Entrepreneurship

Investors and private equity experts on access to capital for women in African markets

By Africa Center

On Thursday, May 16, the Africa Center hosted a discussion on women’s entrepreneurship and gendered barriers to raising capital in African markets.

From Silicon Valley to Shenzhen: dollar exposures in Chinese fintech

By Michael B. Greenwald

In the post-9/11 era, Washington has waged innovative campaigns against terrorism finance, sanctions evasion, and money laundering. Leveraging the United States’ heavyweight status in the international financial system, the US Treasury has isolated and bankrupted rogue regimes, global terrorists, and their enablers. As financial technology transforms global business, the traditional financial system faces new competition […]

Coming to life: Artificial intelligence in Africa

By Aleksandra Gadzala Tirziu

The rapid uptake of disruptive technologies in Africa, such as mobile and financial technologies, is prompting speculation among tech investors about whether artificial intelligence (AI) applications will also take root on the continent. A new issue brief by Africa Center Senior Fellow Aleksandra Gadzala, “Coming to Life: Artificial Intelligence in Africa,” mostly throws cold water […]

Coming to life: Artificial intelligence in Africa

The rapid uptake of disruptive technologies in Africa, such as mobile and financial technologies, is prompting speculation among tech investors about whether artificial intelligence (AI) applications will also take root on the continent.

The future of development finance

By Aubrey Hruby

Growing anxiety about China’s dominance of emerging markets spurred a rare bipartisan effort to pass the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act of 2018. The BUILD Act delivers a needed overhaul of US development finance capabilities and commercial diplomacy by subsuming the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and other development finance agencies […]

Getting creative about development

By Aubrey Hruby

African film, music, and fashion are exploding in popularity on the global stage. From Nigeria’s Nollywood film industry to the visual arts in South Africa, creative and cultural industries (CCI) represent a new realm of economic op­portunity. From artists to distrib­utors, Africa’s creative economy is currently estimated to employ about half a million people, generates […]