The African Development Bank has committed $530 million to finance the construction of a 343 km, 400 kV central-south transmission line that will connect the north and south transmission grids in Angola and allow for the distribution of clean energy between the two regions. The north of Angola has a surplus of more than 1,000 MW of mostly renewable power, whereas the south relies on...

Sierra Leone will receive $50.3 million in financing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under a rapid credit facility (RCF). This was announced by the institution in a statement issued on Monday, March 15, 2021. The money will be used to meet the country’s balance of payments and fiscal needs, which have sharply increased due to the covid-19 pandemic. To date, Sierra Leone has...

The new framework set up by the G20 to relieve the debt of poor countries, including about 40 from Africa, represents a risk for the international private creditors of the beneficiaries. According to U.S. rating agency Moody’s, “in contrast to the approach taken last year under the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), it is increasingly clear that official-sector lenders are intent on...

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has decided to postpone sine die, its vaccination campaign against the covid-19 pandemic. The announcement was made by the Minister of Health, Dr. Eteni Longondo in a statement issued on March 13, 2021. The country had initially set the start of its vaccination campaign for March 15, 2021, and had already obtained 1.7 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine....

Tunisia will benefit from the financing of $300 million granted by the World Bank to continue its fight against poverty. This was reported yesterday, March 15, by Ferid Belhaj, the World Bank’s Vice President for MENA, following a meeting with the Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed. According to figures provided by the Center for Economic and Social Studies and Research and relayed by the...

Mobile operator MTN Nigeria is seeking 200 billion naira ($489 million) on the local capital market. The company launched a new commercial paper program last week for this purpose. These are series 3 and 4, each worth 100 billion naira. The deal will close on March 19, 2021. According to MTN Nigeria, the issue is being arranged by Chapel Hill Denham Advisory Limited. The minimum subscription...

A group of companies controlled and majority-owned by Aldar Properties, has made an offer to acquire a majority stake of 51% in the capital of Sodic (Sixth of October for Development and Investment Company S.A.E.), an Egyptian company active in the high-end real estate market, media sources reported. The consortium is proposing an indicative purchase price of 18 to 19 Egyptian pounds for each...

Bank of Africa’s subsidiary in Burkina Faso ended FY2020 with a net profit of CFA17.6 billion (€26.8 million), down 4.8% compared to 2019. This poor performance contrasts with the resilience that the bank showed during the first three quarters of 2020. BOA Burkina Faso's net profit was up 22% at the end of the first six months of last year. At the end of September, it was still up by 5.7%....

Thirty-nine (39) million Africans are at risk of falling into extreme poverty by 2021. This was announced by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in a report published last week. In its African Economic Outlook 2021, the institution said the Covid-19 pandemic will continue to affect the most fragile segments of the African population. More people could be affected this year than in 2020 when 30...

The African Development Bank Group (“AfDB”), on 2 February 2021, issued a sanction decision against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (“MHI”). This matter arises in the context of the Abu Qir 1300 MW Steam Power Project (hereinafter referred to as the “Project”) in Egypt. On 15 January 2008, the Bank entered into a loan agreement with the Arab Republic of Egypt to finance part of the...