The IMF Board, on April 9, approved 147 million (CAF88.2 million) to help address the coronavirus crisis in Gabon. The resource is a loan approved under the Rapid Financing Instrument initiated by the institution to help countries in need. IMF explains that the amount to which each country is entitled under this facility depends on its balance of payments financing needs, its outstanding credits...

The government of Egypt has postponed the sale of stakes in the public bank Banque du Caire in an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Initially scheduled for mid-April, the operation is deferred to a future date, according to local sources. Several Egyptian strategic investors from other Arab and non-Arab countries had expressed interest in the offer, and individual investors were expected to...

Sub-Saharan Africa, a large part of the continent, shows a low level of financial inclusion, in particular, only 6% of the population in the Democratic Republic of Congo use banking services. However, in this era of globalization, with the advent of e-commerce, mainly paid remotely, some financial institutions provide innovative solutions in order to integrate as many people as possible into the...

About 1,000 terrorists of the Boko Haram sect have been neutralized by the Chadian army in recent days. This was announced today, April 9, 2020, by Colonel Azem Bernandoua Agouna, spokesman of the Chadian National Army (ANT), as the first assessment of Operation "Wrath of Boma" launched by President Idriss Déby. However, 52 Chadian soldiers were killed and 196 wounded after eight days of...

Since the coronavirus spread across Africa, Central banks swiftly created measures to avert the possible consequences of the pandemic on the banking sector. In addition to the health and human damage, the pandemic is now a source of great economic concern. Measures include lowering benchmark rates, easing liquidity granting conditions for commercial banks, and raising available resources to...

The World Food Program (WFP) announced it will mobilize $130 million to continue its emergency operations in Zimbabwe until August, to prevent famine. The organization said last year's drought and cyclone have already left 7.7 million people, half the population, in need of food assistance. In addition to this already worrying situation, the covid-19 will further aggravate the macroeconomic...

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) reports a decline of 12.08% in the country’s foreign exchange reserves to $40 billion between March and February this year. CBE says this decline is linked to higher foreign exchange requirements to ensure strategic imports as well as the payment of international financial obligations related to the State's external debt. Also, foreign investment has...

On 7 April 2020, Mauritanian communications service provider CSS, and Forsway, a provider of innovative solutions using satellite and terrestrial broadband technologies, announced they will strengthen their partnership to provide affordable broadband in West Africa. The new project will tap CSS’s local expertise, Arabsat’s Xtend Africa managed service and Forsway’s unique satellite...

The covid-19 pandemic is not over yet but it has already had a huge impact on all sectors around the world, with air transport on the front line. In Africa, the largest airline, Ethiopian Airlines, has already lost $550 million, according to Tewolde Gebremariam, the company’s CEO. Ethiopia, which still maintains flights to China, where the virus was first detected, has been forced to...

The World Bank approved on April 6 a total of $140 million, $120 million as a grant and $20 million as a loan, to improve the quality of education in Niger. Disbursed through the International Development Association (IDA), this support will help finance the Niger Learning Improvement for Education Outcomes Project (LIRE), which focuses on “fragile” regions and aims to...