Today May 16, 2019, MTN Nigeria is getting listed on the Nigerian stock exchange with a market capitalisation of $6 billion. The operator has chosen a listing without prior IPO. It simply listed its existing shareholders’ equity. With such market capitalisation, MTN Nigeria may be the second largest firm by market capitalisation on this exchange. It is just behind Dangote Cement that is...

The African Development Bank will this week welcome a new African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN) champion. A Bank mission is visiting Burkina Faso from 14 to 17 May 2019 to induct President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré into the ALN. The mission will use the occasion to present ALN’s progress and agree on a common nutrition roadmap for 2019-2020. The mission will be led by Oley Dibba-Wadda,...

Moroccan credit institution Caisse Centrale de Garantie (CCG), announces that in Q1, 2019, it granted MAD5.46 billion ($571 million) in credit guarantees to local SMEs. On a year to year basis, this represents a 33% rise.   The institution explains that this is due to the enhancement of the micro company’s financing mechanisms. For instance, the Damane Atassyir mechanism helped grant...

South African SPAR Group announced earlier today May 15, 2019, that it was about to acquire majority stake in Polish supermarket chain Piotr i Pawel. Piotr i Pawel has 77 stores and supermarkets as well as a distribution networks in Poland. Apart from South Africa, SPAR Group operates in Switzerland, the UK, Ireland, Angola and Sri Lanka. South African retail companies are increasingly...

Somalia’s economy could rise from 2.8% to 3% this year, the IMF estimated in a statement published on May 14, 2019. “Somalia’s economy continued to recover, supported by vigorous activity in the construction, telecommunications, and financial services sector in 2018,” said Allison Holland, who led an IMF team discussing Somalia’s Article IV programme. “The outlook remains...

Algeria’s trade deficit reached $1.37 billion in Q1, 2019, according to figures published by the national institute for statistics CNIS. In Q1, 2018, this figure was $1.23 billion. Between January 1 and March 31, 2019, the country’s exports dropped by 2.38% to reach $9.78 billion, down from $10.02 billion in Q1, 2018. During the period under review, imports dropped by...

Spanish group Corfem, a chemical products trader, has acquired 30% stake in the capital of Prochimag Sarl, the Moroccan subsidiary of chemical products distributor PMS International. For this stake acquisition, Corfem disbursed MAD13 million ($1.3 million). Thanks to this operation, the group will enter the Moroccan market alongside PMS International that is also present in Algeria. In 2009,...

Microsoft Corporation announced the construction of a tech development centre in Kenya. The project was presented to President Uhuru Kenyatta during an audience granted on May 13, 2019, to Microsoft’s representatives led by Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s executive vice-president in charge of the gaming department. The tech development centre will serve the East African region.   According...

Jumia Technologies gained momentum on Monday 13 May, 2019, on the New York Stock Exchange. The value of this leader of the African e-commerce sector surged by 8.57% at the end of the trading day.   The share is thus leaving a down cycle that lasted for seven consecutive sessions after an 18.8% dip on May 9, 2019. Overall, during the down cycle, the market value dropped by 47%. Investors...

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will have a positive impact on intra-regional trade, 72 % of African CEOs think. This is the outcome of a survey published on May 9, 2019, by the Oxford Business Group (OBG). Baptized “Business Barometer 2019: Africa CEO survey,” the survey which was conducted on a face-to-face basis with 787 African CEOs also revealed that 84% of them...