Ratings agency S&P Global has affirmed its “AAA/A-1+” foreign currency issuer credit rating of the African Development Bank with a stable outlook. The ratings agency said its outlook reflected the expectation that the African Development Bank (AfDB) would, over the next two years, “prudently manage its capital while maintaining solid levels of high-quality liquidity assets and a robust...

Ecobank reports it ended 2020 with a positive accounting result of $149.5 million, up 104% compared to that of 2019. On a financial and operational level, net profit, which takes into account depreciation, amortization, income, and other operating expenses, declined by 66% to $94 million compared to $274.9 million in 2019. However, the international standard for the publication of...

The Lagos financial market is among those that have challenged covid-19 with record performances. All the compartments of this stock exchange experienced a very positive dynamic last year. The market posted the best performance of all the stock exchanges that are followed by international investors, with an index up 50%. At the end of the year, the NSE's market capitalization was up 62.42% from...

Airtel Africa, the African arm of the Indian telecom group Bharti Airtel, will not bid for the telecom licenses that the Ethiopian government is putting up for sale as part of the process of liberalizing the national telecom market. In an interview with Reuters on Friday 29 January, Raghunath Mandava (pictured), the company's chief executive officer, said the company will instead use the current...

The World Bank announced it has approved the disbursement of $50 million to support the electricity sector in Sierra Leone. The money will be provided by the International Development Association (IDA) in partnership with the Japan Policy and Human Resources Development Fund, which is granting $2.7 million of the amount. It will bring clean energy to 276,000 Sierra Leoneans and 700...

Last year, the share of foreign investors in Kenya's public debt increased by more than 22%, or more than $6.2 billion. The figure is featured in the weekly statistics published by the Central Bank of the country. According to the institution's figures, Kenya's external public debt increased from KSh3,106 billion or $28.2 billion in 2019 to KSh3,793 billion ($34.4 billion) by the end...

In spite of the particularly challenging international economic situation arising from the health crisis, the Republic of Djibouti has entered the year 2021 with determination. According to the World Bank's Global Economic Prospects report, Djibouti is expected to experience the strongest GDP growth in Africa this year with a projected rate of 7.1%. This outlook is by no means coincidental....

Help is on the way for the global cocoa supply chain, severely threatened by climate change. A new project by the African Development Bank and the International Agroforestry Agency (ICRAF) would bring relief to two Ivorian smallholder cocoa farmers’ communities in Soubre and Vavoua currently grappling with declining yields caused by climate change and worsened by the COVID-19...

Mediterrania Capital Partners, a private equity firm that focuses on SMEs and mid-cap companies in Africa, has sold its remaining 9% interest in the capital of Cash Plus, a Moroccan company active in money transfer activities, prepaid credit cards, and bill payment. “With Mediterrania’s financial and operational support, Cash Plus entered a new era that included a major restructuring plan...

Chad will benefit from $560 million to be provided by the International Monetary Fund to support its economy. In a Jan 27 statement, the Fund announced it has reached a staff-level agreement with the country for this new financing under the extended credit facility (ECF) and extended fund facility (EFF). The disbursement is subject to approval from the IMF executive board. The resources...