French chauffeur-driven car rental platform Heetch raised $4.4 million from Tunisian private equity investor AfricInvest to continue expansion in six new markets in 2020, including Tunisia and Senegal. On the African continent, Heetch is mainly interested in Francophone countries in which “competition is less intense than in Anglophone countries,” according to Patrick Pedersen, the...

The government of Angola is planning to issue $3 billion worth of Eurobonds on the international market between late 2019 and early 2020. The information was announced by Banco de Fomento Angola in an official statement. The institution said talks are already engaged with investors, who authorities met last week in New York. Operations will be monitored by Deutsche Bank, ICBC and Standard...

The opening of its capital with a double IPO on the London and Lagos stock exchanges enabled Airtel Africa to strengthen its cash position by $680 million for the first six months of FY2019/20 financial year, which ended on 30 September 2019. According to an official statement, the company issued 676.41 million shares, which were widely requested by investors both in London and on the...

Nigeria-based fintech Opay successfully raised $120 million from Chinese investors including venture capitalists Sequoia Capital China, GSR Ventures, Source Code Capital, GaoRong Capital, as well as distribution company Meituan-Dianping. OPay plans to use the sum to fund expansion in Nigeria, but also in Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana. According to OPay’s Chairman Yahui Zhou, these...

The World Bank approved $140 million in favor of the rural transport support project in Madagascar. In addition to improving transport connectivity in rural areas, this project is also expected to boost community access to economic and social opportunities. For a first phase, the government is focusing on the agricultural regions of Alaotra Mangoro, Anosy, and Atsimo-Atsinanana where it...

Jumia Cameroon, Cameroonian subsidiary of online sales group Jumia, is in a liquidation process, Ecofin Agency learned from local media sources. This information was confirmed by persons close to Jumia who requested anonymity, ensuring that official information is being prepared on this subject. At this stage, it is not yet a question of activity cessation but rather a reduction of the size of...

Infrastructure financing in Africa reached all-time record of $100 billion last year, the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA) found in a recent report. The figure is 24% higher than that of 2017, and 38% up from the average amount invested between 2015 and 2017. ICA says the increase is driven by higher investments from African countries and their Chinese partners as well. Compared...

Angola Cables and its partner Nokia, the telecoms equipment manufacturer, announced they have successfully linked Africa to North America by optical fiber. The information was unveiled at the AfricaCom Summit, held in Cape Town, South Africa, from 12 to 14 November 2019. The two companies reported that the link was made between the cities of Sangano in Angola and Boca Raton in Florida (USA) by...

BluePeak, a private equity firm recently founded by former Gulf Capital executive Walid Cherif (pictured), has started mobilizing money for its very first credit fund. The company aims at raising $200 million. BluePeak indicates that it wants to support African SMEs which have trouble accessing credit. The fund is designed to seek debt financing opportunities in African SMEs, with an...

Zimbabwe's Finance Minister, Mthuli Ncube (pictured), announced last week that the government is seeking to launch its first satellite. Resources have been set aside for the project, he said during the national budget hearing November 14. Ncube says his country wants to engage more on research and development. “Research and development are critical for Zimbabwe’s socio-economic...