Business + Economy - The Deeping

Jul 16, 2025

Zimbabwe’s lithium is in demand for making batteries: how to make sure benefits flow to the local economy

Jabulani Shaba, University of Groningen Zimbabwe has the largest lithium reserves on the African continent. Lithium has been mined since the colonial period in the 1950s. It’s a critical part of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that are essential for the electric vehicle industry. Globally, the lithium-ion battery market is worth US$78.9 billion and is

Jul 3, 2025

Africa’s development banks are being undermined: the continent will pay the price

Danny Bradlow, University of Pretoria and Lisa Sachs, Columbia University Ghana and Zambia’s official creditors are pressing them to default on loans to two African multilateral financial institutions: the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Trade and Development Bank (TDB). These creditors, in effect, are demanding that the two countries prioritise repayments to

Jun 26, 2025

WhatsApp introducing advertising is a potentially lucrative but risky move

shutterstock. metamorworks/Shutterstock Yusuf Oc, City St George’s, University of London and Janina Steinmetz, City St George’s, University of London The decision to start advertising on WhatsApp marks a major shift for a private messaging service that has long positioned itself as being different from other social media platforms. Back when Meta (then known

Jun 23, 2025

Why Israel-Iran tensions might not raise prices at the pump as much as feared (for now)

GreenOak/Shutterstock Adi Imsirovic, University of Oxford The unexpected attack by Israel on Iran, a major oil-producing nation, may undermine anaemic global economic growth and hinder central banks’ ability to cope in an already uncertain market. Iran exports up to 2 million barrels of oil and refined petroleum products per day (million barrels per

Jun 11, 2025

African countries are bad at issuing bonds, so debt costs more than it should: what needs to change

Misheck Mutize, University of Cape Town Over the past two decades, African countries have increasingly turned to international capital markets to meet their development financing needs. For example, Kenya and Benin raised a combined US$2.5 billion through bond issuances during the first half of 2025. Proceeds were used to repay maturing bonds. This

May 28, 2025

UK and EU sign new trade, fishing and defence deal – what do economists think?

Maria Garcia, University of Bath; Conor O’Kane, Bournemouth University; Kamran Mahroof, University of Bradford; Mausam Budhathoki, University of Stirling, and Phil Tomlinson, University of Bath The UK and EU have announced a range of historic and wide-ranging new agreements touching on trade, defence and borders. Since the 2016 Brexit vote, COVID and conflict

Apr 17, 2025

US tariffs will squeeze the UK economy. Could the government buy itself some breathing space?

Ph. William Barton/Shutterstock Linda Yueh, University of Oxford “Iron-clad” and “non-negotiable” is how UK prime minister Keir Starmer recently described the country’s fiscal rules. The government has been coming under pressure to relax the rules and cut itself some financial slack. But according to the PM, these self-imposed restrictions are vital for maintaining

Apr 9, 2025

Consumers are boycotting US goods around the world. Should Trump be worried?

Ph. US alcohol has been removed from sale in the Canadian province of British Columbia. lenic/Shutterstock Alan Bradshaw, Royal Holloway University of London and Dannie Kjeldgaard, University of Southern Denmark As politicians around the world scramble to respond to US “liberation day” tariffs, consumers have also begun flexing their muscles. “Boycott USA” messages

Apr 8, 2025

More than just chips: Chinese threats and Trump tariffs could disrupt lots of ‘made in Taiwan’ imports − disappointing US builders, cyclists and golfers alike

A cargo ship and containers are seen at the Port of Keelung in Taiwan on April 3, 2025. I-HWA CHENG/AFP via Getty Images Jay L. Zagorsky, Boston University What would the United States stand to lose economically if its current access to the Taiwanese market were upended or totally restricted? This seemingly theoretical

Mar 17, 2025

Bottling trust: researchers are using chemistry and blockchain to discourage wine fraud

Red, white, or rosé, sparkling or still, dry or fruity, wine is deeply embedded in European culture. But so are attempts to counterfeit good wines. Except that researchers have now created a smart system that could put an end to such transgressions. Countering the counterfeits Counterfeiting spirits and wine costs European businesses €1.3 billion

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