In Tunisia, the operating expenses of Union bancaire pour le commerce et l’industrie (UBCI) reached TND43.4 million on March 31, 2019. On a year to year basis, this represents a 23.67% rise.   The bank explains that this is due to tax adjustment for the 2014-2016 fiscal years. In its 2018 financial report, UBCI indicates that in September 2018, it received a TND17.8 million tax...

Huawei has a proud history of delivering world class information and communications technology solutions in Africa. In our 30-year history and work in more than 170 countries and regions, Huawei has never installed a back-door; security is critical to everything we do. Allegations about impropriety with our customer, the African Union (AU) are completely unsubstantiated, and we vehemently reject...

In West Africa, mobile technology and services contributed 8.7% of GDP in 2018, the GSM Association (GSMA) indicates.   During the period under review, they generated $52 billion, a volume that may rise to $68 billion by 2023 or 9.5% of GDP. The 2018 performance was achieved thanks to 185 million mobile users, including 100 million internet users. This represented 53% of mobile...

In Morocco, private equity firms raised a total of MAD1.681 billion ($175.3 million) in 2018, local media LeBoursier indicated quoting a report presented to the media on April 16 by the private equity firms’ association (association marocaine des investisseurs en capital-AMIC) and audit firm Fidaroc Grant Thornton. Compared with the MAD1.318 billion raised in 2017, this represents a 27.5%...

AngoNAP Fortaleza, Angola Cables’ Brazil-based data center is now operational. This IT infrastructure was built to meet the hosting and cloud services demands the South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) will generate. According to Angola Cables, the Carrier Neutral Tier 3 data center Data was built as a Point of interconnection specially designed to receive more undersea cables landing at...

World Bank has decided to multiply the volume of its financial support to Mali by six this year. The country will thus be provided $250 million of which an important part will be dedicated to the energy sector’s restructuration. This was decided at the end of a meeting on the sidelines of the 2019 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in...

The Republic of Guinea is the ideal mining investment location. Since 2011, the country has made enormous progress by building the foundation for a “rock solid” development of its mining sector. The new mining code, adopted in 2011 and revised in 2013, optimizes benefits for the country and its people, as well as reinforces attractiveness for investors. Willing to promote Guinea as an...

The African Development Bank will launch 17 new grant projects funded by the Agriculture Fast Track Fund (AFT) in support of agribusiness Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise (SMEs) in eight African countries – Ghana (4), Tanzania (4), Burkina Faso (2), Malawi (2), Mozambique (2), Ethiopia (1), Nigeria (1) and Senegal (1). The AFT Fund is managed by the Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department...

Norwegian minister of international development Dag-Inge Ulstein recently indicated that renewable energies and the digital sector would be the prime target of future interventions of the Norfund in Africa. According to the official, fintechs can greatly facilitate financial inclusion in some poor countries. He further revealed that it was important to keep eyes open for new opportunities in...

On April 14, 2019, International blockchain firm Belfrics Group signed a partnership agreement with Dar Es Salaam tech institute to train young talents in the blockchain technology. Belfrics Academy SDN BHD, Belfrics’ arm in charge of international training and development, will help the two parties meet the growing demand for blockchain experts. “We all know that the Internet is filled with...