On April 23, 2019, Amr Talaat (photo), Egypt’s minister of IT and communications, received a delegation of the World Bank and the IFC. Led by the World Bank’s coordinator of the MENA region Carlo Rossotto, the delegation discussed various strategies to boost the broadband penetration rate in Egypt.   Currently, 3G and 4G technologies are the most used. Recently, Egypt made huge...

Zimbabwean incumbent telecom operator TelOne may lose its shares in West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC). According to Chipo Mtasa (photo), managing director of TelOne, cited by The Herald, this is due to the firm’s non-compliance with its financial obligations estimated at $10 million.   "On WIOCC, definitely our shareholding is at risk. We have had different threats that...

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) announced, in a release published on April 22, that its governing council has approved the membership of three new African countries and one Latin American country. These countries are namely Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Tunisia and Uruguay.   “The growth in membership from Africa and Latin America demonstrates the importance that these...

Although the mobile phone boom in African represents a windfall in terms of communication and financial inclusion, it goes along with an increase in fraud and a subsequent loss of revenue for governments due to weak governance in the telecom sector. A penalizing shortfall that Global Voice Group aims to rectify. This paradoxical situation explains the progressive awareness from African...

The UNECA announces the launch of an African fund dedicated to women entrepreneurs. This fund plans to raise up to $500 million in the ten coming years for investments in firms managed by African women.  For the time being, there is no information on the firms that will benefit from the financing or the volume of funds they will receive. Apart from facilitating women’s access to...

Egypt’s borrowing requirements are estimated to be EGP820.7 billion ($48 billion) for the 2019-2020 fiscal year, according to the state budget published on April 22, 2019. Compared with the 2018-2019 requirement, this represents a 26% rise. Domestic borrowings should grow by 45% during the said fiscal year to reach EGP725.1 billion while external loans should drop by 36% to EGP95.6...

In 2018, Algeria’s growth was 1.5% against 1.14% in 2017, according to figures published by the office for national statistics (ONS). This growth rate is below the IMF’s forecast which was 2.5% for the period under review. According to the office, the growth was spurred by the agriculture, construction, public works, hydraulics, oil and industry, transport and communication sectors. ...

EFG Hermes Finance,  BG Capital and Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) will launch an $8.6 million joint-venture to offer mortgage financing.  This fund could increase to $14.5 million in the coming years. This fund will leverage the about four decades of experience Egyptian group Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) has in real estate development in Egypt. According to Karim Awad, managing...

The 5G technology will be available in Egypt for the AFCON 2019 to be hosted in the country from June 21 to July 19, 2019, Amr Talaat (photo), the country’s minister for IT and communications announces. It will only be deployed in experimental mode thanks to the technical support of Huawei technologies at Cairo stadium. This test is the result of a meeting between the Egyptian prime minister...

In a release published on Sunday 21, April 2019, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia announced that they would provide $3 billion to Sudan. This financial support is aimed at helping the east African country find solutions to the economic crisis it is going through. It consists of a $500 million deposit in the Central Bank of Sudan to alleviate pressures on the Sudanese Pound....