COMMUNIQUE OF THE BUREAU OF THE BOARDS OF GOVERNORS OF THE AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK GROUP FOLLOWING ITS MEETING OF TODAY 1 JULY 2020 REGARDING THE WHISTLE-BLOWERS’ COMPLAINT AGAINST THE PRESIDENT OF THE BANK GROUP. The Bureau recalls its Communiqué issued on June 4th 2020 informing the general public of its decision to authorize an Independent Review of the Report of the Ethics Committee of...

The government of Ghana is negotiating important financing of $715 million from the World Bank. The information was revealed during an interview with Pierre Frank Laporte (pictured), World Bank Country Director for Ghana, by the Ghanaian site Business 24. The soon-to-be disbursed resources will mainly be used for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and the implementation of strategic...

The African Development Bank will launch its African Economic Outlook 2020 Supplement in a live Zoom event from 14.30 to 16.00 (Abidjan time) on Tuesday 7 July 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in economic disruptions that have changed the strong growth projections the African Development Bank reported in January in the 2020 African Economic Outlook. The supplement revises the growth...

The second quarter of 2020 has been a really difficult one for all countries around the world mainly because of the coronavirus crisis and the sometimes extreme measures taken to limit its propagation. To face the challenges that come with the situation, countries (with the US, China, and the Eurozone atop the list) had to contract an additional debt of $11 trillion, higher than the global...

The World Bank announced it has reorganized its African division to better focus on the sub-Saharan region. In a July 1 statement, the institution said it has created two new vice-presidencies exclusively for the region. In detail, one vice-presidency will cover the western and central parts while the second will focus on the eastern and southern parts. The move aligns with the World Bank’s...

Léon Juste Ibombo (pictured), the Congolese minister of posts, telecoms and digital economy, announced on June 27 that his department is working on a bill to support startups active in the country. This was on the sidelines of the micro, small, and mid-size enterprises' day. The official said the draft law will set a special legal framework for companies registered as startups and subsequently...

Five years into the African Development Bank’s ambitious New Deal on Energy for Africa (NDEA), the Bank’s investments are set to provide electricity access to around 13 million people and deliver about 55,000 km of distribution lines, and 6,700 km of transmission lines, of which 3,200 km are for regional interconnections. The NDEA called for a substantial increase in investments to realize...

Rwanda has just signed some financial agreements with France, reflecting a thaw of tensions between the two nations. The African country will receive $56 million from the French Development Agency to deal with the challenges in this difficult global context. The first agreement, consisting of a $45 million loan, will be used to combat the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the...

South African real estate investment trust, Redefine Properties, announced on June 29 it has reached an agreement with US investment firm Starwood Capital Group to sell 111.9 million shares in its British arm RDI Reit at 95 pence per share. Redefine will cash a total of 106.3 million pound sterling ($130.3 million) from this transaction. The sale’s proceeds will help the South African company...

TELMA Madagascar has switched on their 5G commercial network to offer subscribers high-speed services enabled by the latest generation of mobile technology. Powered by Ericsson (NASDAQ : ERIC), the 5G network is already live in Antananarivo. TELMA Launches 5G In Madagascar, making it the First Country in Africa to Adopt The Next-Gen Mobile Network Commercially. TELMA, the Malagasy...