Nigeria-based pan-African development fund Africa Finance Corporation raised a $140 million loan on the South Korean capital market; the first loan contracted on this market. This follows a US$233 million and JPY1 billion dual currency Samurai Term Loan Facility closed in September 2019, on the Japanese market. Commenting on both fundraisings, Samaila Zubairu, President and CEO of AFC,...

The Bank of Zambia announced it has raised its key interest rate to 11.5% from 10.25%, the second increase since the beginning of the year. According to Denny Kalyalya (pictured), the Bank’s Governor, the new measure aims to support the local currency, the kwacha, which has weakened by 18% against the dollar since the beginning of the year, and to curb inflation. The latter accelerated to...

Last year, Egypt shipped a total of $4.7 billion worth of goods towards the rest of Africa, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) revealed. Compared to the $3.71 billion in 2017, this figure is up 26%. Algeria, Libya, and Morocco formed the top 3 biggest importers of Egyptian products over the period consuming $979.2 million, $635.9 million...

Toronto-based mining company Trigon Metals announced it has concluded a non-binding memorandum of understanding to acquire full stake in the Silver Hill copper/silver project in Morocco. The project covers 16 km2 in the country’s Anti-Atlas region, which is home to Africa’s major silver mines, mainly Imiter and Zgounder. Initial exploration works undertaken by Office National des...

Senegal plans to launch its Islamic microfinance program with the opening of financing windows by June 2020, Yaye Fatou Diagne (pictured), coordinator of the National Program for the Development of Islamic Microfinance in Senegal (PROMISE), announced on Tuesday. The 5-year program valued at 47 billion CFA francs ($79.2 million) and supported by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) aims to provide...

The former employees of Comium, a telecom company operating under the brand name Koz, are seeking the intervention of the President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara so that they can finally be paid their social rights. Comium had been forced to stop activities in 2016 following the withdrawal of its operating license for various breaches, including high unpaid financial fees...

French chauffeur-driven car rental platform Heetch raised $4.4 million from Tunisian private equity investor AfricInvest to continue expansion in six new markets in 2020, including Tunisia and Senegal. On the African continent, Heetch is mainly interested in Francophone countries in which “competition is less intense than in Anglophone countries,” according to Patrick Pedersen, the...

The government of Angola is planning to issue $3 billion worth of Eurobonds on the international market between late 2019 and early 2020. The information was announced by Banco de Fomento Angola in an official statement. The institution said talks are already engaged with investors, who authorities met last week in New York. Operations will be monitored by Deutsche Bank, ICBC and Standard...

The opening of its capital with a double IPO on the London and Lagos stock exchanges enabled Airtel Africa to strengthen its cash position by $680 million for the first six months of FY2019/20 financial year, which ended on 30 September 2019. According to an official statement, the company issued 676.41 million shares, which were widely requested by investors both in London and on the...

Nigeria-based fintech Opay successfully raised $120 million from Chinese investors including venture capitalists Sequoia Capital China, GSR Ventures, Source Code Capital, GaoRong Capital, as well as distribution company Meituan-Dianping. OPay plans to use the sum to fund expansion in Nigeria, but also in Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana. According to OPay’s Chairman Yahui Zhou, these...