African Business magazine’s 2012 rankings is a good insight into the state of corporate Africa. But a broader performance measure is needed.  African Business magazine has released its rankings of Africa’s top 250 companies. The rankings themselves have not changed much from last year’s – the top five remain the same, and South African companies still dominate the top nine spots. But something else has changed. In the 2011 report, the combined market value of the continent’s biggest corpo....

The African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) has been part of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Searchlight Programme since 2011, and has produced monthly editions of the West Africa Trends newsletter since January 2011. The Rockefeller Foundation started the Searchlight Programme in 2009, to provide an on-the- ground, regionally focused view of the world, with a particular emphasis on monitoring the economic, societal and political trends which may affect the lives of poor and vulner....

Dr Yaw Ansu, Chief Economist and Dr Ed Brown Director of Advisory Services, recently participated in the High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF4) in Busan, Korea and conducted a study tour of some of the important strategic public institutions and private sector firms driving South Korea's transformation. Brief highlights are described below. • Learning Tour of Korean Institutions As part of our commitment to extend our reach, the ACET team visited key industries in the country: Ko....

As nation braces for early phase of new gas projects As the New Year begins, there are high expectations in Mozambique that new natural gas discoveries announced late last year will accelerate rising investor interest in the economy, as the nation braces for the early phase of projects to develop the new finds. Experts say it will take more than two years to fully develop the newly discovered fields for commercial production. But 2012 will be an important year for investors keen to pos....

The narrative about Africa is changing fast. On December 3^rd, the Economist, which ten years ago labeled Africa “the hopeless continent” carried a cover story, “Africa Rising”, in which it now acclaims....