Three years after it obtained pre-seed funding, the Nigerian logistics platform Sendbox announced it has raised $1.8 million in early-stage financing to increase its staff and expand across West and East Africa. Sendbox says it wants to develop payment and e-commerce activities alongside its core business. The startup claims it has already reached more than 10,000 vendors and made more than...

The government of Tanzania unveiled plans to revamp its tourism industry in a post-Covid-19 period. TSh90.2 billion ($39.2 million) will be set aside for this project. Tourism Minister Damas Ndumbaro said the money will be drawn from the $567.25 million provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help the country get out of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Overall, 23 projects will be...

Tunisia’s National Agricultural Bank (BNA) increased its interest in local insurer AMI Assurances from 26% to more than 50%. The investor thus becomes AMI’s main shareholder. BNA had issued 46.4 million new shares to be subscribed in cash, in priority to former shareholders over the period from September 22 to October 14, 2021. Overall, TND92.8 million ($32.7 million) was invested to allow...

A major player in electrification solutions in Africa, the French group Electricité de France (EDF) is continuing its "EDF Pulse Africa" (Tour) innovation competition, at the Star Land Hotel in Bonanjo, Douala (Cameroon), this Tuesday 19 October - after a first stage in Pretoria (South Africa). Embodying EDF's commitment to Africa, this competition aims to support the continent's most promising...

First skeptical about getting its population vaccinated, Burundi has finally received the first shots of the Covid-19 vaccines. The country took delivery yesterday of 500,000 doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine and 124,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are expected by the end of October. Burundi also plans to institute a health pass in Bujumbura from November 1. According to Health...

Francophone Africa-focused digital bank PaySika has secured €300,000 (about $348,412) in seed funding. The deal represents its first fundraising since its inception in February 2020. PaySika says it will use the money to hire new staff members and expand its solutions. The digital bank is backed by a group of French, British, and Nigerian investors, and plans an official launch of...

'Lucky Irabor, Chief of Staff of the Nigerian Army, confirmed the death of Abu Musab al-Barnawi (pictured), leader of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). "I can authoritatively confirm to you that al-Barnawi is dead. As simple as that. He is dead and remains dead," he said today October 14, without giving any further details. Although this announcement sounds like good news for the...

Five months after its launch last May, the payment company Payday obtains its first financing, and presents its growth plans. Nigerian fintech Payday, which offers payment solutions to businesses and individuals, has raised its first-ever funding. The company launched in May 2021 by Nigerian Favor Ori (pictured) has secured $1 million in pre-seed funding to build "the PayPal" of...

Nigerian Fintech Appzone, which specializes in banking digitalization, announced the relaunch of its digital core banking system solution BankOne. This solution is now redesigned to primarily serve fintechs, neobanks, and challenger banks on the continent. BankOne enables technology-driven financial institutions to take a 360-degree digital approach that does not involve physical branches or...

DR Congo reported death from Ebola last October 8. While the country has already experienced 12 Ebola outbreaks, authorities swiftly launched a vaccination campaign to avoid a new wave of infections. Authorities in DR Congo have kicked off a vaccination campaign against the Ebola virus disease. The information was made public via a WHO statement yesterday October 13. The government has deployed...