Cryptoafrica

African ports are struggling to capitalize on a surge in shipping traffic as the Middle East conflict disrupts other key global trade routes. Bloomberg's Chief Africa Correspondent Jennifer Zabasajja explains on Horizons Middle East & Africa.

IMF Africa Director Abebe Selassie says Africa's economies were strengthening before the Iran crisis, with solid growth, lower inflation, and declining debt, but are now facing slower growth and shocks such as reduced remittances and rising oil prices. He told Bloomberg TV any short-term support should be targeted and temporary to avoid undermining long-term development goals.

Global investors are pouring money into commercial wineries in and around Cape Town, even as wine sales slow worldwide. French, German, and Norwegian consortiums are buying into one of the few wine-producing regions where vineyard prices are still climbing. Bloomberg's Jennifer Zabasajja reports.

Pistachio prices have surged to multi-year highs as the war in Iran tightens supply. Now, South Africa's Karoo region is stepping into the spotlight, as farmers bet they can carve out a place in a market long dominated by a handful of producers. Bloomberg's Jennifer Zabasajja reports.

The African Development Bank says water investments on the continent have increased over the past decade from upstream preparation of projects to desalination efforts, service delivery and wastewater treatment plants. But Mtchera Chirwa, the AfDB's water and sanitation department director, says gaps within the sector won't just be resolved with more capital injection.

Demand for water is rising across Sub-Saharan Africa, but supply is falling behind, leaving nearly one in three people without basic access. Soma Moulik, World Bank Water Global Practice Manager, tells Bloomberg's Jennifer Zabasajja that the sector faces a significant funding gap.

South Africa is better equipped than other emerging markets to withstand the current energy shock from the war in Iran, according to the country's Deputy Finance Minister. David Masondo spoke with Jennifer Zabasajja from the South Africa Investment Conference in Johannesburg.

Speaking to BTV's Jennifer Zabasajja, South African Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Alexandra Abrahams said her country was strategically positioned to accommodate trade routes disturbed by the conflict of in the Middle East.

Spain said Algeria will increase gas supplies to the nation as global energy markets face heightened instability linked to the war in Iran. The African country is already Spain's main gas supplier via the Medgaz pipeline, which links the two countries across the Mediterranean. Bloomberg's Priscila Azevedo Rocha reports.

The European Union's foreign affairs and security policy chief Kaja Kallas signed a new security pact with Ghana, designed to deepen cooperation on counter-terrorism, intelligence-sharing, crisis response and border and maritime security. As part of her trip to West Africa, Kallas also unveiled new deals with Nigeria. Bloomberg's Jennifer Zabasajja reports.