on Thursday (July 20) about the value of constant learning, the power of the internet, and how the combination of the two can be utilized to solve the day-to-day challenges facing the continent.

Ma also spoke about the process of failure, and how that can be a catalyst for innovation and progress.

“You have to get used to failure. If you can’t, then how can you win,” he said, while delivering a public lecture at the University of Nairobi.