Private equity firm AfricInvest (which manages about €2 billion worth of assets) and the French investment bank Bpifrance have taken a stake in the French public lighting solutions manufacturer Ragni. The amounts committed and the shares acquired by these new shareholders were not disclosed. The operation aims at "providing the financial and operational resources" necessary to enable the...

The Big Tech has never risked more than fines or lawsuits for its excessive dominance over tech markets. This time, "America has had enough," Congressman David Cicilline told his peers on Wednesday, June 23. A U.S. congressional committee approved, Thursday, June 24, after a session of about 30 hours, a bill to better regulate the activities of tech giants mainly the GAFAM (Google, Apple,...

Birimian, the first operational investment company dedicated to African luxury and premium heritage brands, announces two key strategic and exclusive partnerships. Firstly with Institut Français de la Mode, among the world’s leading fashion schools, based in Paris, and secondly with WSN (Who's Next, Première Classe, IMPACT, Traffic, Bijorhca), a prominent and strategic actor in the...

The African Development Bank Group’s shareholders have shown strong support for the Bank’s proposals to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, and this as the continent faces the possibility of a third wave of infection amid poor vaccine access. This emerged from the 56th Annual Meetings of the Bank Group. The three-day event, which ended on Friday, included the 47th meeting of the Governors of the...

Last June 22, the Ethiopian army carried out an air attack against a market, officially targeting Tigrayan rebels. The incident killed 64. Yet, PM Abiy Ahmed had announced at the end of November 2020 the end of operations in the region.  The Tigray conflict seems far from over between the federal government of Ethiopia and the rebels of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). Since the...

Hyve Group Plc, organizers of the Africa Oil Week’s 27th edition, has released the first line-up of African ministers and government leaders who will be present at this edition. They include former African presidents (Nigeria and Malawi), Commissioner for the African Union Commission, Secretary-General for AfCFTA, and Ministers from Ethiopia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Republic...

East Africa Bank, one of the three Islamic banks operating in Djibouti, is close to obtaining a guarantee of up to $5 million provided by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) under its global trade finance program. The resource will support local import-export companies engaged in cross-border trade. It will help maintain the flow of essential goods (medical equipment and other...

Kenya is trying to restructure its external debt while borrowing from multilateral institutions, amid a recovery of its covid-19 affected economy. According to the IMF, public debt is expected to rise to 73.1% of GDP in 2023 while external debt is expected to fall to 37.2%. Kenya's external debt is expected to decline over the next few years. This is an estimate of the International Monetary...

The African Development Bank, with financing from the Italian Technical Cooperation Fund, has provided a €990,000 grant to help smaller agro-processing enterprises boost production and quality control. The project will enable the businesses to better tap into national and regional markets and capitalize on the opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area. The...

HyperionDev has raised $3.5 million in Series A funding through crowd investment platform CrowdCube to help expand to thousands of students globally. The South African online courses platform was founded in 2012 as a small grassroots movement of Computer Science students working towards a single goal to build and deliver better technical education, typically for digital literacy and...