The government of Uganda is seeking to borrow USh550 billion ($150mln) from Chinese Exim Bank to set up digital projects that will improve populations’ lives across the country. The plan was revealed by the ICT Minister, Peter Ogwang, during a ceremony to hand over computers to Agwata Secondary School in Dokolo District on February 22. He said e-learning development is now a priority and the...

In a new fundraising operation yesterday Feb 25, Côte d’Ivoire mobilized CFA60.5 billion on the WAEMU securities market through the issue of 3-month and 6-month treasury bills (BATs). Initial amount sought was CFA55 billion. At the end of this operation, the country received CFA93.6 billion (about $155 million) in bids from investors, representing a 170% coverage rate. This makes about...

Egypt will start manufacturing electric buses in its military production plants by November this year. According to the Minister of Military Production, Mohamed al-Assar, the project is a collaboration between the Egyptian International Marathon United Technologies and the Chinese Foton Motor. A total of 2,000 vehicles will be produced over 4 years, at a rate of 500 a year. The official said his...

South African National Space Agency -SANSA and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration -NASA have signed a Deep Space Communications Study deal to conduct a number of technical and environmental researches for the potential establishment of a ground station in South Africa. The facility will support future near-Earth and deep space exploration. “Having worked with the South...

Egypt’s state-owned Banque Misr announced plans to raise $250 from international financial institutions to finance its expansion in sub-Saharan Africa. The company targets Somalia, Djibouti, and Kenya. The expansion project has already obtained the Central Bank of Egypt’s approval and Misr is in talks with investors to get loans at competitive rates. The bank is already present in...

The European Investment Bank announced on February 24 an envelope of €4 billion to support public and private investment in Africa this year. The fund will be allocated to infrastructure that drives private sector growth, enabling job creation by entrepreneurs, start-up companies and corporates, and provide new financing for climate-related investment and sustainable...

Liquid Telecom announced plans to enter the telecom market in Eritrea. The announcement was recently made on Facebook by Strive Masiyiwa (pictured), who heads Econet Global Ltd, the parent company of Liquid Telecom. In the Digital 2020 report, We Are Social and Hootsuite reveal that mobile penetration in this country is only 20%. Meaning, out of the 3.52 million inhabitants, only 711,000 people...

The African Development Bank and the Botswana Development Corporation (BDC) on Friday signed a Line of Credit (LOC) totaling $80 million to help scale up key investments in the southern African country. BDC will on-lend to specific target groups, focusing on industrialization including manufacturing, transport and service sectors that have significant development impact. Repayment will be...

Varroc Lighting Systems Morocco, local arm of Indian automotive lighting system manufacturer Varroc Engineering, will benefit from a new credit line of €15 million ($16.2 million) from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. This is the second loan granted by EBRD to the company after the €16 million provided in 2018. The new financing will allow Varroc to boost...

Last year in Morocco, the service sector generated a total of 267,000 new jobs, including 223,000 in the urban area and 44,000 in the rural zone. According to the High Commissioner of Planning, this figure is 5.7% higher than the 142,000 jobs created in 2018, making the sector the largest job generator over the period. In the construction segment, 24,000 new jobs were created (6,000 in the urban...