The African Development Bank’s Fashionomics Africa initiative hosted 110 entrepreneurs from the textile, apparel and accessories industry for a workshop on how to establish a successful fashion brand. Eighty-eight participants of the workshop, the first to be held in Nairobi, were women. More than a dozen industry insiders, public and private sector leaders shared experiences and expertise on...

The Ivoirian government announced the implementation of the interoperability of digital financial services for this year, as part of the regional financial inclusion strategy led by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO).   The interoperability of digital financial services, including mobile money and mobile banking, will allow any customer to send money to any other financial...

At the end of February this year, Egypt’s foreign exchanges grew by 3.29% to $45.509 billion, from $44.06 billion in February last year. According to the Central Bank, the current level of reserves covers about 7.2 months of Egypt's commodity imports, which is higher than the world average of about three months of imports. The foreign currencies held in Egypt's foreign exchange...

Fatou Sow Kane (pictured), Chief Enterprise Business Officer at mobile operator Expresso, announced earlier this week that the company’s 4G network will be accessible to consumers from March 31. “With this 4G Expresso, the experience will be even better in terms of connection, speed and reliability,” she said. With this new step, the company is getting back in competition with other...

Kafo Jiginew, a Malian microfinance institution has just received a long-term loan of €10 million (FCF6.5 billion) from the European Investment Bank (EIB). “The contract will support the financing of economically profitable investments and those that create added value and jobs in sectors that struggle to obtain bank credit in rural areas. These are essentially micro, small and...

South African banking group Nedbank Ltd. is seeking to increase stakes in Mozambican commercial bank Banco Unico to 87.5% form 50% for R140 million. The operation should first be approved by the two countries’ regulatory authorities and is expected to be finalized in the first half of 2020. In its annual report issued last year, the South African company said it plans to acquire and hold...

The Federal government of Nigeria could adjust its budget provision for this year to curb the impact of the ongoing coronavirus on oil prices. This was announced by the Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed (pictured). “The current crude oil price of $53 a barrel is below the budget benchmark. So what we are doing is studying the situation. We are committed to doing a midterm review,” she said....

For weeks, investors and the business community have been rattled by massive disruptions to global supply chains, as factories shut down in China. Everyone from BMW and Mercedes to Apple are feeling the squeeze on account of the coronavirus. But economies and businesses are not the only ones dealing with disruption. Social conventions are adjusting in unprecedented ways. Yesterday, Italy shut...

The Rwandan Ministry of ICT and Innovation, the City of Kigali, the French consulting firm Tactis and their partners are working to improve the sustainability of the city of Kigali through the implementation of an ambitious digital project: an innovative citizen's platform coupled with a network of sensors to monitor air quality. This project will be carried out thanks to a funding from the...

The government of Kenya is getting ready to issue its first-ever road bond seeking KSh150 billion ($1.5 billion), the Infrastructure Principal Secretary Paul Maringa (pictured), reports. Paul Maringa told the Parliament that the bond will be issued by June this year. Part of the resources will go to Kenya Roads Board (KRB) to settle pending bills covering the period up to June 30. The remaining...