Without a clear identity, a citizen cannot access any service (education, health, competitions, etc.). In the rapidly emerging digital world, Tunde Fafunwa, Senior Advisor of the UNECA Digital Center of Excellence, fears that the lack of digital identity will further widen the digital divide in Africa. In an interview last week with covid19africawatch.org, an initiative of the economic think...

The Kenyan Equity Group posted a positive performance over the first nine months of 2020, despite the coronavirus pandemic that has affected all the countries where the company is present. The net revenue over the period was KSh10.6 billion ($97.2 million), a positive figure although down 26% compared to the same period in 2019. This counter-performance is, however, marked by a revolution in...

The Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries IFU approved the disbursement of an additional $20 million for Trade and Development Bank, a development financial institution operating in Africa. The new operation brings the Danish fund’s total investment in the Bank at $40 million. According to Admassu Tadesse (pictured), Chairman of Trade and Development Bank, “with this new...

Satellite operator Eutelsat Communication announced on November 16 the commissioning of its new generation multi-beam satellite Eutelsat Konnect. The equipment manufactured by Thales Alenia Space was sent into space in January this year from the Kourou space center in Guiana. It is designed to improve access to the Internet in Africa, particularly in remote areas. Several companies have already...

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will commit $10.5 million to Carrières et Chaux du Mali in the first local currency operation in the country. The resources will support the agricultural and mining sectors. Carrières et Chaux du Mali is a company founded and managed by the Malian geochemist Madani Diallo. It specializes in the production and distribution of quicklime used for...

Zimbabwe has just announced a new plan to revive the economy over the next five years. The government wants to make the country an upper-middle-income one by 2030.Called National Development Strategy (NDS), the plan will, among other things, accelerate economic growth, improve the performance of the public sector and build strategic infrastructure in the energy, ICT, transport, and housing...

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta announced an investment of KSh250 million ($2.3 million) for the construction of a virtual library, which will be an online expansion of the Kenya National Library. The announcement was made on November 13 at the inauguration of the new Maktaba Kuu building that houses the headquarters of the KNLS. The virtual library, the President of the Republic said, will...

The Casablanca stock market has experienced a tough 2020 year. Denominated in US dollar, the overall value of companies listed on the market was $58.9 billion at the end of October, data collected by Ecofin Agency showed. This figure was down 9.7% since the beginning of the year. In dirhams, it stood at MAD542.8 billion, the lowest level of the stock market value of the period, since...

The UK development finance agency CDC Group joined the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the British private equity investor Development Partners International (DPI) to acquire a majority stake in Egyptian generic drug manufacturer Adwia Pharmaceuticals. According to local media, they acquired 99.6% of the company’s capital for $250 million. The European...

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has just published its 2020 report on good governance in Africa. And for the first time in 10 years, the Ibrahim index slid on the continent. According to the document, the average on the continent was 48.8 in 2019, making a decrease by 0.2 percentage pt compared with 49 in 2018.  This is the first decline since 2010. The study says the situation is due to poor...