AFRICA INC. – Rising economies, start-ups, and Black wealth, etc. Universities across Africa can drive prosperity through innovation. Westend61 World university rankings are released towards the end of each year. Institutions globally scramble to see how they have fared. Have they risen or fallen? If so, by how much and in which rankings? Have they maintained their position in an increasingly competitive global higher education landscape? There have been some improvements in African universities’ performances. But the continent’s institutions still don’t feature prominently towards the top of the rankings. In the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2024, for instance, South Africa’s University of Cape Town is top for the continent, at 167th place. It is followed by three other South African institutions:

AFRICA INC. – Rising economies, start-ups, and Black wealth, etc. By Rodney Muhumuza Jostling for space, people jam the crowded footpaths crisscrossing a massive open market in Uganda’s capital. They are mostly looking for secondhand clothing, sifting through underwear for pairs that seem new or trying on shoes despite getting pushed around in the crush. Downtown Kampala’s Owino Market has long been a go-to enclave for rich and poor people alike looking for affordable but quality-made used clothes, underscoring perceptions that Western fashion is superior to what is made at home. Discarded by Europeans and Americans, these clothes are often purchased from wholesalers and then shipped to African countries by middlemen. It is a multimillion-dollar business, with some two-thirds of

AFRICA INC. – Rising economies, start-ups, and Black wealth, etc. Southern Africa Tourism Update  reports on new study by the international airline organization IATA  and the AU efforts to expand inter and intra connectivity of Africa’s airports and countries. IATA announced a 26.1% year-on-year rise in African air traffic; a leading aviation analytics firm believes that the adoption of an African Union (AU) Passport would stimulate even further growth of the sector. IATA found that, in August 2023, flights in the African region were on average 76% full, while global air passenger traffic had recovered to 95.7% of pre-COVID levels. Meanwhile, considering that East Africa is rapidly growing into the continent’s busiest aviation region, AeroTrail has conducted a comprehensive study