The U.S. support will enable Africa Data Centres to expand its footprint in other African countries and effectively meet high demand in the growing data center market.   Africa Data Centres (ADC), the Cassava Technologies Group's data center construction and operations subsidiary, has received an US$83 million disbursement from the U.S. Department of Commerce's International...

With such commitment, KfW joins a pool of international financial institutions that pledged commitment to the Partech Africa II fund. Its investment aims to support Africa's technology ecosystem, which grew significantly in 2021, attracting a US$5.2 billion investment.  German development bank KfW announced up to €45 million (US$44.7 million) commitment in the Partech Africa II fund...

The G5 Sahel was created in 2014 to restore order and security in the Sahel region. However, its results are hardly convincing. Faced with the realities, member states are now seeking alternative solutions to effectively combat extremism, which has gained ground since.   Burkina Faso and Niger are mulling over the possibility of joint operations in their respective territories to...

On 18 August 2022, Côte d’Ivoire Terminal received six STS gantries and seven RTG gantries, signalling a decisive step in the planned construction of the second terminal container at the port of Abidjan. This handling equipment is from China and will be used to start the operational testing stage before the planned commissioning on 1st November 2022. These cutting-edge machines use the...

The coronavirus pandemic prompted a rise in demand for broadband connection in almost every part of the world. The partnership between Telecom Egypt and Orange Jordan is aimed at meeting those growing demands in the MENA region.  Telecom Egypt recently announced a partnership agreement with Orange Jordan to build a highly reliable terrestrial system called "Cairo Amman Baghdad (CAB)...

Trade between Japan and African countries rose by 74% year-on-year in 2021. The feat was achieved thanks notably to border re-openings after Covid-19. With the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development just days away, Japan and Africa seek ways to build on this momentum. In 2021, Africa recorded a US$4.2 billion trade surplus in its dealings with Japan. This is the conclusion...

The first investment vehicle launched by Microtraction was focused on four countries. This one will invest all over Africa, with pre-seed startups as its target.  Early-stage venture capital firm Microtraction recently announced the first close, at US$15 million, of its second fund,  Microtraction Community Limited. The investment vehicle aims to make at least 60 commitments in African...

In 2021, Moroccan banking groups were controlling one-fifth of the WAEMU banking market, which is led by pan-African Ecobank and French group Société Générale. At end 2021, the WAEMU bank market was mainly controlled by Morrocan groups. Those groups (namely Attijariwafa Bank Banque Centrale Populaire and Bank of Africa) were controlling 21.7% of the market. Despite their dominating position,...

Over the past ten years, the Ghanaian Cedi has been shaken by international market fluctuations while the CFA Franc has enjoyed relative stability due to its pegging to the Euro. The situation revives debates around the relevance of a floating exchange rate system in most African countries that are not yet able to produce enough goods to ensure self-sufficiency to some extent. The CFA Franc, the...

The Russia-Ukraine war has negatively impacted Africa, which largely depends on wheat from both countries.  In June 2022, an African Union delegation traveled to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin, for possible avenues to curb those impacts.  The first grain shipment under the agreement signed by several parties -Russia, Ukraine, Türkiye, and the UN- last June, left Ukraine for...