Guides for entrepreneurs, traders, and freelancers operating across African markets. Covering pricing, cross-border trade, mobile money, and regional regulations.
The cedi depreciation 2026 story is stranger than most headlines make it sound. Ghana’s economy grew 6.4% in the first quarter. Inflation eased to 4.6% in July, down from 5.3% in June. Private sector credit surged 41.2%, more than four times faster than a year earlier. By almost every conventional measure, the economy looks stronger … Read more
In a fabric stall off Kingston’s Coronation Market, a trader who has spent a decade importing kente and adinkra cloth from Accra watched President John Dramani Mahama’s motorcade roll past on the evening news. She has no direct way to pay her Ghanaian supplier without routing through three separate services and losing money at every … Read more
Street Food Businesses You Can Start in West Africa By 7 PM on any given weekday, the junctions across Lagos mainland are cloaked in the distinct, spicy smoke of the suya spot. A vendor stands over a long metal grill, rotating skewered beef over hot coals and dusting it with yaji (suya spice) for customers … Read more
5 Street Food Businesses You Can Start in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania By 6pm on any weekday, the corner outside Nairobi’s Kencom bus stage fills with a queue that has nothing to do with matatus. It is the smokie pasua vendor, a metal display box glowing under a bare bulb, splitting open smoked sausages and … Read more
A Johannesburg e-hailing driver checked his fuel budget on 30 June the way he does every month end. He had read that government was fully reinstating the fuel levy from 1 July, so he braced for a higher bill at the pump. Instead, when he filled up on 2 July, 95 unleaded cost him less … Read more
At Balogun Market in Lagos, a trader restocks her stall every Friday. She buys a carton of soap, sells every bar by Sunday, and hands her supplier roughly the same amount of cash the following week. On paper she is busy. In her pocket, she often cannot say whether she made money or simply moved … Read more
Quick answer: MTN charges UGX 12,500 to withdraw UGX 1,000,000 in cash, plus a UGX 5,000 government tax, UGX 17,500 in total. Two separate things stack on top of a withdrawal: MTN’s own fee, and a government tax. They are easy to conflate, so this guide keeps them apart at every step. Withdrawing cash, whether … Read more
Quick answer: withdrawing above GH₵2,000 costs a flat GH₵20. Sending above GH₵1,000 costs a flat GH₵7.50. At Makola Market in Accra, a fabric trader closes out a Friday afternoon by sending her supplier in Kumasi GH₵1,200 for the next batch of prints. She dials *170#, confirms the transfer, and only notices the GH₵7.50 fee once … Read more
Importing From China to Kenya: 6 Business Ideas for 2026 A trader on River Road in Nairobi CBD unpacks a fresh carton of phone chargers and earphones fresh off the SGR from Mombasa. She paid a supplier in Guangzhou in dollars, paid Kenya Revenue Authority in shillings, and now she is about to find out … Read more
Importing From China to Nigeria: 6 Profitable Businesses You Can Start Now Walk through Alaba International, Balogun, or Ladipo on any weekday and you are looking at the same supply chain: a container that left Guangzhou, cleared at Apapa or Tin Can, and broke down into a thousand market stalls. Importing from China to Nigeria … Read more