Managing Working Capital:
Part 1 - A special edition on
managing working capital

There is no shortage of hype around the promise of the African Continental Free Trade Area, often framed as a ready-made substitute for the export markets Africa risks losing under shifting U.S. trade policy. The tariff wave under the Trump administration was a harsh – though in many ways inevitable – lesson in how fragile a trade model becomes when it leans too heavily on a few dominant markets.

The Absa Macro and Risk Management Conference underscores Absa’s commitment to helping clients make sense of global volatility and translate it into actionable African strategy. By convening world-class thinkers, the conference challenges institutional investors and corporate leaders to look beyond the noise of tariffs, wars, and economic turbulence — and focus on long-term opportunities for growth, resilience, and regional collaboration.

A few years ago, a major family-owned enterprise in South Africa’s consumer goods sector began a phased transition towards Islamic aligned financing. This strategic decision grounded not in cost, but in conviction signalled to financial institutions that all future lending would need to comply with Islamic values giving them time to develop suitable products.