The coronavirus pandemic has given rise to an ongoing surge in media consumption, as people around the world seek to remain updated on the rapidly changing crisis. This is alteringthe landscape for advertisers in developed and emerging markets alike, as well as giving media companies a chance to leverage enhanced engagement. Globally speaking, the early months of the pandemic saw a dramatic…
Côte d’Ivoire is one of Africa’s most rapidly expanding economies, with significant oil, gas and mineral reserves; a major agriculture sector; and a growing, youthful population driving the country forward. Spread across a wide range of ecosystems, from tropical rainforests to dry savannah, the former French colony is a mosaic of ethnicities, languages and religions.To address the economic ch
Egypt is a large and fast-growing country. It is the most-populous Arab nation, the third-most-pop¬ulous country in Africa and the 14th-most-populous country in the world. As of 2017 the population was some 97.5m, according to the World Bank, and growing by 2% per year. According to the live ticker on the website for the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics the population is over
The current king, Mohammed VI, came to power in 1999 and is the third monarch to rule Morocco since it gained its independence from France in 1956. King Mohammed VI instituted a number of liberalising reforms when he succeeded his father, King Hassan II, who ruled from 1961. He put in place further reforms in 2011 against a backdrop of regional unrest and domestic political protest. The country ha
After some belt tightening in response to a growing fiscal deficit, in 2017 Ghana saw almost twice the economic growth of 2016, according to the World Bank, with the robust expansion carrying through to 2018. The country had traditionally relied on primary commodities for its earnings, with gold and cocoa principal export items, until significant oil finds recently made Ghana a petroleum exporter.
Since achieving independence in 1960, Côte d’Ivoire has managed to maintain broadly friendly relations with its neighbours, its French former colonial ruler, and within a continental and multilateral context. Côte d’Ivoire has long been a player in ECOWAS, which ties the country to 14 other nations in the region. Eight countries also share membership of the West African CFA franc zone, the c
Reaching a population of 42.3m by the end of 2018, Algeria is the second-largest country in North Africa after Egypt. The country is one of Africa’s most important producers of hydrocarbons and enjoys large reserves of shale oil and gas not commercially exploited. Although Algeria enjoys a relatively closed economy, it holds close trading links with its Mediterranean neighbours to the north, and
Nigeria is continuing to gradually recover from the recession caused by the drop in international oil prices in 2014, with the economy returning to positive growth in 2017 and the IMF estimating that GDP will expand by 1.9% in 2018 and 2.3% in 2019. That said, more remains to be done to achieve economic diversification, and major reforms are expected to be enacted following the general election in
Having long enjoyed relative security and stability – avoiding many of the conflicts that have beset its neighbours – Djibouti has gained a valuable reputation as a safe haven in an often-troubled region, and is a key entryway to the Horn of Africa, with access to the Red Sea. Furthermore, the country is continuing to progress its long-term development policy, Djibouti Vision 2035. The plan fo
As the largest economy in the EAC and COMESA in terms of GDP, Kenya has positioned itself as a major economic power in sub-Saharan Africa. Traditionally a largely agrarian economy, Kenya has quickly entrenched its position as a manufacturing, logistics and technology hub in the region, and this diversification forms a solid platform from which the government can generate economic growth over the c
