In December 2021, South Africa’s Ethos Private Equity announced it would divest from Neopak. This plan is being stymied by the national Competition Commission. Regulatory constraints are hindering the divestment of Ethos Private Equity, a South African private equity firm, from Neopak Holdings, another South African firm operating in the packaging industry. According to the local Competition...

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation process in Africa. Since 2020, governments have been stepping up their investments to make sure citizens have access to internet connection, which is a pillar for this transformation.  The government of Botswana announced on Monday, March 21, its plans to connect a total of 500 villages to the Internet. Called SmartBots,...

Côte d'Ivoire is, according to the WHR 2022, the third African country where people feel happiest, after Mauritius and Libya. It is also the first in Francophone Africa. In 2021, the country became the country that prospered the most in the world in the last ten years.  Côte d'Ivoire is the happiest country in West Africa, according to the 2022 edition of the World Happiness Report (WHR)...

A group of venture capitalists led by industry specialists, including Century Oak Capital, invested an estimated US$750,000 seed capital into Chargel, an e-logistics firm based in Senegal.  Through this investment, the venture capitalists expressed confidence in the growth prospects of that firm specialized in networking freight companies with potential clients. They seem to have also...

UNAIDS reported that in 2020, nearly 4,200 girls aged 15-24 were infected with HIV every week in sub-Saharan Africa. Although preventive solutions exist, the International Solidarity Organization UNITAID believes that oral medicines are not so well accepted by the population. Only 1 million infected people have adopted the oral preventive drug, while the UN was targeting 3 million people by...

The National Bank of Egypt, Banque du Caire, and Banque Misr announced this week they have launched a joint fund -NClude- to support the fintech industry in Egypt. The public banks say they seek to raise $85 million under this initiative, which has already received approval from the Central Bank (CBE). NClude will be managed by Abu Dhabi-based Global Ventures. It will focus on fintech...

A joint report from BPC Banking Technology and Fincog estimates that 21 digital banks were active in Africa in 2021, with 80% of them concentrated in South Africa and Nigeria. The “Digital Banking in Sub-saharan Africa” report made a list of the 10 largest neo banks by customer base across the continent in 2021. The document ranked South African Bettr first with 6.5 million customers....

The second edition of the Cyber Africa Forum (CAF) will be hosted by Abidjan on 9 and 10 May 2022, under the high sponsorship of His Excellency Patrick Achi, Prime Minister of Ivory Coast and in the presence of a number of key cybersecurity players, including representatives from Huawei, Deloitte, Orange and Ecobank. It is co-organised by Ciberobs, one of Africa’s foremost cybersecurity...

Tincan Island Container Terminal Limited (TICT) has ordered two eco-efficient Konecranes Gottwald Generation 6 Mobile Harbor Cranes. Expected to be delivered in June 2022, this new equipment will improve the operational efficiency of TICT and supports its container traffic development. The cranes on order have a working radius of 54 m and a capacity of 150 tons. They feature strong lifting...

The Ethiopian government announced last year it has started the process to open part of the capital of the incumbent Ethio Telecom to private investors. However, the government now says it has to reschedule the process. The new decision was made public last March 18 via a tweet by the Ministry of Finance. "Given the recent developments and fast-moving macroeconomic changes, both globally and...