The Board of Governors of the African Development Bank Group has approved management’s request to leverage the equity of the African Development Fund, to mobilize more resources on the capital markets. The Fund is the Bank’s concessional lending window. “When fully implemented, the Bank Group could unlock up to $27 billion to help low-income and fragile states,” Bank Group president...

SMEs are vital contributors to inclusive socio-economic development and growth in Africa. However, they face numerous challenges, which prevent them from unleashing their full potential. This is why the African Union is partnering with the International Trade Centre to address some of the challenges.  The International Trade Centre (ITC) and the African Union Commission recently signed a...

Last year, 575 mobile apps with more than one million monthly active users were identified in Africa. The continent still offers great growth prospects for developers looking to target a young and increasingly connected population.  In December 2022, the number of monthly active users on mobile gaming applications exceeded 200 million in Africa. According to a report published in early May...

Kenya's Zydii becomes the second African company to join the portfolio of Dutch investor Dob Equity this year. The funds secured will finance its expansion.       Zydii, a Kenyan platform offering companies and their employees technical and soft skills training services, has raised pre-seed funding of an undisclosed amount. The deal was announced on May 17 by Dob...

Bolster Africa to resist financial shocks, build climate-resilient economies, say African leaders at African Development Bank’s Annual Meetings  The African Development Bank Group’s 2023 Annual Meetings officially opened on Tuesday, with a clarion call by African leaders, together with the Bank’s President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, to ramp up financing to meet Africa’s urgent climate...

This is the first close of this fund managed by investment bank Lion's Head and advised by E3 Capital. The funds raised will be invested in companies focused on renewable energy, climate, and digitalization in Sub-Saharan Africa. Luxembourg-domiciled E3 Low Carbon Economy Fund for Africa (E3LCEF), which focuses on financing start-ups and SMEs involved in the renewable energy, climate, and...

In April, Côte d'Ivoire reached a staff-level agreement on a  $3.5 billion EFF/ECF Arrangement. The agreement has now been validated by the IMF executive board after a meeting.  Last Wednesday, the IMF executive board approved the $3.5 billion reform program negotiated by Côte d’Ivoire weeks earlier. The 40-month program includes an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and an...

South Africa, like most African countries, faces growing demand for high-speed connectivity amidst accelerated digital transformation. Data service providers need more capacity to meet this demand.  The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) announced, Tuesday (May 23) it has released the lower 6GHz frequency band (5925-6425 MHz) to allow the provision of high-speed...

The Bank proved agile and responsive to Africa’s needs by making transformative investments in the High 5s totalling $8.2 billion in 2022  In its latest annual report released on 25 May 2023, the African Development Bank Group highlights its critical contributions to the continent’s development and the wellbeing of its people in 2022. The Annual Development Effectiveness Review...

In early May, Fitch downgraded Egypt’s sovereign rating to "B" with a negative outlook. Three of the four banks, whose ratings it downgraded, are public banks exposed to the state.  Rating agency Fitch downgraded on May 17 the credit ratings of four major Egyptian banks, namely The National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, and Commercial International Bank.  NBE...