The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP) have alerted, through a joint report published on November 6, about an increase in acute hunger around the world. In "The Early Warning Analysis of Acute Food Insecurity Hotspots," the two UN specialized agencies point out that the main factors of hunger are the multiplication and intensification of violence,...

Hamadoun Touré (pictured), the Malian Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, announced the creation of the National Digital Council. The announcement was made during the hearing he granted, on November 7, 2020, to members of the Association of Computer Societies of Mali (ASIM). According to the minister, it is necessary to capitalize on the experiences of public and private sectors to...

Outlierz Ventures, the Moroccan investment fund dedicated to technology companies, has made 8 investments since its launch in 2017. The operations mainly benefited four dynamic African markets in terms of fundraising, including Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt and Morocco.  The vehicle, which invests between MAD 500,000 and 5 million in companies with high growth potential, has targeted the logistics,...

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sacked the Head of the army, Adem Mohammed (pictured), as the conflict in Tigray escalates.  According to the official statement issued yesterday November 8, Adem will be replaced by the deputy chief of the army, General Berhanu Jula. The direct reasons for the reshuffle at the head of the Ethiopian armed forces have not been explicitly revealed but...

Twenty-five young African agripreneurs have advanced to the “boot camp” final round of the African Development Bank’s AgriPitch competition, stepping closer to a share of $120,000 in seed funding prizes, training and other benefits. The final round offers young entrepreneurs in Africa’s agricultural sector the opportunity to pitch their agribusiness proposals online to a panel of...

The African Development Bank is pleased to announce the appointment of Karen ROT-MÜNSTERMANN as Acting Evaluator General for the Independent Evaluation Development Department of the African Development Bank, effective from 3rd November 2020. Mrs. Karen ROT-MÜNSTERMANN, a Dutch citizen, is currently the Manager of the Knowledge Management, Outreach, and Capacity Development...

In Côte d'Ivoire, Guillaume is calling the army to rise against Alassane Ouattara who won the election of October 31, 2020. In a speech published on November 04, the member of the opposition says the president is running a dictatorship system.  "I ask you soldiers, non-commissioned officers, senior officers and general officers of our army, to look at yourselves in the mirror of your soul...

The new lockdown measure in Europe threatens Moroccan banks, we noted that based on several macroeconomic and financial indicators. Sectors most at risk are exports and tourism. With the closure of borders, hotels, and restaurants -that concentrate a large labor force in Morocco- found themselves in difficulty during the second and a little of the third quarter of 2020. Even with the conditional...

In the fiscal year 2020/2021, Rwanda is expected to return to the good fiscal performance of recent years. For the first quarter of the year, the country mobilized 371.5 billion Rwandan Francs (RWF), or about $380 million, in tax revenues; this makes 105% of the initial target. The announcement was made on November 4 by Pascal Bizimana Ruganintwali (pictured), Commissioner General of the...

The British CDC Group announced a long-term investment of $75 million in Nigeria’s Stanbic IBTC Bank.   The resource will enable the Nigerian bank to increase lending to the food, agriculture, manufacturing, and telecommunications sectors. Targeted businesses will be able to access the capital needed to strengthen their cash flow and support their operations. “This debt facility...