The government of Djibouti will benefit from $43 million (SDR31.8 million, or 100% of Djibouti’s quota) granted by the International Monetary Fund under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) to meet the urgent balance of payments needs stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.IMF has also approved a debt relief under the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust, allowing the country to benefit...

  Four thousand CFC’s Flash Mobile Wallet Agents Can Now Send and Receive Western Union Global Money Transfers for their Customers. Compagnie Financière du Congo (CFC) and Western Union have joined forces to enable more than 4,000 Flash Mobile Wallet Agents to offer global money transfers. Millions of Congolese can now send Western Union Money Transfers internationally through Flash...

First diagnosed as pneumonia in Wuhan City, China, in December 2019, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and a pandemic on 30 January 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO). Within about five months, what began as a localized illness in China quickly spread to the rest of the world with substantial...

On May 5, 2020, Cable.co.uk unveiled its highly criticized “Worldwide mobile data pricing: The cost of 1GB of mobile data in 228 countries” study ranking countries on the cost of 1GB.  The Electronic Communications Regulatory Authority and the Post Office (Arcep) of Benin refuted the data which ranks the country among markets where the cost of 1GB is very high. While Cable.co.uk...

Vantage Capital is exiting the shareholding of the optical network operator Vumatel. The mezzanine fund manager has spent nearly four years as an investor and shareholder in the company, which is engaged in the provision of optical fiber infrastructure and services to internet service providers. In 2016, Vantage Capital provided R250 million ($13.4 million) in mezzanine financing to support the...

The African Development Bank has welcomed a decision by the Trust Fund Committee of the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), one of two funds within the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), to extend a $10 million concessional senior loan for development of the 50 MW Tulu Moyo Geothermal Power Plant project in Ethiopia. The CTF approved the loan on 20 April 2020 for the project, which is seen as a...

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) projected R285 billion (about $15.3 billion) decline in tax income this year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the already weak economy. SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter was of the view that revenue performance will be lower than the February Budget announcement by between 15-20%, meaning revenue under-recovery could move to...

Venture fund Fanisi Capital acquired a minority share in the capital of the Kenyan school St Bakhita Schools for about KSh265 million ($2.4 million). The transaction marks the private equity firm's third investment in the education sector in Kenya. Jointly owned by Norwegian fund Norfund and Amani Capital, it expects strong growth in the education sector in East Africa over the next few...

On May 4, 2020, when granting $226 million (about XAF135.6 billion) to Cameroon under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicated that it would keep an eye on the use of these facilities provided for the fight against the coronavirus. "IMF emergency financing under the RCF will support the government's efforts to mitigate the impact of the twin shocks....

The President of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebboune (pictured), instructed his government to introduce digital technology in all economic sectors of the country to have reliable economic statistics. According to the Head of State, digital technology and foresight are two essential means to get out of the sphere of approximate statistics which do not help to establish a strong and modern economy or to...