The President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (pictured), called relevant authorities to increase the country’s strategic food reserves. This is part of strategies to meet food security amid the current coronavirus crisis. According to official statistics, food consumption in the country should rocket between the end of April and May, the Ramadan period. The Ministry of Supply said current...

Between 2014 and 2019, West Africa recorded $10.2 billion in private equity transactions, ahead of all other African regions. Overall, the continent had 1,046 PE transactions over the period for an amount of $25.3 billion, according to the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA). In 2019 alone, the value of such transactions reached $3.9 billion, a record...

The Angolan government will establish new free trade zones to boost its investments. The announcement was made by Sergio Santos (pictured), the Minister of Economy and Planning, according to Macauhub. This measure is aimed not only at increasing investment by Angolan companies in the country but also at attracting foreign companies to boost foreign direct investment. The new free zones will...

Internet and voice services have been restored in several areas of the Oromo region in Ethiopia, the government announced earlier today, March 31, 2020. This ended the blockade of telecom services which started since 7 January in the Kellem Wellega, West Oromia, West Wellega and Horo Gudru Wellega zones due to the unrest in the areas, a total of 83 days blackout. The unblocking of the situation...

The Foschini Group (TFG), a company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and specializing in the retail sale of fashion goods (clothing, jewelry, sports equipment, cosmetics) and household goods, has announced that it will not be paying April 2020 rents due to the closure of all its 2,582 local stores. The closure follows the 21-day lockdown announced by the South African government to...

Morocco's commercial banks are exposed to the risks that will come with the coronavirus pandemic, according to an analysis by Fitch Ratings. These risks are however still manageable thanks to the current stable macroeconomic situation in this North African country. According to Fitch, Morocco’s GDP growth was seen at 3.5% at the end of 2019, compared to 2.7% in 2018. This year, with the...

The stringent restrictive measures adopted by governments to control the propagation of the novel coronavirus pandemic across the world are expected to drop international tourist arrivals by 20% to 30% this year, compared to the last one. This, in turn, could cost between $300 billion and 450 billion, or about one-third of the $1.5 trillion generated in 2019. Based on past market...

In times of uncertainty, data is certainly one of the levers to press. Over the past weeks, as a result of this unprecedented global pandemic, nations are making strategic decisions to protect their citizens, strengthen their health system’s resource allocation and ensure security, in the face of this severe menace. As a result, real-time, accurate data plays a key role to make urgent and...

The government of Niger has granted travel agencies a 3-month tax exemption to help them face the challenges that come with the restriction measures put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus across the country. The decision was announced on March 27 following a Ministers’ Council. As part of the management of the socio-economic impacts of Covid-19, the government has decided to...

Mohamed Okasha (pictured), co-founder and Managing Director of Egyptian e-payment company Fawry announced he is stepping down from his position on April 1, 2020, to launch a $25 million investment fund that will help Egyptian fintech companies in their early and growth stage. No further details have been given about how the fund will be managed. Mohamed Okasha has 25 years of experience in...