The International Monetary Fund announced in a Dec 18 statement it has approved the disbursement of $1.6 billion in favor of Egypt. This is the second financing as part of a $5.2 billion stand-by deal concluded with the country last June 26. The 12-month facility seeks to support the Egyptian government’s economic reform plan during the Covid-19 crisis that has hard hit the economy....

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group on Wednesday approved the Lusophone Compact Guarantee Program (LCGP or the Compact), with a maximum risk exposure of up to EUR400 million. The new Compact offers a big boost to business development initiatives for the Bank’s non-sovereign portfolio in its Portuguese-speaking African member countries. The program is designed for new...

The African Development Bank’s Board of Directors on Monday 14 December 2020 approved $15 million from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) and $10 million from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) to advance African Renewable Energy Fund (AREF) II’s projects to boost low-carbon energy generation in sub-Saharan Africa. SEFA’s contribution will comprise a package of $10...

People living in Abidjan have now access to 4.5G technology recently deployed by the mobile operator MTN. The launching ceremony was held a week ago in Marcory, a commune of the city. According to the telecom company, 4.5G is faster with a minimum browsing speed of 200 Mb/s, enabling customers to download a 15 min video in 7 seconds instead of 20 to 30 seconds with 4G. Hyacinthe Séka, the...

Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has started processes to sell its six Boeing 737-700s. According to CEO Abdelhamid Addou (pictured), an international tender will be issued shortly as part of the process. These aircraft, aged between 14.8 and 21.8 years, are among the oldest aircraft in the carrier's fleet. According to the CEO, their sale was initially planned 2 years ago. But in the meantime, the...

Tunisian investment firm Ekuity Capital and asset manager United Gulf Financial Services-North Africa (UGFS North-Africa) jointly co-invested in the capital of Société moderne d'industrie plastique et d'emballage (Somipem), a Tunisian company specializing in the manufacture of caps and tops. The amount committed by the two partners has not been disclosed, nor the shares acquired by them. This...

On 14 December 2020, the container terminal at the port of Owendo in Gabon set an all-time record by unloading and loading 3,744 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) containers from and onto the container ship “Turquoise”. The Owendo Container Terminal (OCT) teams thus handled the largest volume of containers in one port of call to date, with 46% of the containers intended for export. This...

The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund have approved a $9.8 million grant to Guinea Bissau for its national Control Support Project (PALPC), aimed at reducing the spread of the COVID-19 virus and boosting the resilience of health system and communities, especially the most vulnerable. Guinea Bissau has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which has led to food shortages,...

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank approved on Wednesday a Desert-to-Power (D2P) technical support program that will advance the rollout of solar generation in G5 Sahel countries, where 60 million people lack access to electricity. The technical assistance, in the form of a $5 million grant from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), has three main components: (i)...

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a loan of UA 30 million ($42.9) million to finance the second phase of a major power transmission and interconnection project in Madagascar. The Power Transmission Network Reinforcement and Interconnection Project in Madagascar (PRIRTEM-II) includes the construction of a 135-km, 220 kV interconnection line between the capital...