The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), an entity of the South African employment ministry, announced the disbursement of R14.079 billion (about $765 million) to support workers affected by the lockdown measure ordered by the government to contain the coronavirus pandemic. According to Teboho Maruping (pictured), the UIF Commissioner, the aid has benefited a total of 2,551,236 workers since...

Foreign investors reduced their investment portfolios in Nigeria by $15.7 billion in the first quarter of 2020, according to an analysis by Fitch Ratings, which quotes estimates from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “We expect outflows to materialize later in the year, which, alongside a significant current-account deficit and continued CBN resistance to overhauling the...

China Telecom Global Limited (CTG), subsidiary of China Telecom Corp Ltd and global broadband connectivity supplier, has selected the subsea cable operator Angola Cables to boost the long-haul links between Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Through a partnership agreement signed on May 14, CTG and Angola Cables will launch a transmission route to link China, South Africa, and Brazil via the South...

South Africa’s pharmaceutical group Dis-Chem announced it has entered in talks to buy the baby care product retailer Baby City. The group, co-founded in 1978 by Ivan and Lynette Saltzman, proposes to pay R430 million ($23.2 million) for the acquisition. The transaction includes a loan to Baby City's shareholders and a guarantee to ensure the company's liquidity in a context marked by the...

The government of Niger has initiated a financing mechanism to give a helping hand to businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic. According to authorities, the strategy is based on two lines: one for SMEs (CFA50 billion) and the second for large companies (CFA100 billion), for a total amount of CFA150 billion ($249.6 million). “The government will make available to banks CFA25 billion in...

WAEMU countries successfully raised a total of CFA1,172.63 billion through the issue of covid-19 social bonds on the regional public securities market between April 27 and May 14 (18 days). The Bonds were issued in the form of treasury bills (BATs) with a 3-month maturity and an average rate of 3%. The resources enabled States to finance their urgent response plans against the pandemic, pending...

South African asset manager Ninety One agreed to sell 24% of the shares it holds in Botswana's consumer goods retailer, Kamoso Africa, to Botswana Development Corporation (BDC). The announcement comes two years after the asset manager and its partners acquired a majority stake in Kamoso. The operation was at that time the biggest private equity investment in Botswana, according to local media....

The Burkinabe national carrier Air Burkina sent its staff on technical unemployment for 3 months due to the coronavirus pandemic. “Considering the impact of the coronavirus on the financial situation of the company [...] Air Burkina staff is placed on partial technical unemployment as of May 15 for three months,” the MD Blaise Sanou said. In a liquidity crisis, Air Burkina “will pay each...

The European Union approves the urgent disbursement of €31 million (CFA20.3 billion) to help the government of Niger fight the coronavirus pandemic, which has already killed 54 people in the country. “For now, the budget aid is the most suitable instrument to respond to the pandemic,” according to the EU ambassador to Niger Denisa-Elena Ionete (pictured). Initially scheduled for June,...

Jely Group, a firm specializing in the financing and restructuring of SMEs has mobilized between September 2019 and April 2020, the amount of CFA5.3 billion (about $8.5 million) to support Ivorian SMEs. Of this sum, 20% has been disbursed to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus. According to the group’s Managing Partner, Mamadou Kouyaté, “financing exists for SMEs, but only on the...