Mobile operator 9mobile is stepping to win back the millions of subscribers who left its network when it faced problems operating under the Etisalat brand in 2017. Stéphane Beuvelet, the company’s Managing Director, announced an investment of $220 million to extend its 4G network in Lagos, Abuja, Aba, Nasarawa, and twelve other Nigerian cities. The network upgrade investment aims at...

The Tanzanian government plans to bring mining shares in GDP to 10% over the next five years, from 3.5% currently. The plan was unveiled by PM Kassim Majaliwa (pictured) during a mining investment conference held on February 23 in Dar es Salaam. Majaliwa says the government plans to reach its goal through the implementation of new reforms and the acquisition of a certificate of origin for tin,...

Social Investment Managers & Advisors (SIMA), a fund management and investment consulting firm which operates in Kenya, Pakistan, Switzerland, and the United States, mobilized $90 million via its Sima Fund 1 that focuses on solar energy projects. The resources will be allocated to companies that design and distribute solar solutions in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The fundraising saw...

Optical fiber Internet provider Liquid Telecom officially launched its broadband service in Juba, South Sudan, on February 20. The announcement was made by Strive Masiyiwa, CEO of Econet Global, the parent company of Liquid Telecom. This marks the end of work which started since 1st July 2019 on a deal signed with the South Sudanese government. Phase 1 of the project involved the deployment of...

Economic growth in Nigeria reached 2.27% last year, up from 1.91% in 2018, according to a report published this week by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Data shows that the country’s GDP grew by 2.55% YoY in the fourth quarter last year, the highest quarterly performance since the 2016 economic recession caused by the decline in oil prices. NBS says the oil activity saw a recovery last...

Every year, the government of Uganda loses at least USh30 billion (more than $8 million) in the illicit trade of cigarettes. In an interview with Bloomberg, Mathu Kiunjuri, MD of British American Tobacco’s local arm (BAT Uganda), said today that one in five cigarettes in the country is counterfeit, whereas 10 years ago only one in ten was, which shows how alarming the situation is....

Traffic in the port of Cotonou dropped by 1.85% last year to 10.09 million tons, against 10.28 million tons in 2018. The volume is also down the 11 million tons authorities in Benin were expecting for the period. According to the Port Authority (PAC), this decline, driven by external factors, negatively impacted the second half of 2019, which had started with a tonnage of 5.98 million against...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) granted €23.4 million for the development of the port of Bujumbura in Burundi. According to the Bank, €17.3 million will be provided by the African Development Fund (ADF) and €6.1 million will come from the Transition Support Facility (TSF). The grant deals were signed February 18 between Burundi's Finance Minister Domitien Ndihokubwayo,...

The African Development Bank, in collaboration with the government of Nigeria, has held a meeting with stakeholders to discuss details around Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones in Nigeria. A workshop was held in Abuja from 17 to 18 February to address the categorization and location of the SAPZs, which are meant to kickstart the agriculture sector. Speaking at the event, Nigeria’s...

The Democratic Republic of Congo has a low bank enrollment rate, leaving millions of people outside the banking system. However, more than 45% of the Congolese population use mobile phones, which makes it possible to increase financial affordability. In the DRC, several mobile money agents, for lack of liquidity, have especially constraints when it comes to carrying out transactions of large...