Egypt will benefit from $2.7billion emergency funds from the International Monetary Fund to meet the urgent balance of payments needs generated by the coronavirus pandemic, limit the decline in international reserves and curb the disease’s economic impacts. The investment is part of the Rapid Credit Facility initiated by the Fund to support vulnerable countries during the crisis. “Egypt...

Convergence Partners has acquired, through its pan-African digital service provider platform -inq. Holdings Limited- the operations of Vodacom Business Africa in Nigeria, Zambia, and Côte d’Ivoire. Convergence has also taken steps to acquire Vodacom's assets in Cameroon and completion is pending regulatory approvals. Via its platform, Convergence Partners aims to position itself as a unified...

Last year, the Algiers Stock Exchange attracted a very poor number of investors, the market regulator said in its annual report. In terms of value and volume of transactions, the market was very dynamic but globally, operations only concerned one stock (Biopharm), the Commission for the Organization, and Supervision of Stock Exchange Operations in Algeria (Cosob) said. The pharmaceutical group...

The Kenyan government plans to release up to KSh1.5 billion (about $14.1 million) to support the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) over three years. Local media reports the strategy is part of a program initiated by the Ministry of Finance to inject the same amount in each of its strategic public entities. The first tranche of KSh500 million will be disbursed during the FY2020-21, the...

The US government, through its Center for Disease Control, approved $37 million in aid for Ethiopia to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The information was reported on May 8 by the US ambassador to the country, Michael Raynor (pictured). According to US authorities, the money will primarily be used to strengthen health care and equip laboratories for large scale testing. “As we have done...

Over the first quarter this year, the MAD6 billion consolidated net banking income achieved by Attijariwafa Bank was only 1.5% higher than that in Q1 2019, the weakest Q1 increase since 2018. The net income group share was MAD1.1 billion, down 23.8% from Q1 2019. This shows that the Moroccan bank was in a very weak position even before the coronavirus. For FY2019, Attijariwafa Bank...

Moroccan startups with less than 18 months of activity and those with more than 3 years of recurring sales will benefit from a total of MAD350 million ($35.6 million) from development banks, banking groups, and insurance companies. This financing vehicle mainly targets service platforms and companies active in the energy sector and new technologies, which will receive about MAD5 million of the...

The Ivorian minister of water, Laurent Tchagba, has just launched the construction of a clean water facility to serve 1.6 million people in 155 sub-districts of Abidjan and surrounding towns (Anyama, Bingerville, Grand-Bassam, Bonoua, and Songon). This is part of the project for the Improvement of the technical and financial performance of the drinking water sector (APTF). The scheme is valued...

The government of South Africa announced it will increase the value of its weekly domestic borrowings to finance its budget deficit by R1.93 billion (about $105 million). This means, there will be an increase by R1.5 billion in the volume of fixed-rate Treasury bills and an increase by R360 million for securities whose returns to investors are indexed to inflation (price hike). If this pace...

Fintech Zoona, specialized in the development of technological payment solutions, sold its operations in Malawi to Mukuru, the international cash transfer firm in Africa and Asia, for an undisclosed amount. This acquisition will broaden the scope of Mukuru’s operations, strengthening its footprint in Malawi. The cash transfer company intends to improve access to its services for rural...