Abidjan Transport Company (Sotra) plans to increase its bus fleet next year. The public company will acquire a total of 500 new buses of 13 m, 450 of which are diesel buses and the remaining 50 will be gas buses.    The buses will be supplied by Scania, a Swedish manufacturer of commercial vehicles, and a deal was inked in that regard yesterday Dec 10, between Méité Bouaké, MD of...

JSE-listed Conduit Capital announced it will sell all the shares it holds in its subsidiaries Constantia and Conduit Ventures, respectively specialized in the provision of insurance and risk management solutions. The operation is a deal between Conduit Capital and Legal Shield Holdings Limited (LSH), a subsidiary of Namibian group Trustco. In return, Conduit will become a shareholder in LSH. The...

The African Development Bank, Embassy of Germany in Rwanda and the KfW Development Bank joined the Government of Rwanda to inaugurate the high voltage 188 MVA Shango power substation in the capital Kigali and its related transmission network. The substation is part of the NELSAP Regional Interconnection Project involving Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, DRC and Burundi. The Rwandan component, at an...

The African Development Bank’s flagship initiative, Fashionomics Africa, has launched the pilot phase of a digital marketplace to help Africa’s fashion designers, textile and accessories professionals connect with global markets.  The launch took place on 25 November at the Global Gender Summit, a gathering of more than 1,500 representatives from multilateral development banks, finance...

FMO, the Dutch development finance institution, has launched in collaboration with the British Shell Foundation, the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund (EEGF) dedicated to sub-Saharan African companies operating in the energy sector. The fund, which plans to raise $120 million, made its first closing with $45 million. The 12-year program will provide financing and technical assistance to...

The International Monetary Fund announced it has completed the sixth review under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement with Côte d'Ivoire and approved the immediate disbursement of $133.4 million for the country. Motivated by the good performances achieved by Côte d'Ivoire, IMF also announced the program has been extended by one year. The country’s economic outlook remains strong,...

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has established a 250 million naira ($689,531) fund dedicated to the development of tech solutions. The fund is managed by the Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council (LASRIC) and aligns with the Lagos innovation plan that was officially unveiled on December 5, 2019, at the opening of the first edition of the Art of Technology Lagos 1.0 which...

In an open letter to the country today December 9, South Africa’s Head of State, Cyril Ramaphosa (pictured), said he is ready to take all necessary measures to save the struggling public companies. The State could not afford to let its businesses down because, according to him, despite the dire financial and operational issues, the companies still have great potential to boost the economy and...

Donors of the African Development Fund (ADF) on Thursday agreed to commit $7.6 billion to speed up growth in Africa’s poorest nations and help lift millions out of poverty. This fifteenth replenishment of the ADF (ADF-15), up 32% from the previous cycle, sends a strong signal of trust in the Fund, which is the concessional window of the African Development Bank Group.  The Fund...

African Development Bank President Dr Akinwumi Adesina received the African of the Year Award from the All Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA™), Thursday, in recognition of his bold leadership and the innovation of the Africa Investment Forum which “opened up billions of dollars of investment into the continent.” The ninth edition of the awards, organized by AABLA™ in conjunction...