The new rules imposed aim to protect consumers against scandals that cost South African users huge amounts of money between 2020 and 2021. The South African Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) recently added special rules for cryptocurrency advertisements. The first rule requires advertisers to clearly state that investing in cryptocurrencies can lead to money losses. It also requires the...

In 2021, Millicom and Bharti Airtel exited the Ghanaian market selling their stake to the government. This time, a new investor is leaving the market, selling its stake to another investor. The situation raises questions about the competitive pressure behind such rapid market restructuring.   In a recent interview with Citi Business News, the Managing Partner of Telecom Group reassured...

The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA)  of the African Development Bank Group will provide a $1 million technical assistance grant to the Green Mobility Facility for Africa (GMFA). GMFA provides technical assistance and investment capital to accelerate and expand private sector investments in sustainable transport solutions in seven countries: Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda,...

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a dual-currency Trade Finance Line of Credit for ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) comprising $50 million and EUR 50 million. An additional co-financing of $30 million for the credit line will come through the Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF) from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). EBID will...

The African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative has reached a landmark $1 billion in approved funding designated for lending to African  women entrepreneurs. This is yet another milestone for the bank following an historic summit last week to tackle the escalating challenges of food security in Africa. The Dakar 2 Africa Food Summit,...

The pledges were secured during the Dakar 2 Summit that enabled meetings between governments, private actors, and multilateral organizations.  The African Development Bank (AfDB) has pledged US$3.6 billion in financing to the Burundian government, a release published by the country's presidency announced last Saturday. According to President Evariste Ndayishimiye (photo), the pledged funds...

The country is relying on the regional market to meet its growing financing needs due to its difficulties in accessing international markets. During the first half of 2022, it was cut off from the regional financial market but, when it finally entered during the second semester, its operations were steady. This year, the country wants to keep that pace.  In 2022, Mali raised XOF785...

Since 2021, many African countries have devised new means to generate financial resources to fund economic recovery. One of those means is broadening the tax base, with interest focused on specific sectors due to their dynamism.     The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) recently announced a plan to set up a system to better assess voice, Internet, and SMS traffic. The public...

From US$1.1 billion in 2021, the region attracted less than US$600 million in 2022. This is mainly due to the poor performance of startups in South Africa, its powerhouse. The private equity funding raised by Southern African startups dropped by 46% year-on-year in 2022. Indeed, from US$1.1 billion in 2021, the funding dropped to less than US$600 million. According to Africa: The Big Deal,...

The African e-commerce market is expected to grow further in the coming years, stimulated by the movement restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The decline in financing could lead to consolidations in a very fragmented industry.  From US$7.7 billion and US$28 billion respectively in 2020 and 2021, ecommerce revenues will exceed US$46 billion by 2025, in Africa, according to a...