AGP Executive Report

AI & Health Finance: IndyGeneUS Bio adds Federal Reserve–linked capital markets strategist Kenneth A. Goodwin Jr. to its advisory board, backing its AI-genomic precision medicine push. Logistics ESG: Transnet chair Dr Andile Sangqu headlines CILTSA’s ESG conference in Johannesburg, focusing on turning ESG plans into practical delivery for transport and supply chains. Digital Gold in Kenya: Ubuntu Tribe launches a gold-backed mobile platform letting Kenyans buy fractions of physical gold for as little as Sh20, with gold stored in audited, insured vaults. AI for Islamic Finance: Qatar’s Awqaf ministry and Wahed Mena will build an AI-powered Shariah-compliance stock screening pilot for Qatar’s endowment assets. Climate Science: A new study links a “cold blob” in the North Atlantic to weakening Atlantic currents, raising alarm about potential climate tipping points. Consent Law Reform (SA): A Nelson Mandela University legal scholar argues South Africa should adopt affirmative consent in rape cases, requiring a clear, ongoing “yes.” Energy Transition (SA): DBSA urges more bankable energy and infrastructure projects ahead of the Africa Energy Forum, stressing transmission strength and blended finance. EVs (SA): BYD cuts the price of its plug-in hybrid Atto 2 DM-i, positioning it as South Africa’s cheapest PHEV. Skills Pipeline (Kenya): KPC Foundation and Power Learn Project launch the Inuka Tech Fellowship, training 30 young Kenyans for AI and data roles. Maritime Training (Kenya): Bandari Maritime Academy is set to complete a Ksh 2.4bn survival training centre by December 2026 to boost regional seafarer skills. Transport Tech: Powerfleet and CTRLFleet highlight how telematics, AI video and fleet digitisation are improving Africa’s transport operations.

World Cup Tech & Safety: Mexico’s World Cup opener vs South Africa was overshadowed by record-breaking red cards and clashes outside Estadio Azteca, raising fresh questions about crowd control and match-day security. Space Science: South Africa’s Karoo and Australia’s Murchison Shire are co-hosting the Square Kilometre Array, set to become the biggest radio telescope ever built. Energy Storage: South Africa’s Mercury BESS battery project (76MW/304MWh) has reached financial close, aiming to strengthen grid stability as renewables scale. Clean Transport Policy: Tanzania is expanding tax incentives for CNG and electric vehicles, including VAT relief across the CNG value chain. Education Reform: South Africa is shifting from older tertiary qualifications to occupational qualifications to better match workplace needs and tech-driven skills demand. Health & Sovereignty: A BRICS-focused push highlights “pharmaceutical sovereignty” and stronger healthcare resilience after COVID-19. Digital Identity: Discussions across Africa stress trusted identity systems as a prerequisite for healthcare, voting, and social grants. Research & Environment: A Kenya field study links local elephant loss to dung beetle coextinction, showing how biodiversity collapse can cascade.

Energy Transition & Finance: Standard Bank says renewables financing in Africa is accelerating, committing R100bn in green finance by 2028 as hundreds of millions still lack reliable power. Digital Payments: ACI Worldwide’s platform went live with South Africa’s Kwik Payments to boost digital commerce across the country and wider Africa. Climate Governance: AUDA-NEPAD’s carbon equity push faces a test as an ICAO ruling left Zimbabwe’s carbon credits ineligible under CORSIA, raising questions for Tanzania’s forest-carbon pipeline. Aquaculture & Food Security: Côte d’Ivoire is rolling out a fisheries and aquaculture plan to cut imports and lift farmed fish output to 35,000 MT by scaling hatcheries, broodstock and feed. Women in ICT: Zimbabwe hosted the launch of IFIP Women in ICT Africa to grow women’s leadership in the continent’s tech sector. Infrastructure & Environment: Mozambique’s Nacala Corridor upgrades are linked to accelerating deforestation, with critics saying mitigation is weak. Maritime Safety (Nigeria): Lagos begins hands-on ferry safety training under an 18-month programme to improve vessel standards and operations.

