Judi Wakhungu (pictured), the Kenyan Ambassador to France, signed a multilateral convention to end tax evasion by multinational companies. The document was signed during the 10th Anniversary Meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes organized in Paris. According to the Ambassador, the signing of the convention demonstrates the national commitment of...

The government of Zimbabwe says it will not cut grain subsidies next year, as previously announced. According to a statement by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, this decision is to assist the most vulnerable populations in a context of economic crisis. “We cannot remove the subsidy. So I am restoring it so that the price of mealie-meal is also reduced [in 2020],” the President said, according...

The Comorian government will meet with several financial partners in Paris next month. The Indian Ocean archipelago seeks to mobilize €4.5 billion ($5 billion) in investments for several projects mainly in tourism and infrastructure sectors. The announcement was made on Tuesday by the Economy Minister Houmed Msaidie (pictured), during an interview with Bloomberg. The operation comes a few...

The European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a €500 million (about $550 million) loan deal with the Egyptian public bank Banque Misr to strengthen support to SMEs operating in the country. During the first half this year, Banque Misr provided about EGP24 billion in aid for micro and small entrepreneurs; the support was only EGP11 billion the same period last year (+118%). The Egyptian...

Ethiopian private equity firm Cepheus Growth Capital Partners has just acquired a minority stake in Tabor Ceramics, an Ethiopian business that manufactures ceramic products, including sanitary ware, dishes, and industrial insulation. The transaction amount is not disclosed yet. Cepheus will also provide strategic, managerial, and operational support to the company enabling it to continue its...

The McKinsey Global Institute has just published a new report on the evolution of gender parity in African countries. While we might be expecting good news, the report found that inequality between males and females remains high across the continent. On average, Africa scored 0.58 out of 1 for the Gender Parity Score (GPS); the same level as four years ago meaning there is no progress in this...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has just joined the list of the backers of the Liquefied Natural Gas development in Mozambique. The institution announced yesterday it is injecting $400 million in the project which needs a total of $23 billion. The financial close is expected in the first half next year and the country’s national hydrocarbons corporation ENH is seeking $1.5...

Following insistent rumors of a strike on a Nigerien army base in Diffa by the French forces of Operation Barkhane, the French Embassy in Niger refuted these allegations. The representation says these are just fake news intending to undermine military cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel. “The embassy formally denies the “fake...

Africa needs new impetus in its journey towards gender parity. Making progress on any single indicator of gender inequality is likely to require systematic action on a range of indicators by governments, companies, communities, and individual men and women. A new McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) report prepared with McKinsey & Company, Africa, The power of parity: Advancing women’s equality in...

Leaders from multilateral development banks, financial institutions and the private sector called on peers to dispel myths about women being too “high risk” for financing - and to offer more financial services for women in business to close the gender finance gap. “We know that women are a good bet. We know they pay back. We know they run excellent businesses – and yet they are not...