Konnect Africa, a subsidiary of Eutelsat Communications, announced on March 23 it has reached a deal with Flash Services and Schoolap to provide high-speed Internet to schools in DR Congo. The first phase of the project targets 3,600 private schools within the next twelve months. According to Jean-Claude Tshipama, Managing Director of Konnect Africa, “this project highlights the major benefits...

The government of Kenya has granted authorization to Loon LCC, a subsidiary of US company Alphabet (Google's sister company), to launch internet balloons in the country. The initiative was approved by the President of the Republic, Uhuru Kenyatta (pictured), as part of his strategy to ease the quarantine period for the populations by providing them with high-speed Internet. “These balloons...

The coronavirus pandemic is hampering the fight against locusts, which have been devastating crops in many countries in the region in recent months. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), with the wave of border closures and the suspension of international flights, deliveries of pesticides and equipment to control the locust swarms are being disrupted. Analysts fear that...

Algeria will spend $100 million to buy pharmaceutical products to have enough stock to face the novel coronavirus pandemic. The announcement was recently made by the President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune (pictured). This amount will be used to “accelerate the importation of all pharmaceutical products in sufficient quantities, and even more protective equipment and chemical analysis (testing)...

The Competition Commission of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has granted its green light for the acquisition of a 66.53% stake in DR Congo commercial bank (BCDC) by Kenyan Equity Group Holdings. The Competition Commission says that this operation is unlikely to harm trade between the Member States of the organization or the competition between the banking institutions...

While the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has already reached 1,000 people in Africa, the international community is worried that the continent, especially the sub-Saharan part, may not be strong enough in health infrastructures to face the consequences. What is even more alarming is that Africa was already in an undesired situation with the economic crisis and the high level of...

The World Bank announced a new investment of $500 million to improve low-income housing in Egypt. The money will help the local government’s efforts towards strengthening Egypt’s Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund which designs policies and coordinates social housing projects in the country. The new funding will also help increase the provision of subsidies for access to...

The Government of Benin announced, on 18 March 2020, the establishment of the national interoperability platform. The digital solution is an essential component of the regulatory framework for intelligent administration - Smart Gov - which the country's authorities have been striving to put in place since 2016. The National Interoperability Platform is the integration of a set of technologies to...

The government of Senegal has announced plans to attract Vietnamese investors in its telecom sector. A partnership in that regard was discussed last week in Dakar, between Nguyen Thanh Vinh, the new Vietnamese Ambassador to Algeria and Senegal, and the President of the Republic of Senegal, Macky Sall. During this trip, the Vietnamese envoy also met with the Senegalese Minister of Foreign Affairs...

The federal government of Nigeria plans to privatize 19 state-controlled companies this year, according to information provided by S&P Capital IQ, which cites the Bureau of Public Enterprises. The operation would allow the state to mobilize up to 266.7 billion naira ($724.3 million) in net revenues. Companies to be privatized include the Bank of Agriculture and Nigeria Reinsurance Company. The...