Tanzanian authorities announced they are waiving the value-added tax on smartphones, tablets, and modems as part of a plan to bring broadband penetration to 80% from 38% by 2025. In addition to affordable data packages, the government wants to make device prices affordable to the population.   When defending the 2021-2022 draft budget before the parliament last June 10, the Finance...

The African Development Bank launched a A$600 million (US$463.9 million) 5.5-year Kangaroo bond, marking its return to the Australian dollar bond market. The transaction, announced on 8 June, was led by Nomura and RBC Capital Markets. It is the institution’s first benchmark Kangaroo since early 2018 and its first in the mid-curve since 2015. It is also the largest AUD trade ever issued by the...

In its World Economic Outlook report published last June 8, the World Bank forecasts the economy of sub-Saharan Africa to grow by 2.8% this year and reach 3.3% in 2022. The institution expects the growth to be supported by a recovery of economic activities in the sectors that were hard hit by Covid-19. World Banks says the recovery in countries such as Nigeria, South Africa, and Angola will...

South African Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan recently announced in an interview that equity partner, Takatso - a consortium made of South African-based ACMI specialist, Global Airways, and pan-African investor group Harith General Partners - is set to acquire 51% shareholding in South African Airways (SAA). The partnership between the government and the strategic equity partner will...

Absa Bank, South Africa's third-largest bank by assets, will obtain a $50 million risk-sharing financial facility to provide loans to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and households. The loans will be in local currency with medium to long-term repayment terms. The capital raised by Absa from the British agency CDC Group will be deployed to Covid-19 affected companies seeking...

The Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS has taken steps to ease its relations with Mali’s President of the Transition Assimi Goïta (pictured). The regional body sent a delegation led by the former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to the country and concluded it was "reassured" by the commitments of Colonel Goïta. "Regarding the key points, we have been reassured by the...

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), a pan-African multilateral development financial institution established in 2007, announced that it has now reached 31 member states constituting more than half the continent. In the first quarter of this year, membership by Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Morocco added up the number to 31 member states.    “This is a landmark...

Technology investor Prosus, which is secondarily listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, co-led a $40 million investment in 99minutos with Kaszek, a venture capital firm focused on Latin America. The Mexican delivery platform that serves major online retailers and small brands will strengthen its footprint in its current markets (Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Peru), and continue to expand...

The National Bank of Egypt, the tenth-largest bank in Africa and the Middle East by assets ($125 billion as of June 30, 2020), will benefit from a $100 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The facility, which will be on-lent in the form of credits to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), aims to support the Egyptian economy. The loan will be...

Trading reports from the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics show that the country spent N258.3 billion (about $625 million) during the first quarter of this year to import wheat to meet up with the country’s food security. Wheat, which falls among the most imported goods for the period, accounted for 3.77 percent of total imports (mainly imported from Lithuania and Latvia). According...