Zimbabwe’s president Emmerson Mnangagwa (photo) inaugurates the Harare-Chivhu-Masvingo-Beintbridge axis, the backbone that should link his country to South Africa. According to Kazembe Kazembe, Zimbabwe's IT minister, this step is crucial because of the country's position as an IT hub in Southern Africa. It completes the project aimed at linking Zimbabwe to neighbouring countries via optical...

Congo is set on developing a platform interconnecting financial, microfinance and credit institutions in order to secure the 1% tax on electronic transactions provided by the 2019 finance bill. Baptized hub digital, the platform should let the government trace all the electronic transactions made within the country and avoid inaccurate figures by automating the tax collection. On March 11,...

In Kenya, in the framework of his East African tour, French president Emmanuel Macron announced that his country, via Proparco, will invest €1 billion in African startups and SMEs.   For the time being, there are no details about the sectors in which the investments would be made. Overall, France via its president promised financial and technical support estimated at $2.8...

France will provide about $96 million to support Ethiopia’s economic openness, Emmanuel Macron, French president announced this week during his visit to the East African country. This fund should be complemented with a $16 million technical assistance provided by the French Development Agency (AFD).   During the visit, Emmanuel Macron also announced an "unprecedented" defence...

Massif Fund, an SME financing firm belonging to Dutch FMO, granted a €1 million credit line to Dopay, a cloud-based payroll service. The interest rate, as well as the maturity period of that line, has not yet been disclosed.   Thanks to this credit line, Dopay will develop its financial services and boost financial inclusion in Egypt. “Supporting dopay is an important step for the...

Vodafone Ghana should offer its 4G services in April 2019. Indeed, according to Citi Business News, the operator is finalising the integration of this mobile technology into its network. Once completed, it will be able to join MTN  on the mobile high-speed internet.   MTN acquired the 4G licence in 2015 for $67.5 million. Vodafone, which should be a fierce competitor,...

Playfair Capital, a London-based venture capital, announces the close of its second fund Playfair Capital Fund II at $32 million. The venture capital wants to invest in promising tech companies in the UK and in Africa within three to five years. Playfair Capital indicates that to date, it invested more than €20 million in 54 technology companies in 11 countries in the world. “The...

Last week, Steward Bank launched a WhatsApp banking platform in Zimbabwe. The platform baptised “Sosholoza” is the result of a partnership between Facebook and the bank. It is a virtual assistant that helps the user during their whole banking journey. Thanks to it, the user can buy airtime, make mobile money, ZIPIT, and ZimSwitch transactions. The user can also make operations via local...

Liberia has received a $50 million loan from ECOWAS’ Bank of Investment and Development. This loan should serve as partial financing for the construction of a 50 km road linking Sasstown (in the east) to Klowein (South-East). This road project is aimed at strengthening the infrastructure development policy adopted by the country’s president George Weah since he took office in December...

To relaunch its social housing programme, Côte d’Ivoire has decided to bring in international operators able to build thousands of houses yearly. This was announced by the minister of urbanism Bruno Nabagné Koné (photo). "The government will hire international operators with proven financial and technical ability to build 10,000 to 20,000 houses yearly," the minister indicated during a...