The International Monetary Fund has agreed to grant Côte d'Ivoire $1 billion to support economic recovery and boost job creation. The announcement was made last week by IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva during a meeting with Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara on the sidelines of the France-Africa summit to be held tomorrow May 18. This new loan follows those granted during 2020 to help the...

Over the 12 months ending on March 31, 2021, fintech companies attracted $91 billion from VC companies. This amount which may seem low hides a big threat to traditional banks. Jamie Dimon (pictured), CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co, the world’s biggest bank by market capitalization ($496.7 billion), said in a note to shareholders that the development of fintech must be closely...

The World Health Organization urges rich countries to donate doses of Covid-19 vaccine to low-income countries instead of proceeding with child vaccination. In an address last May 14, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO MD, said: “I understand why some countries want to vaccinate their children and adolescents, but right now I urge them to reconsider and to instead donate vaccines to...

Since Sudan has been removed from the US terror list, it has been reintegrated into the international financing system and is now negotiating funds to clear its external debt. After the United States, the UK, and Sweden, France is opening its coffer to help the country. Sudan will benefit from a bridge loan of $1.5 billion from France. The announcement was made last May 17 by French...

The Paris Summit on the financing of African economies is surely well-intentioned but in the current context, it seems unnecessary to draw attention to the debt of the continent, which only represents a tiny part of the total global debt. Would it not be more fair to offer Africa better conditions to access financing, fight illegal financial flows and urge multinationals to pay taxes as they...

Starsight Energy is expanding into East Africa by acquiring a 50% stake for an undisclosed amount in Premier Solar Group - a market-leading Commercial & Industrial solar company with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The outcome of the acquisition will see the creation of a new unit named Starsight Premier Energy Group which will focus on providing sustainable power, cooling, and...

Mobile operator Safaricom enters discussions with US tech giant Amazon to integrate its M-Pesa mobile payment service into the company’s platform. The announcement was made yesterday by Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa (pictured). The boss of Kenya’s leading telecom operator said that the success of these exchanges will strengthen the fruitful collaboration that the two companies already have....

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari (pictured) is committed to preserving his country’s food security through the fight against growing banditry. In a statement relayed last May 13, the President announced strong action to put an end to the criminal acts that are rampant in Nigeria. Such a measure will ensure that people work safely in farms. Buhari said he “will use all available...

Online Retail in South Africa 2021, a research conducted by World Wide Worx -South Africa's leading independent technology market research organisation- reveals that in South Africa, online retail sales reached R30 billion in 2020. This represents 66% growth, and is a result of increase in demand for home deliveries brought about by the novel coronavirus. Mastercard, a global pioneer in payment...

The money sub-Saharan Africa received last year from its diaspora was 12.5% less than the previous year. The figures were unveiled by World Bank in a May 12 report. According to the new "Migration and Development Brief", the SSA diaspora sent $42 billion home in 2020 against $48 billion in 2019. This is the second consecutive year of decline; in 2019, decline was only 0.4%. According...