Faced with a tough security situation, Nigeria increased its military spending in recent years, to improve its military power. Early this month, the country received approval for its about US$1 billion weapons and military equipment purchasing plan.  Nigeria's military spending rose 56% year-on-year in 2021, according to the 2021 global military spending published by the Stockholm...

The scope of the license granted to Safaricom in 2021 does not include mobile money services. While the operator is currently fine-tuning the launch of its operations in Ethiopia, authorities are elaborating a legal framework to let it offer mobile money services.  Telecom operator Safaricom may be allowed to offer financial services in Ethiopia via Mpesa, its mobile money platform. Indeed,...

This is the first significant fundraising the agritech is organizing in ten years of operations.  Ghanaian startup Farmerline, which facilitates access to fertilizers for smallholder farmers, secured US$12.9 million in funding from a consortium of investors.  In an announcement published on its LinkedIn page today (April 26), the agritech startup explains that the funds were raised...

Based on Côte d’Ivoire’s economic resilience, the reforms initiated by the country, the discovery of new oil and gas reserves, and tax and customs revenues, the IMF forecasts a 6% GDP growth for 2022. Côte d’Ivoire’s tax revenues were 3% more than expected in Q1-2022, according to deputy head of taxation M’bahia Bamba Maférima (photo) as reported in an official release published...

Weeks ago, Equatorial Guinea launched negotiations with telecom operators to reduce the costs of services they provide. The agreement signed on April 20 marks the successful conclusion of those negotiations. It also announces further reductions.  Next May 1, telecom operators active in Equatorial Guinea will reduce their tariffs by 50 percent. The decision is the result of a preliminary...

A few days ago, the central bank issued the first e-money issuance license to a fintech, Wave notably. With the creation of the support bureau, analysts expect incentive guidelines for fintech startups active in West Africa. The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) announced, Friday (April 22), the creation of its fintech bureau. Dubbed BCSF (French acronym for fintech supervision...

Zambia’s external debt has been growing since 2006, according to World Bank data. To address the situation, the country, which is facing numerous economic challenges, has initiated reforms to revive its economy with the support of international partners.  This year, the World Bank will fund several projects, to the tune of US$560 million in Zambia. The information was disclosed in the...

In September 2022, Bolloré Transport & Logistics Cote d’Ivoire will inaugurate a modern logistics base with a total area of 9,000 m2, in the airport area of Abidjan. Designed to strengthen its offer of services linked to the import and export of goods by air, this new infrastructure will have required 18 months of work and an investment of 3.4 billion CFA francs. Connected to the...

The telecom spectrum is a limited but essential resource for telecommunications services. By devising this review plan, the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia wants to optimize its management. The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) will review its frequency band plan every four years. This was revealed by CRAN CEO, EMILIA Nghikembua, on Tuesday, April 12, during...

After its first investments in 2018, Tofino capital decided to go a step further by launching a multi-sectoral fund. The investment vehicle will target startups in frontier markets such as Egypt and Nigeria.   Early-stage investor Tofino Capital announced the first close, at US$5 million,  of its US$10 million investment fund set up for pre-seed and seed-stage investments in...