Tanzania just joined the One Area Network adopted by the member countries of the East African Community to harmonize tariffs on voice calls within the region. Until now, the standard was only followed by Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan. In a letter addressed to the EAC Secretariat, Stephen Mbundi, the Permanent Secretary of the Tanzanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informed the...

Aerobotics, a South African tech company co-founded in 2014 by James Paterson (pictured) and Benji Meltzer, raised $17 million in a Series B financing led by Naspers Foundry, the investment arm of Naspers. The amount will be used to improve the company’s AI-based technological platform, thus enabling it to expand across the US, its main market, and 17 other markets worldwide. “We’re...

Foreign Direct Investments last year fell by 18% in Africa, compared to a year before. In a report issued yesterday, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said the bad performance was due to a sharp decline (-63% YoY) in Greenfield investments and international financing projects (-40% YoY). However, the report said, the impact is unevenly felt across the continent. The largest...

The President of Niger, Issoufou Mahamadou (pictured), during a virtual meeting held on Jan 23 as part of the 58th Ordinary Session of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, stressed the need for the institution to strengthen its anti-terrorism agenda. In his speech, the Head of State talked about the security emergency facing the community. "There is no doubt that terrorism is today the greatest...

Telecom operator Liquid Telecom South Africa has successfully completed the restructuring plan it began last year. Under this plan, the company has improved its skills and its team will be rebranding by the end of the year to clearly reflect its new ambitions. Liquid Telecom will become Liquid Intelligent Technologies by the end of the year, the new CEO Deon Geyser (pictured) revealed last...

The Central Bank of Nigeria says it will go tough on exporters over the non-repatriation of export revenues to strengthen the local currency. Under this measure, exporters who will not repatriate the money they make from their activities within the next six days will simply be withdrawn from all banking services. According to a notice relayed by Nairametrics, “the Central Bank of Nigeria...

Echelon Capital, a venture capital firm that targets young tech companies in Africa, announced plans to support Nigerian startups with up to $1 million by next month. The resources will mainly focus on companies that have built their capacities and are well positioned on the market, according to Sunday Olorunsheyi (pictured), Founder of Echelon Capital.  In addition to strengthening...

Nearly 21 million telecom subscribers are still threatened with suspension of access to the telecom network in Nigeria. Gbenga Adebayo (pictured), the president of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria - ALTON, said on January 20. He was reacting to government statements that claimed 47.8 million National Identification Numbers (NINs) have already been provided to telecom...

Last year, the WAEMU regional money market recorded an average transaction value of CAF980.24 million ($1.8 million) per day. The figures were featured in the balance sheet and outlook presented on January 20 by Edoh Kossi Amenounve, the director of this institution. This performance reflects the increase in the value of transactions which reached CFA246 billion over the period reviewed, against...

Last year, only 46% (about $3 billion) of the $6.5 billion required to handle the humanitarian emergency in the Sahel were raised. The information was provided by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which indicated that, at the same time, about 31.4 million people are currently in need of emergency humanitarian assistance in the region. OCHA...