Blogs

Eswatini

Eswatini is a landlocked country bordering South Africa and Mozambique, with a population of approximately 1.4 million. The country was renamed in 2018 by King Mswati III, who rules it as an absolute monarch. Eswatini has close economic ties to South Africa, which it depends on for about 85% of its imports and about 60% of exports. It is a member of the Common Monetary Area with Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa, and its currency, the lilangeni is pegged at the rand, which is also used as legal tender.

Burundi

The Burundi economy ranks 41st on the continent with a GDP of US$3bn and a population of 11 million, and is classified as a ‘fragile’ economy which has been ravaged by a protracted civil war. According to the African Development Bank, economic growth is constrained by its unstable macroeconomic framework and security concerns, among other factors. Burundi, which is one of the world’s poorest nations, has been embroiled in a civil war for over a decade.

Accommodation and food service activitiesArts entertainment and recreationSouth Africa

One of South Africa’s best kept secrets is the big and small five game reserve of Mapungubwe which, 1,000 years ago, was the home to a sophisticated African kingdom which traded with Arabia, China and India and where the ancient golden rhino was uncovered. On an early morning game drive, we had the extraordinary experience of seeing a bush buck giving birth and witnessed a bask of crocodiles at a waterhole, seemingly oblivious to the ready-made meals all around them.

Other service activitiesSouth Africa

These are trying times, but hopefully, once the pandemic has exhausted itself, we will be living in a wiser world. The lockdown presents an opportunity to research new business and new markets to pursue when it lifts.  To assist South African businesses in these difficult times, Who Owns Whom is offering a 50% discount on all industry reports purchased during this period

Other service activitiesSouth Africa

Who Owns Whom MD, Andrew McGregor reveals that the South African business community has the edge over their international peers in supporting sustainable development goals, which generate broad-based value, contrary...

Accommodation and food service activitiesArts entertainment and recreation

Travel to Africa is expected to double by 2030. In the latest opinion piece by Who Owns Whom’s MD, Andrew McGregor looks at how, if South Africa is to grab...

FDI

South African imports from Africa have grown by a multiple of five to 12% of total imports since 1995 and its exports to the continent have almost doubled from 14% to 27% of total exports over the same period, positioning it second only to Asia as the major exporter to the continent.  As such it is interesting that Who Owns Whom has recently had a number of report requests on the food and beverage, telecoms and energy industries in Angola, Eswatini, Kenya, and Mozambique.

Liberia

The effects of a long civil war, an Ebola crisis from 2014 to 2016 and the subsequent withdrawal of peacekeeping forces and aid continue to weigh heavily on the Liberian economy. Estimates of the country’s GDP, and its growth outlook, vary widely. African Development Bank figures indicate GDP growth was an estimated 3.2% in 2018, from 2.5% in 2017, driven largely by growth in mining and manufacturing.