Senegal's first Islamic microfinance institution has signed a loan agreement with Fonsis. This funding will help expand the availability of Islamic financing for local SMEs. The Islamic microfinance institution Taysir Finance SA, active in Senegal, has secured CFA5 billion (around $8.2 million) from the Sovereign Fund for Strategic Investments (Fonsis). This funding, signed on October 15,...

While the EU is Africa’s largest trading partner, with trade reaching nearly €367 billion in 2023, stronger economic and trade integration within Africa will create a vast unified market of 1.3 billion consumers for European businesses. The European Union (EU) announced yesterday the disbursement of €1.1 billion (around $1.2 billion) to support the African Continental Free...

KINEDEN Commodities SA, one of the largest Ivorian sustainable cocoa traders, has secured nearly €60 million from a pool of international banks to cover part of its financing needs for the next three cocoa seasons. This structured financing will enable KINEDEN to optimise its funding costs, diversify into agricultural processing, and most importantly, secure its supply chain in a context...

AfricInvest and Proparco have approved investments in Lapaire, a fast-growing eyewear company, to support its expansion across Africa. AfricInvest committed €2.5 million ($2.72 million), while Proparco contributed €450,000 ($489,946) on October 16. This financial boost will help Lapaire strengthen its presence in Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Uganda. The...

exploration in Côte d'Ivoire. Aurum is set to release its first resource estimate for the Boundiali project by the end of 2024, while Mako has a project with 868,000 ounces of gold. The two companies have agreed to merge in a deal worth A$90 million (about US$60 million). This merger will result in a new entity with A$20 million (US$13 million) in cash for gold exploration in northern Côte...

Gécamines has started exporting germanium concentrate from its new hydrometallurgical plant in the DR Congo. Commissioned in October 2023, the plant should enable the DRC to supply up to 30% of the world's germanium demand. Gécamines is set to export its first shipment of germanium concentrate this week from a new hydrometallurgical plant operated by its subsidiary, STL. This plant, which...

Kamoa Copper recently disclosed its results for the third quarter of 2024. Over the period, it milled 3.3 million tonnes of ore and produced a record 116,313 tonnes of copper concentrate. In September alone, the company produced 40,025 tonnes from its Stage 3 concentrator, which is currently ramping up production. By the end of the quarter, both throughput and recovery rates at the Phase 3...

The private sector arm of the AFD group has extended a third loan to Microfinance Solidaire since 2016. This funding will support the lending activities of the French institution to microfinance organizations in Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Guinea, and Liberia. Proparco announced yesterday a new €2 million ($2.1 million) loan to Microfinance Solidaire (MFS). This funding will support...

The World Bank now expects Sub-Saharan Africa's economy to grow by 3% in 2024, down from the 3.4% projected in April. In a report released on October 14, the institution points to the collapse of Sudan's economy as a major factor behind this downgrade.    However, the World Bank remains optimistic about a potential rebound, citing a recovery in private consumption and easing inflation...

Fiber optic internet for businesses and homes was launched in Algeria in 2018. By November 2023, the service exceeded one million subscribers. Algeria’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications announced last week that 1.5 million households are now connected to fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) internet. This marks a remarkable growth of 2730% since November 2020, when only 53,000 homes were...