Davos: Africa boosts free trade while global barriers go up

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) banned trade in ivory in 1989. That decision has helped the endangered African elephant increase its population, but Zimbabwe says it wants the ban relaxed so ivory stockpiles can be sold.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) banned the trade of ivory in 1989. That decision has helped increase the population of endangered African elephants, but Zimbabwe says it wants to relax the ban so ivory stockpiles can be sold.

Economic instability has Indian investors and exporters worried about receiving payments. The Indian government is doing what it can to help keep essential goods moving.

One year after the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA), which came into force on January 1, 2021, Nigeria continues to lag behind in making the trade agreement operational owing to structural challenges, Coronavirus pandemic, and lack of consensus on trade protocols and strategy among stakeholders.

Shepherd Chowe pushes a cart filled with tins, iron rods and other metallic objects down a dusty pathway in Hopley, a poor settlement about 15 km west of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare. He is among desperate Zimbabweans selling scrap metal for survival as the cost of living soars, piling pressure on a population already facing food shortages and high unemployment, and stirring memories of economic chaos years ago under the late leader Robert Mugabe's near four-decade rule.

The two sides both accused each other of carrying out three strikes on the Zaporizhzhia plant. Meanwhile, more grain ships departed from Ukrainian ports under a Turkey-brokered deal.

India is trying to strengthen its long-standing ties to countries on the continent as New Delhi attempts to catch up with China, which has emerged as Africa's largest trading partner.

For the first time since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, Cuba plans to allow some foreign investment in local wholesale and retail trade.

Jair Bolsonaro has once again criticized the country's electoral system without evidence, while his main rival Lula called the far-right president "a cheap copy of Trump."

Environmental crime is the third most lucrative criminal business in the world. Yet too often it is still treated like petty crime. Activists hope new EU legislation may soon change that.

The vast Casamance forest region in Senegal is known for its rare woods: rosewood, and the Cayor pear tree, among others. Officially they are protected, but armed independence fighters smuggle the wood on the black market. These groups often raze entire plots of land and then export the wood, mainly to China via neighbouring Gambia. Clashes with the fighters have killed several people this year.

Political pressure at home and strict COVID-19 policies have caused many companies working in China to rethink how they do business. Is it still worth investing in the country? An interview with China expert Jacob Gunter.