Climate & Health: A new 16-year study across 34 African countries links each 1°C of human-caused warming to a 3.45% rise in stunting, showing climate change is harming children’s growth and long-term prospects. Medical Research: Oxford-led work in NEJM identifies a key IL-10 immune pathway driving a subset of inflammatory bowel disease, pointing to more targeted diagnosis and treatment. Public Health Policy: Liberia lawmakers back a new Primary Health Care and Immunization caucus to strengthen disease prevention, surveillance and access to essential services. Ebola Response: WHO and Africa CDC roll out a $518m plan to curb fast-moving Ebola transmission, with stronger outbreak control across affected regions. Agritech & Food Security: Nairobi hosts the China-Africa Agri-Tech forum, spotlighting solar irrigation, farm mechanisation and livestock health tools for resilient food systems. Pharma Manufacturing: Ghana’s West Africa Pharma and Healthcare Expo urges scaling local drug and device production to cut import dependence. Energy & Industry: TGS begins a major offshore seismic dataset reprocessing phase in Equatorial Guinea to reduce exploration risk. Payments & Fintech: Yuno partners Onafriq to connect merchants to pan-African payments across 43 markets. Digital Infrastructure: Kenya and Finland sign MoUs on education, tech and climate cooperation. World Cup Tech: Google launches Gemini fan features for the 2026 World Cup, bringing AI match visuals and live updates to supporters.

AI Skills for Youth: JA Worldwide and IBM expand IBM SkillsBuild to deliver practical AI and digital learning for 1 million high-school students across 25+ countries, including Africa. Fintech Super-App Push: MTN partners with Ant International to build a MoMo super app, starting in Nigeria in Q3, aiming to lift adoption beyond 3.7m active wallets. Agentic Payments Reality Check: Visa reports only 23% of South Africans would trust an AI agent to complete a purchase, even as it readies agentic commerce infrastructure. Vehicle Safety Watch: India-made Kia Sonet crash-tested for South Africa under Global NCAP scores 1-star adult and 3-star child protection, with missing safety tech flagged. Solar Manufacturing Shift: Nigeria exports solar panels worth N85.8bn in Q1 2026, signaling a move from consumer to regional supplier. Ebola Response Funding: WHO and Africa CDC roll out a $518m plan to curb fast-moving outbreaks, targeting outbreak control across affected countries. Cyber Risk Leadership: Munich Re appoints new cyber heads for Asia-Pacific and Africa, stressing the need for stronger underwriting where loss data is limited. Electric Mobility Leadership: Spiro names ex-Indofast Energy CEO Anant Badjatya as Group CEO after a $215m financing round to scale battery swapping across Africa. Energy Transition Projects: Egypt leads MENA clean industry pipeline with $108.5bn across 25 projects, spanning lower-emissions fuels, steel and aluminum. Infrastructure Talent Gap: South Africa’s municipal engineering bodies warn of a shortage of engineering professionals and push for better retention and capacity building.

Digital Security & Sovereignty: Ghana’s communications minister Samuel Nartey George urged West African developers to treat cyber defence as national sovereignty, warning ransomware and cross-border fraud are already hitting hospitals and financial systems. Public Health Publishing: Africa CDC’s Journal of Public Health in Africa (JPHIA) added new formats—Rapid Communications, Health Policy and Scientific News—to speed up outbreak and policy sharing. Ebola Preparedness Funding: Kenya secured €700,000 in Santiago Network loss-and-damage technical help, while WHO and Africa CDC push a $518m unified Ebola response plan across affected countries. Energy Access & Climate Resilience: Off-grid solar sales surged—Africa bought 9 in 10 global kits—while Kenya became the first African country to get Santiago Network technical assistance for a decade-long loss-and-damage assessment. Payments Innovation: Flutterwave and Tempo partnered to build stablecoin settlement rails to cut cross-border transaction delays and costs. HealthTech Ghana Recognition: HealthTech Ghana won WABEA’s Innovative Medical Technology Distribution Company of the Year for upgrading diagnostics at 37 Military Hospital, including a helium-free 1.5T MRI. Agriculture Modernisation: Ghana’s President Mahama secured a Belarus supply pact for 1,840 agricultural equipment pieces to support mechanisation and irrigation under Feed Ghana.

