Despite the big noise surrounding the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, no country is 100% ready and some are lagging even more, surprisingly below 50%. In a recent report, the AfroChampions initiative has in partnership with the advisory firm Konfidants created a list of African countries according to their commitment and readiness for AfCFTA. The ranking was prepared...

Africa Rainbow Capital, the investment company owned by billionaire Patrice Motsepe (pictured), bid R815 million ($47.5 million) for a 25% stake in Sanlam Investment. Patrice Motsepe says he believes this latest transaction will enhance Sanlam's operations to make it a serious player in the highly competitive asset management industry. Sanlam for its part said, “this is particularly relevant...

For the first time in the history of the African Development Bank, its Annual Meetings will be held virtually to comply with the COVID-19 pandemic-related social-distancing guidelines.  The Governors' Dialogue and the election of a president will be top of the agenda of the upcoming Meetings scheduled for 26-27 August 2020.  This year, which marks the 55th meeting of the Bank's Board...

The Zambian presidency reported in a statement last weekend the dismissal with immediate effect of Denny Kalyalya (pictured), the central bank governor. The reasons for such a decision were not disclosed but the announcement comes as a surprise for many observers. Zambia-based economist Trevor Simumba told Bloomberg it “sends a very negative signal” to investors. The sacked governor...

After demonstrating its resilience during the Ebola outbreak and the global financial crisis, Africa is once again facing a severe test of its strength and agility because of the coronavirus pandemic. The good news is that the continent has entered this crisis in reasonably good shape following decades of progression in health, education and economic outcomes. As of early 2020, macroeconomic...

Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos and her Portuguese partner Sonaecom agreed on dissolving their joint-venture ZOPT, which owns a 52.15% stake in Portuguese telecom operator NOS SGPS. This means Isabel will no longer be a majority shareholder in the telecom company once the deal is implemented. Although Soneacom did not provide details on this separation, the company may be trying to...

Morocco says it will participate in the clinical trials of a covid-19 vaccine developed by China National Biotec Group Company Limited (Sinopharm CNBG). Two deals were signed yesterday August 20 between the two partners to materialize their collaboration. According to the Moroccan Foreign Minister, Nasser Bourima (pictured), the first part of the agreements focuses on “cooperation in Phase III...

The African Union plans to carry out 20 million tests for Covid-19 by November this year. The information was relayed by Anadolu Agency, which cited John Nkengasong, the Head of the Addis Ababa-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). The new test wave is part of the “Africa against COVID-19- Saving Lives, Economies and Livelihoods” anti-Covid campaign launched by the...

In Kenya, works to extend the telecom infrastructure in underserved localities have been slowed down due to the current pandemic and the ongoing insecurity in the regions. This was reported on August 19 by Mercy Wanjua (pictured), the Managing Director of the Communication Authority (CA) to justify the delay in works. Mercy Wanjua told the Senate Committee on ICT that the situation is mainly...

The Nigerian House of Representatives Committee on Insurance and Actuarial has initiated an investigation into the financial deals related to the NigcomSat-1R television broadcasting satellite. The equipment replaced the NigcomSat-1 satellite launched in May 2007 and later lost in space due to a malfunction. According to Vanguard, parliamentarians are mainly interested in knowing how the...