The Ugandan Central Bank has just lowered its benchmark lending rates to 9% from 9.5%, to facilitate credit access to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), in the country.This was revealed during a conference by the governor of the bank,Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile  “Growth of private sector credit remained below historic levels and the cost of credit for micro- and small loans was...

At the end of January 2018, Tunisia had a positive agricultural trade balance of TND76 million ($31.7). During the same period in 2017, it registered a TND232.9 million ($97 million) deficit. This was disclosed by the ministry of agriculture, hydraulic resources and fishery. Such performance is due to a surge by 102.3% in foodstuff exports (TND481.9 million) and decline by 13.4% in imports...

In 2017, Acacia Mining recorded a $707 million net loss including a post-tax impairment of $644 million, the company revealed via an annual financial report posted yesterday. According to the report, the company was negatively affected by the crude ores embargo imposed on Tanzania, in March 2017. Another sign of the company’s poor performance is its revenue which was $752...

Yesterday, Lucapa Diamond announced that it had extracted the first diamonds of Mothae mine, that it owned at 70%. The largest of these stones extracted weighed 6.6 carats. Lucapa indicated that the extraction was done with the existing bulk sampling plant and infrastructure, which it renovated sooner than announced in the framework of the sampling program.  The company also said that...

The ministers of East African countries (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda) approved a cooperation partnership between East African Community’s (EAC) Secretariat and the African Land Policy Center (ALPC). This was during the 5th Meeting of the Sectoral Council on Environment and Natural Resources Management held between February 5-9, 2018, in...

Through the Department of International Development (DFID) Zimbabwe, UK will grant £21.5 million to Zimbabwe to help the country fight the drought that has been affecting it for some months now. According to a statement issued by DFID Zimbabwe, the fund will be used to “strengthen the capacity of vulnerable rural communities to withstand shocks and stresses, ultimately reducing...

In 2018, Tanzania should harvest 600,000 tons against last year’s 150,000 tons, the managing director of Tanzania Cotton Board (TCB), Marco Mtunga, announced. According to the official, this positive outlook is mainly based on the development of cotton production in new areas, thecitizen reported. “Besides the 17 traditional regions, cotton is now grown in new regions of...

The Malian government has just signed the bill on the financing of Sirako thermal power plant’s construction, by Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The facility (100MW) will work with heavy fuel. The project also includes the construction of a 150 kV substation and a 30 kV power line.  According to the financing terms agreed by both parties, a total of €148 million (more than CFA97...

The British firm Intrade Co, specialized in agricultural raw materials, will disburse $100 million for the construction of a textile factory in Ethiopia, the news site just-style reported. The facility will be built over more than 10 ha inside Mekelle industrial park, in Tigray region located 783 km from Addis-Ababa. The construction is set to last 18 months and is expected to...

The former Liberian president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (photo) has been awarded the 5th edition of Mo Ibrahim prize by the independent Prize Committee ,today Monday 12, 2018. According to the foundation’s statement, Ellen has been chosen for her leadership and management of the country’s political situation following a devastating civil war. “Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took the helm of...