Since Sudan has been removed from the US terror list, it has been reintegrated into the international financing system and is now negotiating funds to clear its external debt. After the United States, the UK, and Sweden, France is opening its coffer to help the country. Sudan will benefit from a bridge loan of $1.5 billion from France. The announcement was made last May 17 by French...

The Paris Summit on the financing of African economies is surely well-intentioned but in the current context, it seems unnecessary to draw attention to the debt of the continent, which only represents a tiny part of the total global debt. Would it not be more fair to offer Africa better conditions to access financing, fight illegal financial flows and urge multinationals to pay taxes as they...

Starsight Energy is expanding into East Africa by acquiring a 50% stake for an undisclosed amount in Premier Solar Group - a market-leading Commercial & Industrial solar company with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The outcome of the acquisition will see the creation of a new unit named Starsight Premier Energy Group which will focus on providing sustainable power, cooling, and...

Mobile operator Safaricom enters discussions with US tech giant Amazon to integrate its M-Pesa mobile payment service into the company’s platform. The announcement was made yesterday by Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa (pictured). The boss of Kenya’s leading telecom operator said that the success of these exchanges will strengthen the fruitful collaboration that the two companies already have....

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari (pictured) is committed to preserving his country’s food security through the fight against growing banditry. In a statement relayed last May 13, the President announced strong action to put an end to the criminal acts that are rampant in Nigeria. Such a measure will ensure that people work safely in farms. Buhari said he “will use all available...

Online Retail in South Africa 2021, a research conducted by World Wide Worx -South Africa's leading independent technology market research organisation- reveals that in South Africa, online retail sales reached R30 billion in 2020. This represents 66% growth, and is a result of increase in demand for home deliveries brought about by the novel coronavirus. Mastercard, a global pioneer in payment...

The money sub-Saharan Africa received last year from its diaspora was 12.5% less than the previous year. The figures were unveiled by World Bank in a May 12 report. According to the new "Migration and Development Brief", the SSA diaspora sent $42 billion home in 2020 against $48 billion in 2019. This is the second consecutive year of decline; in 2019, decline was only 0.4%. According...

The government of Guinea Bissau and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached a staff-level agreement for the implementation of a special reform program. In a May 12 statement, the IMF reported that the deal is prior to the conclusion of a 9-month staff-monitored program designed to “gradually narrow large macroeconomic imbalances that have been intensified by the impact of the...

The government of Tunisia is setting up a number of social measures to mitigate Covid-19 impacts on the economy and the population. PM Hichem Mechichi reported that Covid-affected companies will benefit from 5,000 credits worth TND5,000 ($1,835) each. The facilities will be granted under “very affordable” rate with a year of grace for repayment. Authorities also plan to postpone the payment...

Rwanda’s economy is expected to grow by 5.1% this year after the decline at 3.4% a year before. The figure is reported by the Minister of Finance, Richard Tushabe (pictured), during the presentation to Parliament of the draft budget for FY2021-22. According to the official, this economic recovery will be gradual and is expected to reach 7% in 2022, before stabilizing with an average of 7.8% in...