The government of Nigeria approved the second phase of the National Information Communications Technology Infrastructure Backbone project (NICTIB II), which concerns the extension of the optical fiber connectivity to the country’s northern parts. The project benefited from a facility of $328 million raised from China’s Exim Bank by Galaxy Backbone Ltd (GBB), the public provider of...

In a statement issued on July 22, the International Monetary Fund announced it has approved an improvement in the access to emergency financing to help countries face the challenges stemming from the coronavirus crisis. “On July 13, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a temporary increase in the annual limits on overall access to resources in the General...

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a loan of approximately R5 billion ($288 million) to the government of South Africa, as the country battles one of the largest COVID-19 caseloads in the world. South Africa confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on 5 March 2020 and is currently the most affected in Africa, and among the top five in the world in terms of confirmed...

On Monday 20 July 2020, the Malawi judiciary sentenced a group of Chinese criminals specializing in poaching to 6-11 years' imprisonment. According to the Lilongwe court, the criminal organization, which has been operating for at least a decade, was guilty of trafficking elephant tusks, rhino horns, and pangolin scales, which is considered a crime in the country. The individuals were arrested in...

Oryx Energies service stations are changing and that launches the new dynamic of the group: modernity, innovations, high quality products and services with increasingly committed teams. Moussa Diao, CEO of Oryx Energies SA: "We have thought long and hard about this change and today we are all convinced that it will make the difference and anchor our new ambitions. More visibility, a better...

The government of Tanzania plans to set up a $200 loan program to help students in high schools. The information was reported following a council of ministers held on July 21. According to the institution, the operation called Higher Education Students' Loans Board (HESLB) will target 145,000 students (including 54,000 freshmen) in the country's universities and higher education...

The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank, has approved a loan worth $50 million to Nigeria’s Access Bank to help it support SMEs facing cash strain due to the coronavirus pandemic. The resource has a maturity of 12 months with an undisclosed interest rate. “The funds from the loan, made through IFC’s global COVID-19 fast-track financing support...

The Covid pandemic, from which Africa is far from emerging, has once again brought to light the importance and usefulness of mobility data analysis. The absence of accurate data location in certain geographies has been a decisive challenge in the context of the governments’ and decision-makers’ growing efforts to curb the spread of the virus. For this reason, mobile data, which must be fully...

A six-year project to develop industrial skills among Ghana’s workforce has improved the engineering and manufacturing skills of young people, promoted economic competitiveness and contributed to an improvement in the quality of life of beneficiaries and a reduction in poverty, according to an African Development Bank report issued on 15 July 2020. The Development of Skills for Industry...

In Nigeria, loans worth 7.8 trillion naira ($20 billion) granted to 35,640 clients are being restructured by banks operating in the country, Bloomberg reports - quoting Godwin Emefiele (pictured), the governor of the country's central bank. “If the CBN had not asked the banks to grant these forbearances to their customers, the loans will go bad immediately by our prudential ratios,” Mr....