Orange Guinea SA subscribers were unable to access some services between June 30 and July 1, due to disruption of the operator’s network. The situation violates Guinean laws governing telecom service provision. Telecom operator Orange Guinea SA has received a GNF9.5 billion (US$1.09 million) fine for “failing to meet its service availability obligations.” The decision was announced in a...

Standard Bank and British International Investment will provide debt investment but, Scatec will also make an equity contribution to the project, which is expected to meet the energy demand in South Africa.   South Africa's Standard Bank Group and British International Investment (BII) have committed to providing ZAR12.4 billion (US$720 million) senior loans for a major battery energy...

According to the GSM Association, 300 million people are not covered by mobile broadband in Sub-Saharan Africa. This offers a great opportunity for telecom service providers.  Aerial fiber optic network infrastructure provider Phase3 Telecom will provide low-latency broadband satellite internet in Nigeria. To this end, the company recently signed a partnership agreement with satellite...

The guarantee agreement comes after Proparco signed a US$10 million trade finance guarantee with Vista Gui in June 2022.  Proparco signed Wednesday (July 20), a financing agreement of an undisclosed amount with Societe Generale Guinea.   The agreement concerns a "Euriz" guarantee to allow  Société Générale Guinea to fund local very small enterprises (VSEs) and small...

Currently, 33 African countries benefit from India’s 'Duty-Free Tariff Preference. (DFTP) Scheme for Least Developed Countries.  Trade between India and Africa reached a new record in the 2020-2021 fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2021. From US$56 billion during FY2019-2020, trade between the partners rose to US$89.5 billion, the Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam...

The funds raised exceed the US$6 million raised by Sudanese startups between 2019 and May 2022.  Sudanese fintech startup Bloom recently secured US$6.5 million from a pool of foreign investors. According to several sources, the investment is the highest financial package ever secured by a Sudanese tech firm.  With the funds secured, Bloom plans to expand into English-speaking East...

In Africa, demand for broadband internet is accelerating, prompting telecom operators to strengthen their infrastructure to capitalize on that demand.  Telecom operator Sonatel announced, Tuesday (July 19), that it had won a contract to connect Senegal to a fifth subsea cable, Meta’s 2Africa namely. The announcement was made during the first African visit carried out by Christel Heydemann...

The visit is announced a few months after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited Côte d'Ivoire, strengthening cooperation between the two countries. New agreements are expected during that visit.   South Africa and Côte d'Ivoire are expected to sign new agreements during Ivorian Head of State Alassane Ouattara's (photo) visit to South Africa next Friday. The information was...

Despite contributing more than a third of Kenya's GDP, local micro and small businesses still face credit access problems. With the new risk-sharing facility, I&M Bank Kenya will finance SMEs that it categorizes as too risky. The Dutch development finance institution, FMO, announced on Monday, July 18, a local-currency-denominated US$15 million portfolio guarantee for the Kenyan commercial bank,...

In recent years, Telecom Namibia has faced numerous subscriber complaints, notably because of the poor quality of its network and services. To address the complaints, it is committed to increasing its investments.   Mobile operator Telecom Namibia has announced plans to invest N$2.3 billion (US$145.2 million) to upgrade fixed and mobile network infrastructure in the next five...