Morocco and Senegal have agreed to cooperate in the ICT and digital economy sectors. An agreement was signed to this effect on Monday, April 5 between the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Nasser Bourita, and Aissata Tall Sall, the Senegalese Foreign Minister. This was on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Consulate General of Senegal in the city of...

More than 1,800 inmates escaped from the Owerri prison in southwest Nigeria during the night of 4 to 5 April 2021, after a group of armed men attacked the premises. The information was reported by the Nigerian Correctional Service. Authorities said the attacks began around 2 a.m. and lasted for about two hours. Other police and military buildings were also assaulted. The attack took place in...

Egyptian Venture Capital firm Sawari Ventures obtained an additional $30 million for its fund dedicated to technology startups. The resources were provided by a group of banks (National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, Suez Canal Bank), Misr Insurance Group, and the investment company Ekuity Capital.  Before this operation, Sawari had mobilized $41 million from a group...

The French solar kit provider Baobab+, which focuses on West Africa, obtained a loan of €2mln ($2.3 million) from the investment bank Lion's Head Global Partners and Triple Jump, an emerging markets fund manager. The money will support the beneficiary’s expansion in Senegal, where the company has equipped more than 100,000 families mainly in rural areas since the end of 2015. “While...

In a March 31 statement, the United Nations expressed concerns about the presence of Russian mercenaries in the Central African Republic (CAR). A team of UN experts “had received and continue to receive reports of grave human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, attributable to the private military personnel operating jointly with CAR’s armed forces (FACA) and in...

Namibia will benefit from $270.8 million from the International Monetary Fund -IMF- to support its response against the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement issued last March 31, the Fund said the money, granted under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), will be used to meet the country’s urgent balance of payment and fiscal financing needs stemming from the pandemic. Last year, the...

Access Bank, one of the largest banks in Nigeria by customer size, has received the necessary regulatory approvals in Nigeria and South Africa to acquire a significant stake in South African bank Grobank Limited. The Lagos-based bank, which operates in 12 countries, made an offer to acquire 49% of Grobank in an initial transaction, and subsequently to acquire a majority stake in the bank, which...

MasterCard reached an agreement with Airtel Africa to invest $100 million in Airtel Mobile Commerce, the mobile money arm of the telecom operator. The initiative will position the US payment company on the growing African mobile money market. “We are significantly strengthening our existing strategic relationship with Mastercard to help us both realize the full potential from the...

The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) is mulling over issuing a digital currency. Gisèle Keny Ndoye, Head of financial inclusion at BCEAO, said, during the first edition of the Africa Economic and Financial Press Forum that ended on March 26 in Abidjan, that the digital currency issue is on the agenda of all central banks. According to her, BCEAO wants to give itself time to better...

The sub-Saharan part of Africa is expected to experience an economic recovery of between 2.3% and 3.4% this year. The good news is featured in a statement issued yesterday March 31 by the World Bank. The institution said this rebound should happen despite the overall recession of 2% in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Because of the rapid spread of the virus, countries in the region were...