April Spotlight
From global exits, cancel culture, sports arbitration and the latest hot seat; catch the greatest moments at ALN Academy this April.
Dear Friends,
This month, a bizarre scene unfolded on the global stage — and it was as American as tariffs and Twitter tirades.
It began with a whisper (or rather, a leak) that Amazon might start itemising the cost of Trump’s newly re-imposed tariffs directly on product listings. Transparency, right? A win for the consumer, one might think. But not in today’s theatre of politics. Within hours, Trump was reportedly “pissed,” the White House called the move “hostile,” and Jeff Bezos — yes, the same Jeff who once joked about launching Trump into orbit — was speed-dialling the Oval Office to smooth things over.
We are witnessing a peculiar political romance rekindled — equal parts petty and strategic — where yesterday’s foes become today’s frenemies, all in the name of tariffs, optics, and (let’s be honest) staying on the president’s good side.
But beyond the absurdities of Amazon’s tariff tango and presidential phone diplomacy, this episode raises deeper questions: What happens when corporate giants try to highlight the real cost of economic policy? And what does it say about trade in an era where platforms shape politics as much as governments do?
Closer to home, we at the Academy have also been thinking about the forces shaping our economic and governance futures.
Victor Maina, in our latest Hot Seat, probed the shifting sands of investor engagement — noting how today’s capital is as concerned with consistent regulation as it is with returns. Martin Munyoto reminded us that the compliance game is changing too, with blockchain and smart contracts beginning to rewrite the rules of corporate governance.
And on the international stage, Aisha Abdallah offered a compelling take on the rise of arbitration in sports, where justice needs to be swift, fair, and globally respected — because sometimes a referee’s whistle just won’t cut it.
Karim Anjarwalla gave us pause for thought with his reflections on PwC’s strategic retreat from Africa — not a retreat from risk per se, but perhaps a misreading of risk through a distant lens. He quoted former PwC partner Nadine Tinen’s sentiment that, “the appreciation of risk in Africa can be different if you live here than if you live abroad.” It’s a nudge (okay, a shove) for African firms to lead, not follow — to pair global standards with local staying power.
