Twelve Ivorian soldiers were killed early this morning and six others wounded in a jihadist attack on the border checkpoint of Kafolo, between Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso. This is the second of such attacks recorded in the country. Two gendarmes are also missing. The information was given to Reuters by a senior member of the staff of the Armed Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (FACI). “There was...

The South African banking sector is expected to be more resilient to the shocks stemming from the coronavirus pandemic than other banks in emerging countries. This is not to say that in the Rainbow nation, things will be easy. According to a report issued on June 11 by S&P Global Ratings, credit to the private sector will contract by 5% over the period 2020-2021, while the country’s economic...

The European Union approves €64.4 million (about KSh7.8 billion) to help Kenya cushion the impact of the coronavirus on the economy and the health sector. The announcement was made on June 9 by the EU Ambassador in Kenya, Simon Mordue (pictured). The financing will focus on improving the health sector, supporting affected SMEs and vulnerable populations, and boosting the trade sector. In...

Joël Hounsinou has been appointed Managing Director of Bolloré Transport & Logistics Côte d’Ivoire, effective from 29 May 2020. Previously he was Deputy Managing Director of the Côte d’Ivoire subsidiary alongside Pierre Bellerose, Regional CEO for the Côte d’Ivoire - Burkina Faso region. He began his career at the Arthur Andersen and Coopers & Lybrand audit firms before joining the...

During a meeting via videoconference with the AU Covid-19 task force, the President of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou (pictured), spoke about the debt moratorium granted to African countries in the pandemic context. According to him, this measure is far from sufficient to help the continent respond to the consequences of the pandemic efficiently. “The scale of the economic crisis looming over the...

The World Bank approved $147.9 million consisting equally of a loan and a grant from the International Development Association (IDA) to improve public financial management and health sector management and promote sustainable growth in Burkina Faso. This financing, the second of a series of three under the Development Policy Financing (DPF), will support the government’s reforms featured...

In a June 8, 2020 interview with Space in Africa, the new director of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Francis Chizea, revealed that Nigeria will strengthen its space capabilities. The country is currently working on the launch of a new satellite to replace NigeriaSat-2, in space since 2011. “We have carried out some feasibility studies which are in line with what...

Absa Group said on June 8 its separation program from British Barclays, which started in June 2017, is almost completed. When the program is completed, Barclays will still hold a minority stake of 14.9% in the capital of the South African group. “The separation required the replacement or rebranding of millions of assets in 12 countries, including technology solutions. It was the largest...

France announced the disbursement of €30 million to help the Ivorian government strengthen its response plan against the coronavirus pandemic. The financing agreement was signed between the two sides on June 9. The resources will be granted under the Debt Reduction-Development Contract (C2D) and a sovereign loan from the French Development Agency; €12.5 million (CFA8.26 billion)...

Nearly 5,000 tech startups in Ghana will receive between 5,000 and 50,000 cedis from the government to develop their activities. The financing, which bears an interest rate of 10%, is part of the third phase of the government program to support about 26,000 businesses in the country. The government approves a total of 50 million cedis (about $8.6 million) for this phase and the businesses...