Potential losses for investors eyeing public securities issued by the Nigerian government are on the rise. Data on the consumer price index provided by the national bureau of statistics showed that inflation rose to 13.2% in late August 2020, against 12.8% in late July. Traditionally, investors seek yields higher than the price hike level but with the current evolution of interest rates on...

The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has signed three road construction agreements with the Chinese Chongqing International Construction Corporation (CICO). Agreements include the construction of 16 km of road between Kira, the country’s second-most populous city, and Matugga, an urban center located north of Kampala, the capital. “This will be the first urban road to have segregated...

Kenya’s budget deficit could rise above the 7.5% initially forecasted for the financial year 2020-21. According to finance minister Ukur Yatani (pictured), this pessimistic deficit revision is due to an envisaged decline in revenues. The amount cashed by the public treasury over the first two months of FY2020-21 was down KSh40 billion ($368 million) from previsions. Minister Ukur Yatani says...

The Axian Group joins over 600 companies and stakeholders on the African continent that are currently signatories of the United Nations ́ Global Compact. This action further iterates our commitment to proactively expand and improve our impact on the communities we serve, especially regarding human rights, workers ́ rights, the environment and the fight against corruption. THE UN GLOBAL...

Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission says it wants to regulate digital currency transactions. According to the commission, any person, natural or legal, whose activities involve any aspect of virtual digital asset services related to the blockchain must be registered by the Commission and as such will be subject to regulatory guidelines. Digital asset products that existed before the...

Helios Investment Partners says it is eying South Africa for opportunities, claiming the current pessimism is “overdone.” “South Africa, notwithstanding the challenges that it is having - both from the human toll of Covid-19 and the economic challenges- paradoxically is becoming more interesting for us,” Tope Lawani (pictured), co-founder and managing partner at Helios, said in an...

The South African telecom company Telkom has signed an international roaming agreement with the Norwegian public telecom company Telenor. Under this deal, Telenor will be responsible for the full end-to-end wholesale roaming process for Telkom. The three-and-a-half-year contract will enable Telkom to improve its retail roaming offer to end-users. According to Althon Beukes, CEO of OpenServe,...

Egypt is planning new major space projects to be launched by 2022. The information was reported on September 12 by Mohamed El-Qosi, the CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency. The projects include a collaboration with China for the launch of two satellites, one in 2021 and the second in 2022. One of these space equipment will have a high-resolution imaging capability and will be used for Earth...

The African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN) have unveiled a position paper calling upon African Heads of State and Governments to ensure that financing for nutrition is included in their country’s COVID-19 response and recovery plans. The position paper, titled “Embedding Nutrition within the COVID-19 Response and Recovery,” was sent to African member states by His Majesty King Letsie III of...

After a 20-year career at various Bolloré Transport & Logistics subsidiaries in Africa, Pierre Ngon has since 1 September 2020 been the Managing Director of the Benin/Niger cluster of Bolloré Transport & Logistics. Succeeding Jérôme Binois, he will be responsible for the logistics and shipping activities in the two countries, under the supervision of Executive President Venance Gnigla for...