MTN group has decided to sell its 53% stakes in Mascom Wireless Botswana (Pty) Limited to its partner Econet Wireless (Pty) Limited. The transaction is estimated at $300 million and should be concluded by June 2019. It is however subjected to approval. According to MTN Group, its withdrawal from the Botswanan market is due to the extraneous nature of that subsidiary (despite its 51.4%...

Despite the interest rate cap in Kenya, Kenya Commercial Bank Group recorded good performances in 2018, Ecofin Agency noticed from data published on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The group’s net result during the period under review rose by 12% year on year to reach Ksh24.4 billion. Its tier 1 (social capital+reserves) rose from 17.1% to 20.5%, up by 12.5 percentage points compared with the...

The Africa Digital Media Institute (ADMI) and Microsoft partnered to boost the digital expertise of Kenyan youths. In that regard, the two partners opened an appfactory on ADMI’s campus in Nairobi. Considered as a unit of the mobile apps and games development course offered by ADMI, the appfactory will give students the required programming, cloud and data analysis skills to transform them...

In 2018, French exports to Gabon rose to 6.25% for the first time since 2011, according to French customs authority. This data demonstrates a revival of activities after years of poor demands, from 2015 notably. In this country of fewer than 2 million residents, French products hold a prominent place in every sector.   During the period under review, French exports reached €459...

Côte d’Ivoire has reduced procurement lead times in the framework of its social agenda programme social du gouvernement (PSGouv), Sidi Tiémoko Touré (photo), the government's spokesperson indicated yesterday.   The official indicated that the lead time for open call for tenders is now 51 days and 40 days for restricted call for tenders, instead of the legal standard which is 88 days....

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) announces a $500,000 investment in Gebeya, a software engineering school in Ethiopia. Thanks to this investment, 250 women will be trained and about twenty will also be provided an undisclosed volume of seed funding. IFC and Gebeya will also provide consulting and coaching services to these twenty women. “African women constitute 50 percent of...

Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) renewed for five years, the revenue insurance contract it signed since 2010, with Subex Limited, the Indian analytic service provider.   In the framework of that agreement, Subex will let Botswana Telecommunications use its platform for fraud management and revenue insurance.  According to Vinod Kumar, Subex’s CEO, the integrated...

MTN Group signed a framework agreement with Huawei for innovation during the MWC 2019 in Barcelona. According to Li Dafeng, a member of Huawei’s supervisory board, this agreement will strengthen the two parties’ strategic partnership and let MTN offer state-of-the-art digital services to individuals and firms in Africa. "Previously, we focused on building high-quality network serving...

The UK and South Africa disclosed their agreement to co-lead the Commonwealth Digital Connectivity Agenda. This agreement was reached during the Africa Tech week hosted in Cape Town on March 4-5, 2019. According to Liam Fox (photo), secretary for international trade, the agenda “will help more people join the digital economy as part of our commitment to reduce poverty through trade. We are...

In 2018, Air France KLM’s revenues from African operations recorded a slight drop, Ecofin Agency noticed from the financial record published by the airline group. During the period under review, ticket sales reached €1.12 billion against €1.17 billion in 2017, representing a little more than a €50 million decrease. The passenger transport segment for African destinations...