First skeptical about getting its population vaccinated, Burundi has finally received the first shots of the Covid-19 vaccines. The country took delivery yesterday of 500,000 doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine and 124,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are expected by the end of October. Burundi also plans to institute a health pass in Bujumbura from November 1. According to Health...

Francophone Africa-focused digital bank PaySika has secured €300,000 (about $348,412) in seed funding. The deal represents its first fundraising since its inception in February 2020. PaySika says it will use the money to hire new staff members and expand its solutions. The digital bank is backed by a group of French, British, and Nigerian investors, and plans an official launch of...

'Lucky Irabor, Chief of Staff of the Nigerian Army, confirmed the death of Abu Musab al-Barnawi (pictured), leader of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). "I can authoritatively confirm to you that al-Barnawi is dead. As simple as that. He is dead and remains dead," he said today October 14, without giving any further details. Although this announcement sounds like good news for the...

Five months after its launch last May, the payment company Payday obtains its first financing, and presents its growth plans. Nigerian fintech Payday, which offers payment solutions to businesses and individuals, has raised its first-ever funding. The company launched in May 2021 by Nigerian Favor Ori (pictured) has secured $1 million in pre-seed funding to build "the PayPal" of...

Nigerian Fintech Appzone, which specializes in banking digitalization, announced the relaunch of its digital core banking system solution BankOne. This solution is now redesigned to primarily serve fintechs, neobanks, and challenger banks on the continent. BankOne enables technology-driven financial institutions to take a 360-degree digital approach that does not involve physical branches or...

DR Congo reported death from Ebola last October 8. While the country has already experienced 12 Ebola outbreaks, authorities swiftly launched a vaccination campaign to avoid a new wave of infections. Authorities in DR Congo have kicked off a vaccination campaign against the Ebola virus disease. The information was made public via a WHO statement yesterday October 13. The government has deployed...

Sub-Saharan African countries had few resources to support their populations during the Covid-19 pandemic. Luckily, the region showed a certain resilience marked by a recovery that is expected to be better distributed.   A recent IMF update on governments’ Covid-19 budget response worldwide revealed that businesses and families in 41 SSA countries received little support. At the end of...

In October, 2019, MainOne extended its 7000 km long submarine cable connecting Africa to Europe to the coast of Grand-Bassam with a vision to expand access to broadband Internet in Côte d'Ivoire and neighboring countries. Following the approval of the required licenses subsequent authorizations from competent national authorities in 2018, the effective landing of the submarine cable from the...

The total value of bonds issued on African markets by governments and companies reached $536.1 billion over the first half of this year. The figure is provided by the South African banking group ABSA in its African Financial Market Index. In South Africa alone, the value of listed bonds stood at $258 billion over the period; $116.9 billion was estimated for those in Egypt...

Egypt's National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) announced last October 9 a financial package of EGP324 million ($20.6 million) to improve telecoms coverage on five strategic national roads by early 2022. The telecoms regulator revealed that a limited call for tender will soon be opened for this purpose, for companies authorized to establish and operate telecom base stations in the...