By Kenneth D. Johnson The Expiration of AGOA On September 30, 2025, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) officially expired, ending 25 years of preferential trade relations between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa. AGOA provided duty-free access to the U.S. market for over 6,500 products from eligible African countries, fostering economic growth, job creation, and deeper commercial ties (USTR). While AGOA strengthened African industries and diversified exports, it did not directly govern the trade of critical minerals. This omission is increasingly significant given today’s strategic competition over mineral supply chains. The expiration of AGOA creates both risks and…
Author: Montage Africa
The Ifa Lethu Foundation of South Africa is proud to spearhead another landmark event in the country.This October, it will partner with the SABC as they come together to present Still We Rise, a landmark exhibition of artworks made during South Africa’s Apartheid years. This partnership, through the exhibition theme, bridges the G20’s global significance with South Africa’s unique cultural voice. Opening at the Atrium, Keyes Art Mile on 30 October, the exhibition will run until 23 November 2025, coinciding with the G20 Summit – the first to be hosted on African soil. Rooted in memory, resistance and resilience, Still We Rise showcases…
It’s the day after the New York City Marathon, and on Fifth Avenue, near the Nike flagship store, excited whispers ripple through a group of medal-wearing runners. They’ve spotted Eliud Kipchoge. As he makes his way into the store for a post-marathon Q&A, people call out, asking for autographs. He flashes that megawatt smile — and obliges. The electric moment speaks to how far and wide the Kenyan runner’s appeal has traveled, from his early days training in Kaptagat to this, standing in the heart of the Big Apple. By running the New York City Marathon, his first time taking on…
The World Bank’s private investment arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), is significantly expanding its local-currency lending across Africa. This strategic move aims to solve a critical bottleneck: helping promising projects grow large enough to attract major global asset managers, such as BlackRock, which typically avoid investing in assets less than $1 billion. With concessional finance shrinking and aid from wealthy nations declining, local-currency lending can also protect African countries from exchange-rate volatility. This approach, which already makes up 30% of the IFC’s portfolio, is part of a broader push to mobilize private capital. The IFC is further deepening its commitment by…
By Fabrice Zagbayou* Mobile money is changing its face in Côte d’Ivoire. Remember… a few years ago, all it took to disrupt the market was a simple prepaid card or a low-cost transfer service. Wave broke the rules with free deposits and unbeatable fees. Djamo democratized card access for everyone. Orange Money and MTN massively banked previously excluded populations. The simple business of transfers or cards is no longer enough But today, the game is being played elsewhere. Wave has taken a major step forward with the creation of Wave Bank Africa S.A., with a capital of 20 billion FCFA.…
Film Africa 2025 will feature a curated selection of films across genres, from feature films to documentaries and shorts. The festival opens with My Father’s Shadow, a Nigerian drama by Akinola Davies Jr., exploring political tensions during the 1993 Lagos elections. It will close with Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions, a Burkinabé film inspired by Macbeth, awarded the Yennenga Golden Stallion at FESPACO. The lineup also highlights cinema from the Democratic Republic of Congo, showcasing films that explore cultural identity, memory, and historical legacies. Cultural Diplomacy and International Reach Film Africa serves as a cultural bridge between the UK, Africa, and its…
Tim Godfrey is not your conventional gospel artist. In the 2000s, at a time when Nigerian gospel largely depicted brooding, praise-led inspiration, he was already fusing Afrobeats with messages of God and His word, joining other Afro-gospel songs you should know. “If you know me well, I’m always the one that breaks ceilings,” he tells OkayAfrica. “The one that dares to go where everybody is avoiding or afraid of. Everything about me has always been about amplifying things I believe we need for the next generation.” When he released his first Afrobeats album in 2006, it was “totally rejected,” he shares, “and people…
Lagos Fashion Week means a lot of things to a lot of people. Community, a fashion playground, space for discovery and to be discovered, a melting pot of the African style and culture, a space for unbridled creativity, and perhaps most importantly, one of Africa’s most important red carpets. For a decade and a half, Lagos Fashion Week, an annual multi-day fashion experience founded by Omoyemi Akerele, has confidently transformed Lagos and, by extension, Nigeria, into a formidable fashion capital. Through a large-scale runway show featuring different designers, off-site shows, masterclasses, workshops, sustainability programs, and talent development initiatives, LFW has situated itself as…
Every day, OkayAfrica shares a roundup of news we’re following but haven’t published as full articles. These short updates cover what’s happening on the continent — in culture, politics, and beyond. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has begun gathering evidence of mass killings and sexual violence following the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) capture of El Fasher, the last military stronghold in Sudan’s Darfur region. The ICC, which has investigated Darfur atrocities since 2005, said it is taking “immediate steps” to preserve evidence amid reports of summary executions and ethnic targeting. More than 70,000 people have fled the city, while nearly 200,000 remain trapped…
By Rédaction Africanews with AP The United States says it is working with both the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to secure a humanitarian truce. This follows a sharp escalation in bloodshed in the conflict after RSF fighters captured the North Darfur region’s capital, al-Fashir, following an 18-month siege. There have been widespread reports of atrocities committed against civilians and humanitarian aid workers in the city by the group. The war in Sudan started in April 2023 when tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, spreading across the…