Kenyan authorities have reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund under the Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility. In a May 17 statement, IMF said the deal will have to get validation from the Executive Board before being executed. Once the agreement is approved, Kenya will benefit from $410 million in financing. This disbursement is part of a...

Tunisia will receive $500 million in support from the United States under the cooperation deal between the two countries. Announcement was made by Tunisia’s finance minister, Ali Kooli (pictured), during an interview with Reuters yesterday May 17. The official said the funds will be channeled through the Millennium Challenge Corporation and be used in several projects mainly in the water...

Egyptian digital bank Telda, launched in April 2021 by Ahmed Sabbah, co-founder of transportation company Swvl, and Youssef Sholqamy, a former Uber engineer, has raised an initial $5 million in funding. Investors Global Founders Capital and Class 5 Global participated in this deal led by the US VC firm Sequoia Capital. The operation is Sequoia’s first investment in the Middle East and...

A recent survey by the Federal Reserve presented the Bitcoin (BTC) and the other cryptocurrencies as a threat to US financial stability in the same way as Covid-19 and the war with China. As part of its market intelligence gathering, the U.S. central bank surveyed a wide range of contacts between February and April about risks to the country's financial stability. Respondents include brokers,...

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral bank that promotes the development of the private sector, signed an MoU with the African Development Bank to promote sustainable private sector development in Africa. The MoU requires both development finance institutions to help catalyze new sources of financing to bridge the $2.5 trillion annual financing gap...

The East African Community (EAC), through its Secretary-General, is set to create a hotline via which cross-border state traders will be provided with a platform to register their challenges and get instant feedback and follow-up on trade-related issues. “The hotline will enable us to register persistent trade barriers, provide feedback and make follow-ups,” said Dr. Peter Mathuki, the East...

The Egyptian telecom regulator sanctioned operators for breaching the mobile number portability regulations. Telecom Egypt, Vodafone, Orange, and Etisalat were all fined EGP20.65 million ($1.3 million). In detail, the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) fined the incumbent operator Telecom Egypt EGP3.9 million, Etisalat Misr EGP3.95 million, Orange Egypt EGP5.8 million, and...

The International Monetary Fund has agreed to grant Côte d'Ivoire $1 billion to support economic recovery and boost job creation. The announcement was made last week by IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva during a meeting with Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara on the sidelines of the France-Africa summit to be held tomorrow May 18. This new loan follows those granted during 2020 to help the...

Over the 12 months ending on March 31, 2021, fintech companies attracted $91 billion from VC companies. This amount which may seem low hides a big threat to traditional banks. Jamie Dimon (pictured), CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co, the world’s biggest bank by market capitalization ($496.7 billion), said in a note to shareholders that the development of fintech must be closely...

The World Health Organization urges rich countries to donate doses of Covid-19 vaccine to low-income countries instead of proceeding with child vaccination. In an address last May 14, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO MD, said: “I understand why some countries want to vaccinate their children and adolescents, but right now I urge them to reconsider and to instead donate vaccines to...