The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund today approved a $31.6 million COVID-19 Crisis Response Support Program (CRSP) to Uganda to support the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds are designed as budget support within the framework of the Bank Group’s COVID-19 Crisis Response Facility. The objective of the operation is to support Uganda’s efforts...

The stock market value of the top 100 banks listed on the world's financial markets fell by $1,440.6 billion between January 1 and July 21, 2020, according to data collected over the period. From New York to Tokyo, from Paris to Melbourne via Beijing, the stock market value of banks has declined. In total, 96% of them are down against only 4% up. The American giants of the sector are the...

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has announced that it plans to mobilize $186.2 million for Somalia. The funds are aimed at helping the population meet the humanitarian and health needs induced by the covid-19 pandemic and to strengthen household food security. While floods and locust invasions pose a huge risk of famine in the country, the increasing number...

Public health, the wellbeing of refugees and the host communities in the Sahel are at the heart of the latest tripartite agreement between the African Development Bank (AfDB), UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and the G5 Sahel signed today. The agreement enables a critical $20 million COVID-19 response across the five countries of the Sahel region. Financed by the African Development Fund, the...

On 18 July 2020, Benin Terminal welcomed the "CCNI ARAUCO", the largest ship to have ever berthed at Cotonou. This 300-metre long, MAERSK ship weighing over 100,062 tonnes, sailing under the Hong Kong flag, berthed at Benin Terminal's berth No. 10. This ship coming from Shanghai has a loading capacity of 8,700 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers. It allowed Benin Terminal's teams to...

In Senegal, the government has made 108,421 free connection lines available to students, according to a press release recently issued by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation. This initiative aims to enable students to easily access educational resources online on the platforms of public and private higher education institutions. As part of this project, students will...

Malawi will receive $45.07 million to finance the government’s response to the health, social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, following a decision by the Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (ADF) held Wednesday. The package comprises a loan of $24.48 million, and a grant of $20.59 million as direct budget support, and complements an earlier sum...

The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (ADF) on Wednesday approved a UA100.4 million (about $138 million) crisis budget support package to four southern African countries – Malawi, Madagascar, Mozambique and São Tomé & Príncipe, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the package, known as the Multi-Country COVID-19 Response Support Program (MCRSP), Malawi will...

Funds from the African Development Bank’s ongoing Science and Technology Development Project have been committed towards two research projects to mitigate the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Angola. The Science and Technology Development Project which is being executed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, aims to contribute to Angola’s economic...

South African firm Vantage Capital, Africa's largest mezzanine fund manager, announced it has provided R82 million ($5 million) in mezzanine financing for the development of Kayalane Heights, a unique social housing project in South Africa. The promoter and beneficiary of the transaction is Alleyroads Group, a leading South African black-owned real estate development company. This transaction...