The Egyptian government plans to increase its public spending by $634 million to support the national economy. The announcement was made this week by finance minister Mohamed Maait (pictured). According to the official, these new investments will be allocated to “paying the debts of contractors and suppliers and improving the quality of services offered to the public.” The government...

The Czech telecommunications service provider GiTy announced on April 14 the signing of a multi-year contract with the Israeli company Spacecom, which operates the AMOS telecom satellite fleet. The contract covers GiTy's use of C-band capacity on the AMOS-17 communications satellite to provide quality connectivity to embassies across Africa. The AMOS-17 satellite was designed specifically to...

Alexander Forbes Namibia Holdings (AF Namibia Holdings), 75% owned by the South African financial services group Alexander Forbes, announced it is selling all the shares it holds in its subsidiary Alexander Forbes Insurance Company Namibia (AFI Namibia). The buyer is Momentum Short Term Insurance Namibia (MSTI Namibia), a short-term insurance company operating in the Namibian market and owned by...

The Casablanca Stock Exchange was quite dynamic during the first quarter of 2020, despite a context strongly marked by the effects of the covid-19 pandemic on the Moroccan economy. The MASI, the index that groups together all the companies listed on this financial market, ended on a level down by 11% compared to the same period in 2019. The overall market capitalization was MAD503 billion on...

The debt moratorium granted by the G20 to poor countries is welcome among the international community. According to Tidjane Thiam, a member of the Africa COVID task force, this decision will allow the beneficiaries to get available resources to face the urgent challenges that come with the pandemic. “The idea for the moratorium came from the fact that if an operation could suspend the payment...

The International Monetary Fund approved on April 14 the disbursement of SDR84.28 million, the equivalent of $115.3 million to help Burkina Faso curtail the impact of covid-19 on the economy. The sum is part of the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) put in place by the IMF to assist countries to meet their balance of payment needs; improve health, social protection, and macroeconomic stabilization...

One million people need food assistance in Ethiopia due to the current desert locust invasion, according to a statement by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). FAO says the insects have destroyed 200,000 hectares of agricultural land and 356,000 tons of cereals. Sorghum and corn are in the frontline with 114,000 ha and 41,000 ha destroyed, respectively. The regions of Oromia, Somali,...

China says it is ready to collaborate with the international community to relieve the debt of African countries. The move will help indebted countries to meet their challenges in this covid-19 crisis context. According to the Chinese minister of foreign affairs, Wang Yi (pictured), a temporary freeze on debt payment by African countries, as part of an agreement between the key G20 countries, is...

The distribution of generous dividends on the regional stock market BRVM will be severely hampered this year, due to the impact of the current covid-19 pandemic. For the time being, companies listed on this market are still working the traditional way. Eight of them have posted a positive net profit for the 2019 financial year and announced a cumulative gross dividend of CFA227.6 billion for a...

The Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM) lost CFA471 billion ($788.7 million) over the 30 days ending April 13, 2020, market data shows. Of the 45 companies listed on this market, 36 experienced a decline in share value over the period. The top 4 poor performers include Palm CI (-33.3%), Servair (-31%), Bolloré Transport & Logistics (-26.1%) and Société des Rubberes du Grand-Béreby...