The World Bank has disbursed a total of $371 million to support the Chadian economy since January 2020. The resources mainly target the fields of education, refugee management, the rural world, agriculture, and healthcare, but the Covid-19 response plan received the largest share. “While efforts focus on addressing Covid-19, there is a high risk of weakening the whole health system and...

GKSD responded to a call for assistance from His Excellency Ahmed Boutache the Ambassador of Algeria to Italy, with 12 palettes of PPE and oxygen concentrators. Yesterday, Algeria received a generous donation of antiCovid medication and equipment. In Algeria, from 3 January 2020 to 4 August 2021, there have been 175,229 confirmed cases of COVID-19...

Naspers, through its investment vehicle, Naspers Foundry, has led a $11 million Series ‘A’, fund raising round in Naked; South Africa’s first fully digital insurance platform offering comprehensive and instant cover for cars, homes, contents, and standalone items. The funding round saw participation from existing Naked investors; Yellowwoods, and Hollard. Since May 2020,...

Airtel Mobile Commerce BV, the mobile money arm of Airtel Africa, is welcoming a new shareholder. The parent company announced last July 5 it has divested minority shares in its mobile money business to Qatar Holding LLC, a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), for $200 million. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, will value Airtel Africa's mobile money...

Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved the acquisition of 20% equity stakes in Dangote Refinery – an integrated refinery project under construction in the Lekki Free Zone near Lagos, Nigeria - by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for a cash consideration of $2.76 billion. The NNPC had earlier announced in May 2021 its intention to acquire an equity...

Since July 2021, Ahmat Abdelkerim is the Managing Director of the Bolloré Transport & Logistics Horn of Africa cluster. He will be managing the business activities in three countries: Djibouti, Ethiopia and Eritrea. He has taken over from Patrick Gerenthon, who has moved on to perform other duties within Bolloré Transport & Logistics. Ahmat Abdelkerim, originally from Chad, graduated from...

The Ivorian Head of State, Alassane Ouattara (pictured), went into quarantine yesterday August 3 after having been in contact with a person who tested positive for covid-19. The information was revealed in an official statement issued by the presidency. For now, no details have been provided about the infected person he was in contact with or the circumstances of their meeting. As a reminder,...

In 2020, banks operating in WAEMU showed relative resilience with higher profitability thanks to lower losses for the loss-making ones. The banking sector performed well over the period despite the Covid-19 pandemic. The sector's overall net profit represented 23.5% of consolidated net banking income (equivalent to turnover), according to estimates by the Central Bank - BCEAO. In 2018 and 2019,...

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, today announced a partnership with Microsoft's 4Afrika initiative to make digital tools and training resources more accessible to small-scale farmers and agriculture-linked small businesses. The partnership will include Microsoft's KuzaBot mobile chat platform which will be piloted among farmers in Kenya, Nigeria,...

The consequences of Covid-19 have put all countries around the world in big troubles. The fallouts are harsher on the poorest especially in Africa where some countries were already facing challenges due to political unrest and climate change. The United Nations believes that the current picture, which combines the pandemic, conflicts and climate change, could push at least 17 African countries...