The government of Botswana expects growth to slightly fall to 4.3% of GDP this year compared to 4.5% last year, the Deputy Secretary in the ministry of finance, Kelapile Ndobano (pictured) said. The official said the weak outlook is linked to disruptions in the diamond sector, one of the country's main export products. According to him, Botswana's diamond sales fell by 16% in the second quarter...

Rwanda’s satellite RWASAT-1 is going to be launched into orbit in November this year, the country’s minister of ICT and innovation, Paula Ingabire, announced during a joint press conference between the Rwanda Utility and Regulatory Authority (RURA), the Ministry of ICT & Innovation, and the Japanese Embassy. Patrick Nyirishema, RURA’s MD, said the satellite might be launched on November...

Enda Tamweel, a Tunisian microfinance institution that owns 61% of market share, plans to carry out a bond issue operation totaling TND15 million ($5.2 million) without the use of public offerings. The issue will cover 150,000 bonds with a par value of TND100. The loan, which will have a maturity of five years, has an annual fixed interest rate of 12.5%. The subscription period runs from 10 to...

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari (pictured) presented on Tuesday, before the parliament, his budget draft for the next year. Amounting to 10,330 billion Naira, this budget is significantly higher than the 8,900 billion Naira adopted for 2019.Despite a difficult economic context, the government expects public revenues to exceed 8,155 billion Naira next year, up 7% compared to 2019. The country,...

The African Development Bank Group has approved a $13.2 million financing package from the African Development Fund for a fisheries and aquaculture development project in Malawi. The Sustainable Fisheries, Aquaculture Development, and Watershed Management project will provide infrastructure for increased fisheries productivity and market access. Board approval for the project was granted on...

As part of the active management of its debt, Côte d'Ivoire successfully carried out a securities exchange operation totaling XOF232 billion on the regional public securities market.Led by the State Treasury of Côte d'Ivoire in close collaboration with the WAMU Securities Agency, this transaction involving securities maturing in 2019 and 2020 was split into two tranches in order to complete...

The government of Kenya is seeking to increase its tax base in order to boost domestic resources mobilization. Under this strategy, the country plans to raise the number of active taxpayers from 3.94 million currently to 7 million by 2022.The announcement was made by Francis Muthaura (pictured), Head of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) which manages domestic revenue mobilization in the country,...

Côte d'Ivoire will benefit from a $147 million loan granted by the International Development Association (IDA) to implement water and sanitation projects. A decree ratifying the loan agreement was adopted last week by the country's government.The project will improve the quality of water supply services and access to water in 12 urban areas across the country. New water reservoirs,...

The tool includes key environmental and urban sustainability indicators as well as disaster risk and vulnerability, and urban footprint growth. “The urban opportunities far outweigh the challenges,” said Prof. Davis G. Mwamfupe, the Mayor of Dodoma, Tanzania, during his message to the Cities Leadership workshop, launching the City Diagnostics for five pilot cities in Africa, held on the...

South Africa's public debt could rise to 95% of gross domestic product (GDP) within the next five years, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said in a report published on Wednesday. The institution indicates that this forecast could come true if the government does not implement a viable growth plan while restructuring the national electricity company, Eskom. The latter is struggling...