Public Health Breakthrough: A University of Maryland-led early trial reports a dual Lassa fever and rabies vaccine is safe and triggers immune responses, with Lassa still a major threat in West Africa. Local Industry & Jobs: Kenya’s President William Ruto urged Belgian investors to build value-add and clean-energy manufacturing in Kenya, not just export raw minerals. Clean Energy in Action: d.light says it has scaled solar solutions in Tanzania since 2019, moving households away from kerosene toward safer, PAYG solar home systems. Digital Identity Shift: South Africa’s digital identity push is being framed as a telecom-led opportunity, pointing to how mobile money operators already reach mass markets. Ebola Preparedness: Africa CDC and WHO rolled out a unified Ebola strategy aiming to raise $518m for outbreak control. Tech & Learning: A hydrography simulator brings multibeam surveying into classrooms via interactive 3D scenes. Engineering Talent: A South African teen won top awards at IMSEF for rocket motor design and optimisation.

Ebola Response: Uganda’s Museveni urged stronger regional cooperation with WHO and DRC to contain the fast-moving Ebola outbreak, as confirmed cases in the region keep climbing. AI Ethics & Trust: Researchers at AUC are studying how autonomous cars can make ethical decisions and earn user trust, with “trust” emerging as the key adoption barrier. AI Divide: A new report warns the global AI divide is driven by unequal access to compute, data centers, energy, and talent—not just who uses AI. Trade & AfCFTA Delivery: ECOWAS trade officials met in Accra as businesses complain about stalled commitments; AfCFTA implementation is held back by fragmented, under-connected border systems. Digital Payments & Crypto Rails: NoOnes says stablecoin adoption isn’t automatically boosting demand for its Virtual Visa cards—highlighting the need to bridge crypto balances to everyday spending. EV Skills in Ghana: Kuri Motors and Accra Technical University will train mechanics for electric vehicle maintenance as charging infrastructure expands faster than the workforce. Wildlife Conservation: KAZA states in Victoria Falls pushed for a united stance on elephant conservation and elephant product trade. Energy Infrastructure: Algeria’s SONATRACH broke ground on its Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline segment to move Nigerian gas toward Europe. Health Tech Research: Institut Pasteur’s ACT-CHIK project is accelerating chikungunya vaccine trials across Africa and preparing for local manufacturing.

North Africa EV Push: XPENG says it has launched operations in Morocco and Tunisia after entering Egypt, building a “strategic triangle” across the three markets and opening a 2,500 sq m sales and service hub in Tunisia. Energy Security & Crime: South Africans are warned that organised syndicates are targeting solar panels, battery backups and gas cylinders, using tools to dismantle systems quickly and sell them on the black market. Healthcare Policy (Kenya): Kenya’s free teen maternity care is being called “damage control,” with officials citing high pregnancy rates among girls and rising adolescent HIV infections. Maternal Care (Kenya): A new maternity unit in Baringo South cuts travel burdens for mothers, marking a major midwives-focused milestone. Public Health (Ebola): WHO and Africa CDC unveiled a $518m plan to curb an Ebola outbreak, with preparedness and response measures across affected regions. Migration Crackdown (South Africa): South Africa plans tougher enforcement, including fines up to R100,000 per undocumented worker and more labour inspectors, as protests over illegal immigration grow. Biotech/Regulation: Alvotech says the FDA accepted its BLA for AVT16, an interchangeable biosimilar to Entyvio, aiming to expand access to biologics. Gene Editing Breakthrough: Scientists report precise base editing of human embryo DNA, reigniting debate over “designer babies.” Industrial Power (West Africa): Schneider Electric launched its next-gen BlokSeT switchboard for smarter, more reliable power distribution in West Africa. LNG Expansion (Mozambique): Technip Energies won an EPCIC contract for Coral Norte FLNG, boosting Mozambique’s LNG capacity and reinforcing its role in global gas markets.

