The Seoul summit of the G20 has ended without any appreciable resolution of the so-called “currency wars”, and its failure to create a meaningful development agenda undermines the evolution of the grouping as a successor to the G8

The UK’s development agency, Dfid, is to reorient itself to be better able to promote private sector development in low-income countries, and will drastically reform its investment arm, CDC Group

Growing levels of urbanisation and an expanding middle class in many African economies hint at the massive potential for formal retail. However the difficulties associated with doing business on the continent may still deter leading groups

The regulatory response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster has not been as strict as many feared. However, international oil companies may be pushed towards frontier opportunities

“Once small application vendors get encouraged to take the plunge, they will then demand more local content – and the ecosystem will emerge and develop. To put it differently, if you build highways, people will buy cars”

The proposed privatisation of Nigeria’s former telecommunications monopoly may have little to offer for investors

Bullion has been bolstered by a second round of US quantitative easing and a beleaguered dollar, continuing its rally of 27 percent this year

Bond markets provide a competetive source of funding for sub-Saharan Africa’s infrastructure needs, but fears over political instability and fluctuating commodity prices are concerns for potential investors

Africans’ perceptions that Americans are too numerous are far less widespread. It’s highest in Djibouti as 51 percent of residents said there are “too many” Americans in their country and lowest in Benin (7 percent) and Zimbabwe (3 percent). However, relatively significant proportions of Angolans (37 percent), Sierra Leonans (30 percent) and Liberians (29 percent), among others, told Gallup there are “too many” Americans in their countries.

The lack of concrete steps to deal with global imbalances was the main news from the G20 summit held in Seoul. However the summit also included four innovations with the potential to contribute to sub-Saharan African trade and growth.

In October, the Brookings Institution and the Center for Global Development released their first Quality of Official Development Assistance assessment, based on 30 quantitative indicators. During times when many advanced countries are struggling with their own debt and fiscal problems, and are pressured to cut their aid budgets, Quoda is designed to help donor agencies and partner governments determine how aid dollars can be more smartly spent, and to provide a tool for civil society advocates to push for better, not just more, aid.

With his tendency to resort to drawing diagrams with every explanation, Hans Rosling, professor of international health at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the chairman of the Gapminder Foundation, appears to think through every challenge visually.