The Federal government of Nigeria plans to vaccinate more than 140 million people by the end of 2022, about 70% of the population. The announcement was made by Faisal Shuaib (photo), chief executive officer of Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency. According to the official, the government plans to vaccinate 40% of its population by the end of this year and then vaccinate...

Moroccan tech group RMK Holding, which controls e-payment company M2M Group and payment operator Naps, sold for an untold amount a minority stake of 6.16% of its capital to Renate Investment Management. The agreement between the two partners comes a few weeks after the entry of Retail Holding and its subsidiary Label’Vie into the capital of the group founded by Rédouane Bayed. They each...

Member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union mobilized a total of CFA9.2163 trillion ($17 billion) on the regional money market last year. This is a record mobilization since 2014, according to data compiled by Ecofin Agency. In total, WAEMU States issued CFA1.6127 trillion worth of securities, both for loans with maturities of one year or less and for longer repayment...

The African Union announced this week it has purchased 270 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine for the continent. At least 50 million doses will be available between April and June 2021, the body said. “As a result of our efforts, we have so far secured a commitment of a provisional amount of 270 million vaccines from three major suppliers: Pfizer, AstraZeneca (through Serum Institute of...

The Republic of Benin has just completed a €1 billion bond issue on the international debt market, an official statement revealed yesterday. This is the first operation of its kind conducted by an African country since the beginning of the year. For this operation, the government first issued €700 million at an interest rate of 4.8% with a maturity of 11 years. The...

Following the completion of a virtual review mission to Mali, the International Monetary Fund reached a preliminary agreement with the country’s authorities for the pursuit of reforms undertaken by the government under the IMF-led Extended Credit Facility. In a January 13 statement, the institution said the disbursement of $58 million will be approved for Mali once this staff-level deal...

The Ivorian government said it will pay CFA620.2 billion ($1.1 billion) to about twenty private international creditors which are either banks or private investment institutions, in 2021, we learned.  Of this amount, CFA409.5 billion will be earmarked for the payment of interest and CFA210.7 billion for the principal. The interest is inflated by the commitment to repay the sums due under...

Member countries of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) have agreed on nearly 90% of the rules of origin set to enter into force as part of the initiative. These rules will help determine which products can be subject to duties and tariffs. According to Silver Ojakol (Head of Staff at the AfCFTA), who reported the news this week, negotiations with member countries have accelerated...

Bradford Lee Smith, Head of Microsoft Corporation, announced on January 7 his company is ready to help Nigeria revive its economy after the Covid-19 pandemic. This was during a virtual meeting with Yemi Osinbajo (pictured). Developed and approved in June 2020, Nigeria's Economic Recovery Plan is the government's response to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic in the country. In its...

Daystar Power, which specializes in solar energy supply in West Africa, has raised $38 million in a Series B round to boost its activity. The operation was led by the Danish development bank (IFU) and saw the participation of three foreign investors: French STOA and Proparco, and American Morgan Stanley. Several factors motivated this investment, including "the customer base, technologies,...