In Mali, prime minister Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga (photo) submitted both his and the government’s resignation on April 18, 2019, amid tense socio-political environment. This environment was created by the demonstrations organized by the civil society and the opposition following the murder of more than 160 Fula villagers in March 2019. The demonstrators denounced the worsening security...

Africa’s net gain under a no-deal Brexit should be $3.24 billion, a recent report published by the UNCTAD indicates. Despite this apparently positive impact of such a deal, there are huge discrepancies. Only five countries really benefit from the no-deal Brexit. They are namely South Africa ($3.04 billion), Mauritius ($220 million), Botswana ($190 million), Seychelles ($105 million) and...

Orange Cyberdefense, the French group Orange’s branch dedicated to network security, officially opens its first African subsidiary in Morocco. The Casablanca-based subsidiary was launched on April 16, 2019. It was announced during the first meeting of IT users in Morocco on October 24-26, 2018 in Marrakech.   It will let users securely initiate their digital transformation, said Yves...

Kenya could be the major gainer in the acquisition of National Bank of Kenya (NBK) by Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), Ecofin Agency gathered from available information. Indeed, the government is a major stakeholder in the two financial institutions via public institutions. Kenya Commercial Bank insisted that prior to the operation, National Bank of Kenya’s preference shares should be converted...

Joao Lourenço (photo), Angola’s president, cancelled the international call for tenders that led to the attribution of a telecom licence to Telstar on April 12, 2019. According to the president, Telstar did not comply with some procedures of the operation. This licence was the fourth in the Angolan telecom market and, it was a unified license. Joao Lourenço also ordered the launch of a new...

In the current fiscal years, there has been increased attacks on the copper network of Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited (BTC). According to the incumbent operator's communications manager Golekanye Molapisi, “in the current financial year, we have been experiencing a lot of copper cable cuts and theft -both underground and overhead cables- which are being stolen and damaged at...

The medium and long-term debt of pharmaceutical firm Unimed listed on Tunisia stock exchange grew by 448% year to year in S1, 2019 to reach TND20.8 million. The firm explains that during the period under review, it borrowed TND4.8 million from banks for its expansion project. According to Moroccan media citing Charfeddine Ridha (photo), UNIMED’s managing director, an TND80...

In Senegal, the prime minister Mahammed Dionne has been required to suggest a regulatory framework for the public administration’s telecom bill by August 1, 2019. The instruction given by the country’s president Macky Sall (photo) during the ministerial council of April 17, 2019, falls within the framework of measures initiated by the government to reduce government expenditures. In 2014,...

In Niger, a new headquarters will soon be built for the directorate in charge of border control, immigration and ID management  (DST). The foundation stone of this headquarters was laid on April 17 by the minister of interior Mohamed Bazoum in the presence of the US ambassador to Niamey Eric P. Whitaker and the head of IOM in Niger Martin Wyss. The infrastructure for which the US...

Nigeria will issue NGN20 billion ($55 million) bond on April 24, 2019 to fund its budget, the Debt Management Office (DMO) indicated in a release published this week. According to the release relayed by many local media, the new bond will mature in 2049 (30 years). On the other hand, there is no indication of the interest rate.    “The issuance of the bond will meet the needs of...