Digital Finance: UBA won the 2026 Banker Technology Award for AI-led cross-border banking, highlighting its Leo chatbot integrated with PAPSS to move money in local currencies across 20+ African markets. Ebola Preparedness: Africa CDC and WHO launched a $518m, six-month “One Response” plan (June–Nov 2026) to boost surveillance, labs, infection control, care, community engagement and logistics for the DRC/ Uganda outbreak. Digital Economy & Data: Kenya plans to monetise anonymised non-personal eCitizen and state datasets via a new data governance council and marketplace for researchers and businesses. ICT Talent: Kenya’s university team won the Huawei ICT Competition global grand prize in the Cloud category in Shenzhen, a first for the country. AI & Culture: Nigeria’s AI Film Festival (NAIFF) returns in September 2026, expanding workshops and ethical AI discussions for filmmakers. Security & Crime: South Africa warns syndicates target “high-value assets” like solar panels, gas bottles and outdoor lighting. Migration Crackdown: South Africa’s Ramaphosa announced harsher penalties for employers hiring undocumented migrants, alongside border and deportation steps.

South Africa–India Innovation: South Africa and India agreed to hold three technical workshops on advanced materials and manufacturing, geospatial tech, and digital infrastructure, deepening science and tech ties during Deputy President Mashatile’s visit. AI Vaccine Breakthrough: Cambridge researchers say an AI-designed “super-antigen” coronavirus vaccine has passed a first human trial, with a phase II study planned—aimed at broader protection against virus families. Ebola Preparedness: WHO and Africa CDC launched a $518m, June-to-November plan for Ebola response, focusing on surveillance, testing, infection control, clinical care, and community engagement. Education Under Strain: Ghana’s Abomosu STEM SHS is delivering strong results, but stakeholders warn staffing, funding, maintenance, welfare, and industry links could limit impact. Crime & Safety Tech: South Africa’s firearm licence applications jumped nearly 70% since 2018/19, intensifying debate on whether more guns improve safety or raise diversion risks. Health & Work: Moody’s reports nearly 88% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s workforce is informal, weakening tax collection and credit strength. EV Investment: Nigeria’s NGX is positioning the Dangote Refinery IPO as a pan-African investment opportunity.

Ebola Response: WHO and Africa CDC rolled out a $518m Ebola preparedness and response plan as Uganda’s death toll rises, aiming to strengthen prevention, detection and rapid reaction across the continent. Neuromodulation in Zimbabwe: A Chinese medical team helped Zimbabwe complete the country’s first deep brain stimulation and spinal cord stimulation surgeries, a step forward for treating hard-to-control neurological disorders. Mpox Testing Tech: Portable CRISPR-based assays are advancing Mpox detection, built for field use where lab capacity is limited. Agritech for Clean Banana Seed: US and African researchers launched a banana hydroponic project to scale clean seed supply across Africa, targeting gaps between tissue culture and farm-ready propagation. Digital Payments: Flutterwave and Tempo partnered to accelerate blockchain-based payments in Africa, pushing faster, more reliable cross-border transactions. Assistive Tech Jobs: A Mastercard Foundation report says assistive technology could drive youth employment and inclusion, but access barriers like cost and limited services remain. AI’s Water Cost: A UN-linked report warns AI data centres could consume water equivalent to 1.3 billion people by 2030, shifting the focus beyond carbon alone. E-mobility Funding: Spiro secured $215m to expand battery-swapping electric motorcycles across Africa, betting on scalable urban transport. Sports & Tech: Uganda won the right to host the 2031 African Games, with new and rebuilt venues forming the bid’s backbone.

Ebola Response: Africa CDC and WHO launched a $518m, six-month “One Response” plan to boost preparedness, detection, labs, infection control, clinical care, logistics and community engagement for Bundibugyo Ebola in DRC and Uganda. Outbreak Risk: US CDC modelling warns Central Africa’s Ebola cases could hit 10,000–20,000+ without strong public health measures, with about 400 confirmed cases reported so far. Public Health & Travel: With World Cup travel ramping up across the US, experts warn disease risk could rise as US public health capacity is weakened by staffing cuts and reduced global health support. Digital Inclusion: Malawi’s AAAL won Best Inclusive Innovation for its Blind Classroom, an AI-powered voice learning platform for visually impaired learners. HIV Prevention: South Africa’s lenacapavir rollout is gaining attention as a twice-yearly HIV prevention injection that could sharply cut new infections. Energy & Climate Tech: South Africa Wine’s TerraClim climate-intelligence agritech won an innovation award, highlighting data-driven farm decisions. Digital Finance Policy: Nigeria moves to break Optasia’s 12-year airtime credit/data advance dominance to curb capital flight and open space for local fintech competition.

