On March 22 as the global community marked World Water Day, residents of a small town in Somaliland also had reason to celebrate. With a population of about 24,500, Arabsiyo is about 35 km west of the capital, Hargeisa. The town previously had 75% of its inhabitants relying on unsafe water delivered by donkey carts and truck operators who often drew from unprotected and poorly maintained water...

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are one of the strategic fronts in the battle for influence between China and the United States. In that sector particularly, the rivalry between those two world powers could benefit Africa.  State-owned companies China Telecom, China Mobile Limited, and China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd are planning to build a new fiber-optic...

The capital increase is a winning bet for the development bank, which is significantly improving its ability to mobilize resources on international markets while its member countries -with lower ratings- have seen their development financing needs grow considerably in recent years.  During its March 31, 2023, session, the WAMU council of ministers approved the modification of the statutes...

The Republics of Kenya, Congo and Chad are the latest signatories to the Establishment Agreement of the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the development impact-oriented subsidiary of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). These successive accessions provide positive momentum for FEDA and demonstrate a shared commitment from Afreximbank Member Countries to support the...

In March, the IMF announced it was meeting to discuss a new support request from Morocco, which is implementing structural reforms to strengthen its economy in a global inflationary context. The institution has just approved a two-year financing program to support the country.   Morocco recently secured an IMF agreement for the disbursement of 3.7 billion SDRs equivalent to $5...

The West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly held its annual general meeting in Bamako last week. As usual, the organization has appointed a new steering committee to achieve its objectives this year.   Saïdou Pona Sankaré, President of the Malian Authority for the Regulation of Telecommunications, Information and Communication Technologies and Posts (AMRTP) is the new...

The Moroccan banking group will benefit from partial coverage on 12,000 new loans to private companies- including at least 2,000 owned by women- in 10 African countries. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Morocco's Bank of Africa (BOA) recently signed a $77 million risk-sharing agreement, according to an announcement by the IFC on Monday, April 3. The financing will guarantee...

In April 2022, MTN Ghana and Vodafone Ghana signed a national roaming agreement, and a pilot phase was even launched in the Volta region.   Telecommunications operators Vodafone Ghana and MTN Ghana have extended the scope of their national roaming agreement to the entire country. In areas where Vodafone’s network is poor or nonexistent, its subscribers can access services via MTN’s...

The two companies selected for the contract will assess household savings in the region, suggest reforms to mobilize savings in rural and remote areas as well as promote the development of long-term financial products. The Moroccan arm of FINACTU International Group, a consulting firm specializing in the development of financial sectors in emerging countries, and Dakar-based financial services...

Nigeria’s borrowings from China are concessional loans with interest rates of 2.50 percent per annum, a repayment period of 20 years, and a 7-year grace period. Nigeria's debt to state-owned Chinese banks more than tripled between June 2015 and December 2021, increasing Beijing's share of the West African country's bilateral debt to 84.7 percent, according to data released by the Nigerian Debt...