Thirty-nine (39) million Africans are at risk of falling into extreme poverty by 2021. This was announced by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in a report published last week. In its African Economic Outlook 2021, the institution said the Covid-19 pandemic will continue to affect the most fragile segments of the African population. More people could be affected this year than in 2020 when 30...

The African Development Bank Group (“AfDB”), on 2 February 2021, issued a sanction decision against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (“MHI”). This matter arises in the context of the Abu Qir 1300 MW Steam Power Project (hereinafter referred to as the “Project”) in Egypt. On 15 January 2008, the Bank entered into a loan agreement with the Arab Republic of Egypt to finance part of the...

In recent months, the government of Gabon has been bringing in some young blood. Noureddin Bongo Valentin, a youth not more than 30 years, has been appointed as the General Coordinator of Presidential Affairs. A man who shines by his performances, he applies to public management some private management techniques: reporting, auditing, return on investment. "I belong to a generation to whom...

Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz has called for a comprehensive global plan to help countries cope with mounting debt that has been compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic. Stiglitz, a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2001, was speaking on Friday at the virtual launch of the African Development Bank’s 2021 African Economic Outlook report during a conversation with...

Despite the challenging backdrop of a global pandemic and external economic shocks, Africa is expected to recover from its worst recession in half a century and reach 3.4 percent growth in 2021, the African Development Bank said in its 2021 African Economic Outlook report, launched on Friday. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus in December 2019 has taken a massive toll on Africa, hitting...

VC company Savannah Fund, which focuses on sub-Saharan Africa, announced the first close of its second investment fund –Savannah Fund II- worth $25 million. This vehicle will support early-stage startups in the region with a particular focus on women-led high-growth companies. The first close was led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which invested $3 million in the...

Benin has received the first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine as part of the Covax initiative. In an official statement yesterday, the government reported the arrival of 144,000 doses of AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine transported from India by Unicef. “We are very happy to receive these first doses of vaccines against covid-19 through the COVAX initiative. The receipt of the vaccines marks a turning...

Few days after it imposed an embargo on maize imports from Tanzania and Uganda, the Kenyan government announced today it has lifted the ban. Resumption is however subject to better and stricter compliance with phytosanitary requirements. According to Peter Munya, Minister of Agriculture, maize exporters to Kenya will now have to register with the relevant authorities and provide certificates of...

The African Telecommunications Union, in collaboration with the Swedish technology company Ericsson, has validated last March 5 a set of recommendations that will help African countries accelerate broadband connectivity, including 5G, across their territories. Approved by twenty-five countries and representatives of regional economic blocs in Africa, these tools will guide the beneficiaries in...

The International NGO Tax Justice Network has just unveiled its Corporate Tax Haven Index for 2021. The document is a ranking of jurisdictions most complicit in helping multinational corporations underpay corporate income tax. For this edition, several big trade partners of Africa on the international market appear in the top 20. Switzerland, which ranks fifth in the Index, is also the...