Two months ago, Sunu acquired a majority stake in Banque Internationale pour le Commerce et l'Industrie du Sénégal (Bicis), a former subsidiary of BNP Paribas in Senegal. After this acquisition, the financial group is selling its minority stake in the Ivorian bank Bicici. On June 27, financial services group Sunu announced the sales of its 19.11%  stake in Bicici, a former subsidiary of...

Botswana supplies 70% of the rough diamonds produced by De Beers. For months, the Botswanese government and the South African group have negotiated to renew their partnership, which was set to expire on June 30, 2023. Gaborone was asking for a bigger share of the profits. Botswana’s government and De Beers signed an "agreement in principle" for a new 10-year contract to mine local diamonds...

Three months after raising $43 million, venture capital fund Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV) invests in the retail sector of fast-moving consumer goods in Morocco. Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV) announced on June 29 an investment of $1.5 million in Chari, a Moroccan e-commerce platform for fast-moving consumer goods. For now, Verod did not reveal the number of shares...

The cost of trade financing in Africa remains high. In addition, intra-African trade transactions are weak. To tackle both issues, IFC and Proparco want to bolster their efforts in increasing trade transactions on the continent and supporting local importers and exporters. Proparco and IFC are considering joining hands to better finance trade operations in Africa. Proparco announced the plan on...

Four operators battle in Niger’s telecom market: Airtel, Zamani, Moov Africa, and Niger Telecoms. At the end of 2021, they generated a total revenue of approximately $403.2 million. Last year, Niger’s mobile operators earned about $406.7 million (CFA245.4 billion), 0.88% more than in 2021. The country’s telecom regulator, the ARCEP, disclosed the figure in its 2022 annual...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) just completed the fourth review of the economic program in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to the Fund, the country's reform efforts have been satisfactory despite a turbulent year in 2022. Nevertheless, risks for 2023 are on the downside, despite weak revenue levels. In a statement released on June 28, the IMF announced that it will...

In August 2021, Anwar Soussa became Safaricom Ethiopia's first CEO. As such, he coordinated the launch of the company's commercial activities and the gradual roll-out of its telecoms network. The company registered 4 million subscribers in just a few months. On Tuesday, June 27, Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia PLC (STEP), the mobile phone company, announced a major change in its...

China is one of Africa's major technology partners. The Asian behemoth is also a pioneer of the latest-generation mobile technologies such as 5G and 6G. On Tuesday, June 27, Tunisia and China signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance their cooperation in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT). The agreement was reached during an official visit by Nizar Ben Neji,...

Aruwa Capital, the Lagos-based impact investment company, has joined the shareholding of snack producers, Fastizers. This is less than two weeks after the equity company acquired a stake in a Nigerian retail company. Aruwa now wants to help Fastizers expand in the country. Aruwa Capital Management announced on June 29 that it has invested $2 million in Fastizers Food, a Nigerian snack and...

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through the Power Africa Presidential Initiative, and the African Development Bank, have signed an extension and expansion of their existing Regional Development Objectives Agreement (RDOAG) on the margins of the Africa Energy Forum in Nairobi. The move deepens the strategic partnership and expands the basis for cooperation in...