Kenyan authorities have cleared Flutterwave of wrongdoing following an anti-money-laundering case in the East African nation. Nevertheless, industry confidence in the Africa-focused payments company remains mixed.

After years of easy Eurobond access and ramped-up Chinese lending, developing economies are now caught between rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions, making debt restructurings more numerous and more complicated. Despite some progress in inter-creditor talks, many debtor nations face an uncertain financial future.

Tyme Bank’s experience with grant recipients in South Africa demonstrates the need to link up banking innovation to the real-world requirements of customers.

The desire among political and financial leaders in Beijing to climb the value chain in development finance is clear. But the challenges now facing a giant Chinese state-run infrastructure contractor at Nigeria’s new deep-water port in Lekki show that this is easier said than done.

Gains written on banks’ equity book values from long dollar positions could be quickly wiped out if borrowers prove unable to service debt at a higher exchange rate.

As European and Chinese banks scale back in Africa to cut costs and redeploy capital to core markets, Middle East lenders are happily jumping in to fill the gap, buying assets and putting more boots on the ground as bilateral trade between the regions increases.

Fonsis is an interesting sovereign wealth fund, operating a fund-of-funds model to help the country’s SME development while generating an industry around the management of private capital.

South African banks’ sustainable finance challenges reflect the nation’s difficult but vital transition away from coal.

Uche Orji is approaching 10 years as head of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, a sophisticated institution segregated into three very different funds. Covid spurred a year of outstanding market returns, but now Orji’s focus is on domestic infrastructure before he steps down next year.

The surprise exit of Absa chief executive Daniel Mminele in April, only 15 months into the job, shows how much the South African group is still finding its way in the post-Barclays era. Mminele – Absa’s first black CEO – was seen in some quarters as losing a power struggle against an overwhelmingly white executive team. Can the next chief executive gain the authority to drive Absa’s revival?

Emerging markets have regained some of the buoyancy lost during the early months of the coronavirus crisis, but analyst opinions hint at the difficulty of identifying which EM currencies investors should favour.

The rand is back to pre-pandemic levels despite little confidence in the South African government’s ability to revitalize its economy.

The BRICS economies, which between them represent 40% of the world population and 32% of its GDP, are a powerful force for the private banking industry as their economic engines drive wealth creation. But they are all distinct markets with their own unique opportunities and challenges.

Analysts can see through the economic and fiscal shock to observe a country with its underlying strengths intact.

Unquantifiable risk as a result of Covid-19 made the complex deal unworkable.

Experienced mobile money market participants have given a cautious welcome to Ethiopia’s plans to liberalize its telecommunications market, but warn that the emergence of new transaction providers is far from certain.

Citi’s chief executive for Kenya and east Africa tells Euromoney how Kenya’s banks have come together to buy ventilators; how Covid-19 will accelerate the adoption of digital banking; and why the removal of the interest rate cap is more important than ever for Kenya’s SMEs.

The fall in the oil price will benefit oil-importing countries such as Kenya, but the benefits may be lost because of the African continent's over-reliance on trade with China.

Africa’s oil exporters are feeling the pressure after the crash in the oil price and fears of the coronavirus Covid-19, as investors pull money from international bond markets.

The recent collapse in the oil price and Nigeria's (lack of) reaction to it echoes the way the country dealt with the crisis in 2015. Repetition of the same mistakes will only cause harm for Africa's largest economy.

Some organizations, drawn in by irresistible fees, can’t resist working with high-risk clients – but technology might offer a solution.

Kenyan property developer Acorn Holdings has issued a small but smartly structured bond programme, which will remove barriers to entry for local market bonds as local currency bonds retain appeal.

Ethiopia’s IMF deal is a notable step towards addressing its external imbalances and to opening up the country’s economy.

The bank will open a new office in New York to capture the US market in Africa.

Kenya’s parliament passes a law to lift an interest rate cap that has hampered credit growth and economic development, in a move that may pave the way to a new agreement with the IMF.

The Seychelles was the first country to issue a debt-for-nature swap to protect its marine environment; it was also the first to issue a blue bond, raising capital to finance sustainable marine and ocean-related projects. But can it overcome the teething problems and provide a model other island nations can follow?

The Seychelles will need to tackle its drug problem head on if it wants to develop a thriving blue economy and pay back debt raised from the first ever blue bond.

Automation and artificial intelligence are transforming the payments industry into one of the most dynamic sectors of transaction banking. But there are still many teething problems in an industry that has been catapulted onto centre stage.

As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Africa focus.

Africa has the largest number of refugees of any continent – in Uganda, many of them are economically active, while others are excluded from accessing basic banking products. Euromoney finds out how integrating refugees into the formal financial system could benefit the country.