Ebola Response: WHO and Africa CDC unveiled a $518m continental plan as Uganda’s death toll rises, pushing faster preparedness and response across borders. HIV Prevention Breakthrough: South Africa officially rolled out twice-yearly lenacapavir injections for HIV prevention, backed by $69m in funding to scale access toward 2027 targets. Digital Connectivity: ViaTunisia’s subsea cable segment hit ready-for-service status, boosting secure, high-capacity links between Southern Europe and North Africa. Health & Work: CIPM and UNILAG urged ethical AI adoption in workplaces, stressing accountability and human-centred governance. Corruption Fight: AU-backed centres of excellence are set to tackle corruption as Africa loses about $125bn annually, with new AUABC–GFI cooperation in Arusha. Finance & Trade: Africa Finance Corporation secured a record $2bn syndicated loan to accelerate energy, transport and industrial projects. Security Tech: Nigerian experts urged drones and geolocation tools to speed rescue efforts for kidnapped Oriire school pupils and teachers. Sports Tourism: East Africa is positioning Afcon 2027 as a tourism growth engine with cross-border packages. Smart Cities: Kenya’s Konza Technopolis commissioned an automated pneumatic solid-waste system and a science/tech university push.

Vaccine Breakthrough: Scientists say an AI-designed “super-antigen” vaccine could protect against entire families of viruses in one jab, with a coronavirus trial already showing safety and a phase II study planned. Public Health & Safety: A viral TikTok clip in Tshwane showing rotten food in a restaurant fridge has reignited South Africa’s food-safety anger, amid ongoing calls for tougher checks. Ebola Response: East African Health Ministers agreed on urgent regional steps to curb Ebola spread, including harmonised surveillance and health controls at airports, ports and land borders. Energy & Industry: South Africa’s renewable build-out gets a boost from NECRT grid-connection equipment used for solar projects, while utilities from South Africa, Zambia and Uganda headline African Energy Week. Climate Watch: NASA reports a broad warm-water swell in the Pacific, a sign a Super El Niño could be imminent. Digital Governance: Ghana’s communications minister warns “algorithmic parenting” is shaping children’s values without consent, urging stronger digital family protection laws. Transport & Trade: South Africa-Kenya business leaders say AfCFTA deals are outpacing real border and customs implementation. Education in Corrections: Hope Behind Bars Africa upgraded NOUN and NABTEB learning centres at Keffi custodial facility, supporting 666 inmates with solar and learning materials.

Health Diplomacy: The Arab League Fund launched a cardiology training programme at Tanzania’s Heart Institute in Dar es Salaam, aiming to boost advanced cardiac care and catheterisation skills through regional knowledge transfer. Security Tech: Nigeria’s security experts urged the use of surveillance, geolocation and real-time data tools to speed up the rescue of kidnapped pupils and teachers, plus tighter collaboration with social platforms to track criminals online. Nature & Climate Solutions: CIFOR and ICRAF relaunched their partnership as the Landscape Alliance to scale nature-based solutions across 90+ countries, targeting carbon cuts and restored land by 2035. Ebola Alert: Central Africa’s Ebola situation remains tense as the DRC and Uganda report linked cases, with experts warning that conflict and weak access to care are complicating containment. Finance for Trade Risk: AfDB backed ATIDI with a US$125m equity boost to expand trade, credit and political risk insurance across Africa. Infrastructure Push: Africa Finance Corporation raised a record US$2bn syndicated loan to scale energy, transport and industrial investments. Digital Sovereignty: Ghana’s communications minister floated ID verification for access to porn sites, while another policy push warns against “digital colonisation” and calls for stronger African control of data.