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...

Egypt has one of the oldest food subsidy systems in the world. While poor global economic conditions are forcing many governments to make spending cuts, the country is instead increasing its budget dedicated to supporting staple food prices.   Egypt will allocate EGP90 billion (US$4.7 billion) to cover food subsidies in the 2022/2023 fiscal year, Ahram Online reports. The amount,...

Seven years after the creation of Lekela Power, Actis and the consortium led by Mainstream announced the sale of this power generation company presented as “Africa’s largest independent power producer." Private equity firm Actis and wind and solar developer Mainstream Renewable Power announced today (July 18), the sale of Lekela Power, "Africa’s largest independent power...

Mobile money adoption is growing steadily in Africa. To boost financial inclusion, Kenya wants to interconnect the various mobile money platforms active on the national territory.  Kenyan telecom operator Safaricom’s mobile money platform, M-Pesa, completed the interoperability of its bill payment service on Friday, July 15. The move will allow Airtel and Telkom Kenya subscribers to pay...

For several years, Kenya and Somalia have had a stormy relationship, due in part to disagreements over the delineation of their maritime border. After disturbances aggravated by covid-19, the two countries want to start all over.  Kenya and Somalia will resume diplomatic and trade relations. On Friday, July 15, during a visit by Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to his counterpart...