On International Women’s Day Dr. Jennifer Blanke, Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development takes stock and answers 3 questions about African women and agriculture and gives us results from the ground in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Sudan Dr. Jennifer Blanke : Can you tell the many observing International Women’s Day about the integral role women play in African...

Newtown Partners, a South African venture capital firm that targets early-stage companies, and Imperial, a logistics company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and focused on African and European markets, have set up a venture capital fund dedicated to technology companies offering services related to the logistics and transport sectors. The fund, which will have an initial capital...

Senegal will benefit from $125 million from the World Bank to improve governance, a statement from the institution announced last week. The money will be used to finance the Project for the Promotion of Integrated Management and Economics of Solid Waste in Senegal (PROMOGED). Valued at $295 million, the program aims at improving local governance and strengthening household waste...

U.S. company Railnet International plans to pump $11 billion into the construction of a modern railway and the commission of high speed trains linking Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. According to Donald Kress, CEO of Railnet, talks are going well between the project’s shareholders and a deal is already signed with Zambia regarding the feasibility studies which are expected to start...

Indian company Sterling and Wilson Private Ltd was awarded the contract to build a data center in Pointe-Noir, Congo. The related deal was signed last week in Brazzaville between Léon Juste Ibombo (pictured), the Congolese Minister of Post, Telecommunications and Digital Economy, and representatives of the company. The soon to be built infrastructure is part of the second phase of the Central...

The government of Madagascar has brought telecom excise duty back at 10% as tax reduction “did not yield expected results on tariffs,” according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The information was reported last week during a session on the new tax measures in the 2020 Finance Act. The government says that not only did tariffs not drop as expected, but the tax reduction also deprived...

Supported by prudent monetary and fiscal policies, Tanzania's economic situation remains stable with sustained economic growth, relatively contained inflation, adequate levels of foreign exchange reserves and bearable public debt. This was one of the main findings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff mission to the country from 20 February to 4 March 2020. According to the institution,...

South African Edtech startup Snapplify announced March 4 it has acquired the digital publishing company Onnie Media for an undisclosed amount. According to Wesley Lynch (pictured), MD of Snapplify, this new acquisition will make it possible to diversify the Snapplify Group’s fast-growing educational portfolio and highlights the company’s position in the global e-learning market. Since the...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced the disbursement of $50 billion to help counter the current coronavirus crisis. The announcement was made on March 4 by the institution’s MD, Kristalina Georgieva (pictured), during a press conference. The initiative includes emergency financing facilities for the IMF's partner countries. According to Kristalina Georgieva, nearly $10...

The African Development Bank and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) have called for stronger links between technical and vocational education and training and industry to equip young people with the skills they need to boost technological advancement, trade and growth in Africa. A Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector Scoping Study Workshop,...