Indian company Sterling and Wilson Private Ltd was awarded the contract to build a data center in Pointe-Noir, Congo. The related deal was signed last week in Brazzaville between Léon Juste Ibombo (pictured), the Congolese Minister of Post, Telecommunications and Digital Economy, and representatives of the company. The soon to be built infrastructure is part of the second phase of the Central...

The government of Madagascar has brought telecom excise duty back at 10% as tax reduction “did not yield expected results on tariffs,” according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The information was reported last week during a session on the new tax measures in the 2020 Finance Act. The government says that not only did tariffs not drop as expected, but the tax reduction also deprived...

Supported by prudent monetary and fiscal policies, Tanzania's economic situation remains stable with sustained economic growth, relatively contained inflation, adequate levels of foreign exchange reserves and bearable public debt. This was one of the main findings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff mission to the country from 20 February to 4 March 2020. According to the institution,...

South African Edtech startup Snapplify announced March 4 it has acquired the digital publishing company Onnie Media for an undisclosed amount. According to Wesley Lynch (pictured), MD of Snapplify, this new acquisition will make it possible to diversify the Snapplify Group’s fast-growing educational portfolio and highlights the company’s position in the global e-learning market. Since the...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced the disbursement of $50 billion to help counter the current coronavirus crisis. The announcement was made on March 4 by the institution’s MD, Kristalina Georgieva (pictured), during a press conference. The initiative includes emergency financing facilities for the IMF's partner countries. According to Kristalina Georgieva, nearly $10...

The African Development Bank and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) have called for stronger links between technical and vocational education and training and industry to equip young people with the skills they need to boost technological advancement, trade and growth in Africa. A Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector Scoping Study Workshop,...

The African Development Bank’s Fashionomics Africa initiative hosted 110 entrepreneurs from the textile, apparel and accessories industry for a workshop on how to establish a successful fashion brand. Eighty-eight participants of the workshop, the first to be held in Nairobi, were women. More than a dozen industry insiders, public and private sector leaders shared experiences and expertise on...

The Ivoirian government announced the implementation of the interoperability of digital financial services for this year, as part of the regional financial inclusion strategy led by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO).   The interoperability of digital financial services, including mobile money and mobile banking, will allow any customer to send money to any other financial...

At the end of February this year, Egypt’s foreign exchanges grew by 3.29% to $45.509 billion, from $44.06 billion in February last year. According to the Central Bank, the current level of reserves covers about 7.2 months of Egypt's commodity imports, which is higher than the world average of about three months of imports. The foreign currencies held in Egypt's foreign exchange...

Fatou Sow Kane (pictured), Chief Enterprise Business Officer at mobile operator Expresso, announced earlier this week that the company’s 4G network will be accessible to consumers from March 31. “With this 4G Expresso, the experience will be even better in terms of connection, speed and reliability,” she said. With this new step, the company is getting back in competition with other...