Initiated last March, the takeover of NME, one of Côte d’Ivoire’s top packaging companies, was just completed this month. AFIG Funds, a fund manager, and Norfund from Norway are among its new owners.  On July 3, 2023, a group of investors comprising the Advanced Finance and Investment Group (AFIG Funds) and the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund) finalized the...

For several years, Côte d'Ivoire has been facing an increase in unregulated constructions that endanger many lives. Since the beginning of 2023, three buildings have already collapsed, resulting in over 20 deaths. In Côte d'Ivoire, a six-story building under construction collapsed in Cocody (east of Abidjan) on Friday, June 30. This resulted in the death of eight people. According to Anadolu...

The demand for high-speed connectivity is accelerating worldwide. In the Middle East and North Africa region, average monthly data traffic per smartphone is expected to reach 41 Gigabytes by 2027, up from 9.1 gigabytes in 2021. On Monday, July 3, Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), Elettra Tlc, Medusa, and Orange announced the launch of construction works for the Medusa subsea cable in the...

The UK Foreign Secretary advocates for the expansion of the UN Security Council as part of a "reinvigorated multilateral system". He believes that demographic change puts Africa at the forefront. On Thursday, June 29, the UK announced its support for a permanent seat for Africa on the UN Security Council, to ensure that this important body of international governance reflects the current and...

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...