Satisfied with the corrective measures the government of Mali deployed during the first half this year, the Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved yesterday August 28 a three-year aid program in favor of the nation. The $191.9 million ECF was passed with the immediate disbursement of $27.4 million. IMF says it is supporting “the development strategy the Malian...

Rwanda Development Board (RDB), the country’s national investment facilitation body, and the Pan-African Infrastructure Investment Fund50 have decided to create a joint-venture to develop, finance, build and operate the commercial components of the Kigali Innovation City (KIC) project. On 27 August 2019, the two parties signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) to this effect, following the...

BMCE Bank of Africa, the second largest bank on the Casablanca Stock Exchange, is looking for organic growth within its subsidiaries, according to information provided by Moroccan media Challenge. The bank wants to make new acquisitions in the region to increase its net income, which is still affected by the remuneration of minority interests. In a context characterized by fierce competition on...

The government of Niger is planning to borrow up to $500 million from international banks next year, we learnt. But it’s not specified whether the operation is a syndicated loan or a Eurobond issue. For the time being, the country is in talks with the World Bank to secure a partial guarantee.The money Niger will mobilize will be used to restructure its public debt for longer maturity terms...

Access to concessional resources and insurance cover for pioneering investments, offer fragile nations the best tools to jump-start their economies, the African Development Bank said. “It is important that the state provides risk-mitigating insurance for companies to promote investments in these frontier markets,” Vice President, Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery...

Prioritizing the digital space will help shift the development focus for Africa’s agribusiness sector and overcome its many hurdles, participants at an official side event, organized Wednesday during the 7th Tokyo International Conference, heard.  The seminar headlined “The Digital Africa 2020 and Japanese investment Panel: Creating markets to digitize Africa”, was jointly organized...

Science, technology and innovation as well as human resource development are critical in Africa, a continent, which has the biggest potential on earth, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at the Science and Technology in Society (STS) forum held in Yokohama, on Wednesday, as part of TICAD 7. The Science and Technology in Society forum (STS forum) is one of the largest and most influential nonprofit...

Angola needs about $300 million to complete, by 2025, its program of clearing landmines in areas mined during the civil war that ravaged the country between 1975 and 2002. This was announced yesterday August 27 by Adriano Gonçalves, the head of the office of Exchange and Cooperation of the National Inter-sectoral Commission on Demining and Humanitarian Assistance (CNIDAH). According to the...

The Sasakawa Association will work with the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA), to help double rice production to 50 million tonnes by 2030.  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made the announcement at the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) symposium held on Wednesday during TICAD7. “Japanese technology can play a key role in innovation which is key to agriculture,” Prime...

Kaizen, the business philosophy which means continuous improvement in Japanese, was at the heart of discussions at a seminar held on Tuesday, and co-organised by JICA and NEPAD on the sidelines of the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development, TICAD7. The seminar, under the theme: “Africa’s Socio-economic Transformation through innovation,” discussed the role of Kaizen, in...