The Export-Import Bank of the United States has just approved a loan of $91.5 million to facilitate rural electrification in Senegal. The funds will facilitate the export of US engineering and construction services in the rural electrification sector. The project will benefit about 330,000 people in more than 415 villages and create 500 jobs in 14 states in the United States notably...

The Government of Mozambique will receive $34 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to pursue the construction of the 35 km Nambungali - Roma road. This is part of the second phase of the Mueda - Negomano road project (163.8 km), which aims at improving transport infrastructure between Mozambique and Tanzania. The related agreement was signed on 24 February between the Mozambican...

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved on April 1, 2020, a disbursement for the equivalent of 17.213 million Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), about $23.5 million, to Guinea. This new financial support marks the completion of the fourth review of the economic and financial program supported by an Extended Credit Facility (ECF) concluded between Guinea and the...

Mobile operator Expresso, the Senegalese arm of Sudan’s Sudatel, announced it has postponed the deployment of its 4G technology to an unspecified later date. The decision was motivated by the current health context and the state of emergency decreed by the government, which is forcing the entire population, including many of its technical teams, to stay at home. Expresso's 4G was due to be...

Value losses on Africa’s stock markets reached $142.6 billion in the first quarter this year, according to data from Capital IQ. Nearly 716 listed companies saw a value dip between January 1 and March 31 this year. For 110 companies, no particular evolution was observed on the markets while 143 others experienced growth. For all stock markets on the continent, this makes an improvement...

The Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT), on April 1, asked banks and financial institutions operating in the country to suspend the distribution of dividends for the fiscal year 2019. The banking sector regulator also asked them to refrain from carrying out any operation to buy back their shares. BCT says the measures aimed at safeguarding the financial stability of these institutions in a period...

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced a $2.5 million investment in New Crystal Health Services Limited, a private health services provider operating in Ghana. The funds will be used to support the development of the company. New Crystal Health plans to upgrade its network of clinics, expand its range of diagnostic services and build new facilities in Ashaiman and Tema in...

The UN's COP 26 climate change conference initially scheduled to take place in November 2020 in the city of Glasgow, in Scotland, has just been postponed to 2021 because of the current coronavirus pandemic. “The world is currently facing an unprecedented global challenge and countries are rightly focusing their efforts on saving lives and fighting Covid-19. That is why we have decided to...

Between January 1 and April 1 this year, the top 30 largest listed companies in Africa lost a common value of $62.2 billion, according to data collected by Ecofin Agency. Twenty-seven (27) of these companies experienced a decline in value over the period compared to only three increases. The top 3 most hit companies include South African Impala Platinum, Absa Group and MTN Group, which...

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank on Wednesday approved a $1.5 million emergency relief grant to assist nine countries in the East and Horn of Africa on the control of swarms of desert locusts that are threatening livelihoods and food security. The proposed assistance will be channeled to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which has been mandated to...