The launch into orbit of the very first Ethiopian satellite, initially scheduled for next month, will be postponed to December. The country’ Space Science and Technology Institute (ESSTI), said the measure is to match with current weather conditions and the need to complete a parfait launch. In an interview with Africanews, ESSTI’s MD, Solomon Belay Tessema (pictured), said the plan is going...

The government of Sudan announced this week it is seeking $8 billion to fuel its economy. According to PM Abdalla Hamdok, the resources will be used to pay the import bill over the next two years. He said his country will need to raise about $2 billion in foreign currency to slow the depreciation of the local currency and stabilize it. This announcement comes at a time when the former...

The Ivorian government set itself a goal of planting as many trees as possible on its territory to achieve a 20% vegetation cover by 2040. With the current 11%, Côte d'Ivoire is one of the world’s forest-poor countries. In the 1960s, this West African nation had 16 million ha of forests but now it only has about 2.5 million ha. The destruction of the vegetation cover was sped up by...

The Central Bank of Tanzania set a deadline of three months for commercial banks and finance institutions operating in the country to set up local data centers. The Bank said the institutions that will not comply with the measure will face a hefty fine of TSh5 billion ($2.18 million). “The bank of Tanzania has noted with serious concern that most of the banks and financial institutions have...

The Nigerian mobile operator Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services Limited (EMTS), known as 9Mobile, secured an 82.8 billion naira ($230 million) loan from Lagos-based Africa Finance Corporation (AFC). Funds will be provided in two instalments. The first will be used to pay back the company’s lenders and the second will support its expansion strategy. 9Mobile was mainly controlled by...

French President Emmanuel Macron and G7 leaders on Sunday approved a package totalling $251 million in support of the African Development Bank’s AFAWA initiative to support women entrepreneurs in Africa. “I am particularly proud, as the current G7 president, that the programme we are supporting today, the AFAWA initiative, comes from an African organisation, the African Development...

Mauritius' incumbent telecom operator, Mauritius Telecom, has launched its mobile payment service covering the national territory. The service, called my.t money, was officially inaugurated on 24 August 2019 by Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth. The company says it wants to improve financial inclusion in the country. The solution was launched with the technical assistance from PCCW Global, the...

Mali’s development bank (BDM SA) signed last week a financing agreement worth €30 million (FOF19.7 billion) with the African Development Bank. This facility, which was approved since October 2018, will be used by the Malian Bank, awarded best bank in West Africa in 2018 at the African Banker Awards, to provide long term loans to its customers. The funds will enable the Bank to continue...

The government of Senegal, with support from Spanish company LITEYCA, announced it has launched the Structural Support Project for the Digital Land Use Strategy (PASSANT). Information was revealed by the State Information Technology Agency (ADIE) This project aims to expand the optical fiber network to municipalities and connect administrative facilities in all regional and municipal capitals of...

The president of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, will head a delegation to the G7 summit, to be held from 24 to 26 August in Biarritz, in south-western France. After attending a session on Sunday devoted to the partnership between the G7 and Africa, Adesina will present the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative to the press, alongside French President...