The African Development Bank (AfDB) and African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) announce the successful completion of a US$500 million credit insurance deal structured to cover a portion of the Bank’s portfolio of non-sovereign operations in Africa. This transaction is expected to have an important demonstration effect to encourage similar institutions to invest more on the continent in the...

The African Development Bank has approved over US$100 million in loans to SA Taxi Development Finance Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of SA Taxi Finance Holdings Proprietary Limited, a vertically integrated business platform that provides a comprehensive financial and allied services offering to minibus taxi operators. The minibus taxi system accounts for about 69 percent of all public...

Burundi will soon have an IT development strategy whose goal is to make the sector a growth driver. Indeed, on October 19, 2018, in Bujumbura, Jean-Jacques Massima-Landji (photo), representative of the International Telecommunications Union in Central Africa and Madagascar, declared that the 2BDI 0015 project for IT institutional reforms in Burundi launched in 2014 has been completed. Speaking...

The council of ministers of the Republic of Niger, after a meeting on October 19, 2018, reviewed and adopted three draft decrees for the development of the telecommunications sector. These are notably, the decree on directions, priority, and financing of universal access to electronic communication services, a decree on the modalities of elaboration and control of the prices of electronic...

The African Development Institute, the knowledge promotion and capacity development department of the African Development Bank will host an Eminent Speakers’ Seminar on 29 October 2018, at the Babacar N’diaye Auditorium in the Bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. His Royal Highness (HRH) Muhammadu Sanusi II, The Emir of Kano, Nigeria, will speak at the Seminar on the theme,...

Egypt plans to issue its first ever bonds denominated in Japanese yen and Chinese yuan in 2019, Mohamed Maait (photo), the country’s finance minister indicated last week. According to the official’s statements relayed by Bloomberg, the new issuance falls within the framework of the governùent’s strategy to raise funds on the Asian market. It should help it diversify debt instruments and...

Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya are the countries with the most laureate nominees in the “Choiseul 100 Africa 2018 – African Economic Leaders for Tomorrow”, published by Institut Choiseul, a think tank based in Paris. Ten young Moroccans are laureates in this yearly ranking that "identifies and ranks the 200 young African leaders of 40 years old and below, who will play a...

Tunisie Leasing & Factoring (TLF) received approval of the financial market commission for the issuance of a subordinated bond of TND20 million ($7 million) that could be raised to TND30 million ($10.5 million).   The leasing and factoring company will issue 200,000 bonds (up to 300,000) worth TND100 each. Investors will have to choose between two categories of bonds. Bonds from...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will soon announce a partial credit insurance deal with the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) to share the default risks on the about thirty loans granted to commercial banks and other financial institutions in Africa. The operation amounts to $500 million in its loan portfolio and, thanks to it, the AfDB will be able to increase its operational...

The Democratic Republic of Congo is an underdeveloped country with 87.7% of its population living below the poverty line. High social inequalities, despite its multiple and diverse wealth, mean that many families depend on their expatriate brothers or their family members living in the country's major cities. In such a large country as DR Congo with 85 million inhabitants and an area of...