The South African government has just launched a fund of R1.2 billion ($79.4 million) to support the tourism industry. According to the authorities, the “Tourism Equity Fund” aims to speed up the sector and increase its weight in the economy (currently estimated at 2.9% of GDP directly and 8.6% indirectly). President Cyril Ramaphosa said the facility will focus on easing the participation of...

A climate resilient project in Zambia supported by the African Development Bank and Climate Investment Funds (CIF) has won the Water ChangeMaker People’s Choice Award-Africa, it was announced at the Climate Adaptation Summit 2021 on 25 January. The Strengthening Climate Resilience in the Kafue Sub-basin Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (SCRiKA), beat two other finalists identified by...

Ethiopia’s initiative to privatize public companies could be hampered by security risks. "In recent months, the conflict between Ethiopia's central government and the leaders of the Tigray region has dominated the news. Although federal government troops have regained control of Tigray, the conflict illustrates potentially serious flaws in Ethiopia's federal system," the Institute of...

Pula, a Kenyan startup that offers digital insurance and agricultural consulting services to farmers, raised a $6 million Series A financing from VC TLcom Capital and US organization Women’s World Banking. “With our latest funding, now is the time to break into new grounds. In our five years since launching, we’ve built strong traction for our products. However, the fact remains that...

On Sunday, January 23, 2021, the member countries of the Economic Community of West African States held their 58th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government. This virtual meeting saw the establishment of new guidelines regarding the community’s single currency and market. Concerning the single currency (ECO), the ECOWAS communiqué stressed that the deadline for...

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced it will set up an undisclosed revolving fund to secure a total of 240 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine. The information was reported following the 58th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government. The launch of this fund comes at a time when countries around the world are rushing to get vaccines, with...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced in a Jan 25 statement it will support Guinea-Bissau’s response against the Covid-19 pandemic with $20.4 million. The financing is approved under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) put in place to assist countries during the health crisis. The money will help the government meet its urgent balance of payments and fiscal needs; support the...

African Development Bank President Akinwuma A. Adesina announced the launch on Monday of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) to mobilize $25 billion to scale up and accelerate climate change adaptation actions across Africa. The announcement came during the Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS) 2021, hosted by the government of the Netherlands and the Global Center on Adaptation. The...

Tanzania just joined the One Area Network adopted by the member countries of the East African Community to harmonize tariffs on voice calls within the region. Until now, the standard was only followed by Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan. In a letter addressed to the EAC Secretariat, Stephen Mbundi, the Permanent Secretary of the Tanzanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informed the...

Aerobotics, a South African tech company co-founded in 2014 by James Paterson (pictured) and Benji Meltzer, raised $17 million in a Series B financing led by Naspers Foundry, the investment arm of Naspers. The amount will be used to improve the company’s AI-based technological platform, thus enabling it to expand across the US, its main market, and 17 other markets worldwide. “We’re...