In 2018, the flow of official development assistance from the OECD zone toward Africa shrunk by 4%, a report published this week by the OECD reveals. According to the institution, this decrease was correlated to the reduction of refugee assistance because of the reflux of arrivals and changes in the official development assistance counting methodology. Year on year, humanitarian aid decreased...

During an advocacy ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa, the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD gave awards to five distinguished African Youth Champions for their contribution to Africa’s progress towards the goals of Agenda 2063. On this occasion, five young Africans who won ‘#TheAfricaWeWant Youth Essay Contest’ were also announced.   Much discussion and interaction between...

AfricaOnline, subsidiary of Gondwana International Networks (GIN), announces the launch of its broadband internet service in Ghana. Baptised JOLA, the new offer relies on the connectivity provided by Avanti’s HYLAS 4 satellite. “We are proud to be the first to launch the Avanti HYLAS4 service in Ghana. Our rigorous testing over the past few months has given us the confidence that our...

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) just completed the renovation of five IT labs for the Uganda Institute of Information and Communications Technology. Via this Ush1.9 billion investment (according to pmldaily.com ), the communications commission wants to promote IT teaching in the country, reduce expenses dedicated to expatriated professionals and create jobs for nationals. According...

Côte d’Ivoire has signed a Partnership Agreement with Belgian firm SEMLEX for the development and operation of its National Natural Persons Registry. Concluded for a twelve months period, the agreement is for the whole solutions required for the Registry. This includes the software, remote platforms, the main production site in Abidjan and a backup site in the Grand-Bassam IT...

In Sub Saharan Africa, investment banking activities generated $93.5 million in Q1, 2019, Ecofin Agency gathered from a report published by Reuters. On a year to year basis, this represents a 24% drop. It is also the poorest performance recorded by the region on this banking segment in the past five years due to the activity slowdown on stock exchanges. For investment banks operating in...

Nigeria bets on special economic zones to double its manufacturing output by 2025, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment announced this week. According to the communiqué published by the ministry, those zones should help increase the manufacturing sector’s contribution to GDP from 10% currently to 20%. In that regard, the government has created the Nigeria SEZ Investment Company...

The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa has granted a $30 million loan to Banque Malienne de Solidarité, Mali’s economy and finance ministry indicated. The agreement was signed during the 44th yearly assembly of the Islamic Development Bank held in Marrakech on April 4-6, 2019. Thanks to this financing, Banque Malienne de Solidarité will fund commercial transitions between...

Further details on the partnership between French and South African banking groups Société Générale and Absa Group should be available by end Q2, 2019, Reuters indicated relaying the statements of Charles Russon, head of investment banking at Absa group. The two partners announced their agreement but, investors are still wondering how this should be done. M. Russon indicated that work units...

Nissan will invest $213 million to increase its production capacity in South Africa. This was announced this week by Mike Whitfield (photo), managing director of the South African subsidiary of this car maker. Thanks to this investment, Nissan will develop its new models Navara to supply the South African market and neighbouring countries. It should also increase the group's production...