Kiswahili, a language spoken in more than ten African countries, is one of the ten most spoken languages in the world, with over 200 million speakers, according to the United Nations. The council being established and several other initiatives aim to make it more popular, among the younger generation especially.  Uganda is currently moving to establish a national council for the promotion...

Nigerian telecom operators are already burdened with more than 39 taxes. For subscribers, the new 5% tax was to be added to the 7.5% value-added tax (VAT) paid to the federal government, making a total of 12.5% tax. The Nigerian federal government has suspended the 5% tax it was planning to levy on telecom services, including calls, SMS, and data. The move was announced, on Monday, September 5,...

According to a recent report by Uganda’s insurance sector regulator, the life insurance segment has grown faster than non-life in the first half of 2022.  In Uganda, Ush711.6 billion (US$186.5 million) insurance premiums were underwritten in the second quarter of 2022. It is 18.58% higher than the Ush600.1 billion premium underwrote during the same period a year earlier, the Uganda...

 In the WAEMU region, inflation is rising unabatedly in a context marked by a strong US dollar, which sends the Euro-pegged CFA Francs tumbling. Besides food products, the main contributors to the inflation are housing and transportation.  Inflation reached 8.1% in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) in July 2022, the central bank BCEAO reports in its latest monthly...

The loss, which is larger than the figures Monoprix posted for H1-2021, widens the company’s overall losses.  BVMT-listed retail company Monoprix recently posted a TND3.6 million (US$1.1 million) net loss for the first half of 2022. The loss is larger than the TND2.4 million net loss the company posted for H1-2021.   During the period under review, the company's turnover fell...

Weeks ago, Ghanaian telecom workers started negotiating for an improvement in their working conditions. The negotiations hit a dead end in July, with workers accusing their employers of not being willing to negotiate.   Outsourced engineers and technicians working for MTN, Vodafone, and AirtelTigo have started an unlimited nationwide strike today, Monday, September 5. Through their...

With the ongoing digital transformation efforts, Nigeria is trying to wean itself off its oil dependence by capitalizing on the digital sector. With the virtual free zone, the country wants to widen economic opportunities for its population.  Nigeria has initiated discussions with cryptocurrency platform Binance Holdings Ltd to establish a virtual free zone, informs a release published,...

Kenya is trying, for years now, to raise funds for its Big 4 Agenda, which provides for the construction of affordable housing to reduce its housing deficit. To raise the funds, the country is mainly relying on public-private partnerships.  Kenya’s National Housing Corporation (NHC) recently announced, through its CEO  Patrick Bucha (photo), plans to raise additional funding for an...

The investment is made two years after eco.business entered the Kenyan agricultural sector.  Impact investment fund eco.business announced, Wednesday (August 31), a US$15 million loan to Ghanaian bank Fidelity. The fund will be on-lent to actors in the Ghanaian agribusiness value chain, we learn.  “This strong partnership with the eco.business Fund [...] will boost the growth of the...

5G is rising gradually in Africa, amid the accelerated digital transformation. Botswana, Egypt, Gabon, Lesotho, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Kenya, and Nigeria have already launched ultra-high-speed broadband. Telecom operator Vodacom Tanzania Plc launched Tanzania's first fifth-generation (5G) mobile network on Thursday, September 1. Among other things, the new technology is...