In Congo, 48.31% of consumers are unhappy with the mobile Internet services provided by telecom operators MTN and Airtel. This finding comes from the “Satisfaction Survey on Postal and Telecommunications Services” released last week by the Agency for the Regulation of Posts and Electronic Communications (ARPCE). The survey collected responses from around 12,000 consumers. The ARPCE report...

While raising funds remains essential to finance budget deficits and infrastructure spending, the ongoing high interest rates may significantly strain these countries' repayment capacities. Between Jan. and Sep. 2024, the member countries of the Sahel States Alliance (AES)—Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—raised about CFA1,866.5 billion (around $3.12 billion) on the regional WAEMU market....

The IMF says Ghana has successfully met its quantitative targets for the end of June 2024. Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached a staff-level agreement with Ghanaian authorities on the economic policies and reforms needed for the third review of the 3-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF). In an October 4 statement, the institution revealed that full approval of this agreement...

Guinea-Bissau is set to expand its blockchain-based payroll management platform to cover all government employees. By November 2024, this solution may track the information of approximately 26,600 public servants and 8,100 retirees in the country. Concha Verdugo Yepes, a senior economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Africa Department and head of the institution's Blockchain Solution...

BOA Mali’s net profit surged in the first half of 2024, reaching CFA4.8 billion, driven by a 44% drop in risk costs and a modest 4% increase in net banking income, despite inflation, rising resource costs, and economic pressures. Bank of Africa Mali (BOA Mali) posted strong results for H1 2024, driven by a sharp drop in risk costs. This boosted the bank’s net profit by 132% compared to...

Struggling to stay competitive, Tmcel is focused on boosting service quality to stand out in the national telecom market, where it faces competition from Vodacom and Movitel. Mozambique’s state-owned telecom company, Tmcel, has teamed up with Swedish tech giant Ericsson to upgrade its operational and business support systems. Announced on October 3, the partnership aims to enhance network...

Authorities in Senegal are stepping up to push the country's digital sector to a higher level. By 2030, the sector's weight in the GDP is expected to be 10%. Great projects are already on the way. Last week, the Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications, and Digital Economy signed a memorandum of understanding with American tech firm Google. The goal is to establish a sovereign cloud in...

When it becomes operational, this market will provide additional funding for SMEs, which are vital to driving economic growth in the UMOA region. The West African Monetary Union (UMOA) is set to create a bond market specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A feasibility study for this project began on October 1, 2024. The study will be conducted by the UMOA Financial Market...

In Q1 2024, Togo was Benin's top customer in the ECOWAS region. However, Nigeria has since taken the lead, boosted by increased exports of various products, including rice. Nigeria now accounts for 31% of Benin's sales in the ECOWAS region. Benin’s exports to other ECOWAS countries reached over $38.2 million in the second quarter of 2024, up from $27.2 million in the previous...

In 2023, Niger’s poverty rate reached 52% due to negative per capita growth and rising inflation. The World Bank estimates that 14.1 million people were living in extreme poverty, compared to 1.1 million in 2022. The World Bank expects Niger’s poverty rate to decline to 42.5% by 2026, according to a report on the country’s economic and poverty trends published on September 30, 2024. This...