Africa is set to outperform the rest of the world in economic growth over the next two years, with real gross domestic product (GDP) averaging around 4% in 2023 and 2024. This is higher than projected global averages of 2.7% and 3.2%, the African Development Bank Group said in Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook report for the region, released in Abidjan on Thursday. With a...

Côte d’Ivoire, which produces only 6% of the drugs used on its territory, wants to increase its production in the coming years. For that purpose, authorities are implementing a number of initiatives, in partnership with the private sector, to boost the pharmaceutical industry.  Côte d'Ivoire plans to build a new drug production plant, the government announced in a release published last...

From 2017 to 2020, South Africa's average yearly inflation was on a downward trend before rising again. From 6.4% in 2016, it dropped to 3.3% in 2020 then rose to 4.5% in 2021 and 6.9% in 2022.  For the second consecutive month, inflation dropped in South Africa, reaching 7.2% in December 2022, according to data published by Stats SA, the country's department of statistics, today. For the...

African heads of state and government together with development partners will gather in Senegal to strategically map plans to unlock Africa’s food-producing potential and position the continent to become a breadbasket to the world. President Macky Sall of Senegal, and Chairperson of the African Union, will host the three-day Dakar II Food summit from 25 January, with the African Development...

The Policy Brief published by Megatrends Afrika estimates that the strong presence of Chinese telecom operators in Africa improves connectivity and bridges the digital divide but it also creates new challenges    Despite the economic opportunities it offers, the growing engagement of Chinese telecom companies in Africa presents risks related to digital sovereignty, cybersecurity, and...

Thanks to this support from Proparco, Investec will become the second bank in South Africa to join the Transforming financial systems for climate, a climate-related program initiated by the French Development Agency, Proparco's parent company. South African bank Investec Bank Limited recently announced it has secured US$80 million in long-term senior credit facility from Proparco. Thanks to...

With US$91 billion provided, the World Bank remained the Sub-Saharan African countries' largest creditor in 2021. China, the leading bilateral creditor, accounted for US$79.5 billion and the cost of the region's debt service to Pekin dropped during the period. Sub-Saharan countries' external debt stock rose to US$790 billion in 2021, the World Bank's updated international debt data reveal. The...

The funding came just days after Kwara acquired software development firm Irnet and two years after its US$4 million seed round. Kenyan fintech startup Kwara recently announced it raised US$3 million in a seed extension round, to boost its presence in Kenya. "We think we’ve barely scratched the surface in the Kenyan market. And so, we are just going to be really investing in products and...

The average score in North Africa is 38.59 points out of 100 against 29.38 points in Sub-Sahran Africa. The two regions scored below the global average, which is 44.61 points. British firm Oxford Insights recently published the "Government AI Readiness Index 2022," which ranks 181 countries based on 39 indicators in three pillars, namely "government" "technology sector" and "data and...

The operation aims to counter inflation, which is expected to reach 3.9% this year. Morocco's central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib, is scheduled to launch, today (January 16) a tender offer to buy government bonds in the secondary market. This will be the bond-buying operation launched by the institution this year after the one of January 9.  That day, for the first time in its history, the...