Traffic in the port of Cotonou dropped by 1.85% last year to 10.09 million tons, against 10.28 million tons in 2018. The volume is also down the 11 million tons authorities in Benin were expecting for the period. According to the Port Authority (PAC), this decline, driven by external factors, negatively impacted the second half of 2019, which had started with a tonnage of 5.98 million against...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) granted €23.4 million for the development of the port of Bujumbura in Burundi. According to the Bank, €17.3 million will be provided by the African Development Fund (ADF) and €6.1 million will come from the Transition Support Facility (TSF). The grant deals were signed February 18 between Burundi's Finance Minister Domitien Ndihokubwayo,...

The African Development Bank, in collaboration with the government of Nigeria, has held a meeting with stakeholders to discuss details around Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones in Nigeria. A workshop was held in Abuja from 17 to 18 February to address the categorization and location of the SAPZs, which are meant to kickstart the agriculture sector. Speaking at the event, Nigeria’s...

The Democratic Republic of Congo has a low bank enrollment rate, leaving millions of people outside the banking system. However, more than 45% of the Congolese population use mobile phones, which makes it possible to increase financial affordability. In the DRC, several mobile money agents, for lack of liquidity, have especially constraints when it comes to carrying out transactions of large...

At the invitation of its majority shareholder, the royal holding company Al Mada, the board of directors of the mobile operator Wana, better known as Inwi, decided to end the legal battle initiated in March 2018 against the incumbent operator Maroc Telecom for unfair competition. Inwi's decision comes just days after the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ANRT) fined Maroc Telecom...

Tunis Stock Exchange-listed Electrostar ended the fourth quarter of 2019 on a turnover of TND2.1 million, down 85% compared to TND14.6 million the same period in 2018. The company specializing in the distribution of household and electronic equipment (vacuum cleaners, air conditioners, hi-fi products, and household equipment) explains this result to be caused by the delay in the granting of...

The World Bank will invest $7.5 billion in the countries of the Sahel region between 2020 and 2023, the Bank’s Managing Director of Operations, Axel Van Trotsenburg (pictured) reported during a press briefing held on Wednesday 19 February 2020 in Ouagadougou. According to him, these investments are mainly aimed at supporting the implementation of structural reforms and supporting the...

Côte d'Ivoire and the German development bank KfW finalized, on Thursday 20 February, the agreement relating to the increase in the country's contribution to the capital of the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) which promotes investments on the continent. Financed by KfW, the loan agreement amounting to $6.5 million €5,859,022 was initially signed in December 2019. With this...

On February 19, Mali successfully raised CFA33 billion (about $54.3 million) on the WAEMU securities market in an issue of 3-year fungible Treasury bonds (OAT) initially targeting CAF30 billion (about $49.3 million).At the end of this operation, the country received CFA38.4 billion (about $63.2 million) in offers from investors, which corresponds to a coverage rate of 128%. This...

South African insurer Discovery has decided to propose a generous interim dividend to its shareholders, despite a mixed performance during its half-year ending December 2019. Holders of preference shares will receive just over R505 net of dividend tax for the period as long as holders of ordinary shares receive a dividend of R100 (less 20% tax). Net insurance revenues and premiums reached R31.5...