Ethiopia’s Finance Minister is considering issuing an Expression of Interest for foreign companies wishing to import wheat, cooking oil and sugar into the country. According to Foodbusinessafrica, applications should be reviewed and validated by a committee formed by the Ethiopian National Bank, the Investment Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Once...

KfW Development Bank partnered with Allianz Global Investors to set up a co-investment fund to support African private equity and venture capital funds that monitor innovative companies operating in fast-growing sectors. Through this initiative called AfricaGrow, the two partners will finance about 150 companies and start-ups on the continent by 2030. The fund will raise €170 million...

Global public subsidies allocated to the cotton sector amounted to $5.4 billion in 2018/2019. The figure was provided by the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) in its “Production and Trade Subsidies Affecting the Cotton Industry” report published November 24. The previous year, subsidies was $5.5 billion.  According to the ICAC, 10 nations have engaged in producer...

The International Monetary Fund has launched an online training for the general public on macroeconomic management in resource-rich countries. Led by the IMF Institute for Capacity Development, the IMF's Public Finance Department and the Statistics Department, the program focuses on macroeconomic policy issues and challenges facing resource-rich countries. The course is intended for officials...

In 2018, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reached a new record, even exceeding the average over the past decade, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said. Concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere reached 407.8 parts per million (ppm), 147% higher than the pre-industrial level in 1750. “It is worth recalling that the last time the Earth experienced a comparable concentration of CO2...

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group on Thursday approved a long-term Senior Loan of $400 million to support the building of an integrated Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant, including a liquifaction facility in Mozambique. The Mozambique LNG Area 1 Project, ranked Africa’s single largest Foreign Direct Investment to date, comprises a global team of energy...

African countries must act faster to purge corruption in the land sector by harnessing technology and innovation, African Development Bank Senior Vice President Charles Boamah urged on Monday. Boamah, who was speaking to policymakers and stakeholders at a conference on Land Policy in Africa in the Ivorian capital, Abidjan, also called for the deployment of more financial and human resources...

The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has advanced $20 million for the construction of a 60,000 barrel per day oil refinery in Uganda. This first disbursement paves the way for a $4.27 billion project. Financing papers were signed in the presence of the AFC managing director Ammadou Wadda, African Development Bank president Akinwumi Adesina and representatives of the Albertine Graben...

Following an investment round table held last week in Hamburg, Germany, Côte d'Ivoire raised about $6.4 billion for its tourism sector, tourism minister Siandou Fofana (pictured) announced. This amount is significantly higher than the $2 billion initially targeted by the government and will be pumped into 12 projects as part of the “Sublime Côte d'Ivoire” program. The latter aims...

Muma Emmanuel (pictured) is the only survivor of the deadly plane crash that occurred on November 24 in DR Congo killing more than 25. The man was taken out of rubble and rushed to the “Charité Maternelle” hospital in the city of Goma, where the tragedy happened. Cameroonian native and father of 3, Muma Emmanuel works in the telecoms sector and provides services in his home country, Congo...