Turkish financial group Candy Group International is giving the Ivorian government XOF40 billion (about $68 million) to implement an Entrepreneurship Promotion Project. Named TPE/PS-GOUV and conducted by the Ivorian Institute of Enterprise (INIE), this project aims to create 35,100 very small businesses (VSEs) in 234 communities (municipalities, regions and autonomous districts), with an...

Tunisia’s treasury is targeting $500 million through a Eurobond operation, Lotfi Ben Sassi, adviser to the Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, announced.“The banking groups Natixis and Citigroup are entrusted with the arrangement of the $500 million Eurobond operation,” the official said.Monies to be raised will fund the budget deficit, which is estimated at 3.9% of GDP this year...

In the second quarter this year, Morocco’s economic growth slowed to 2.6% compared with 2.8% the first quarter. Figures were provided July 3 by the country’s economic planning agency, the Haut-commissariat au plan HCP.The economic slowdown, HCP says, is the result of poor performances in agriculture ; a sector that contributes about 15% to the gross domestic product. Grain production dropped...

The World Food Program (WFP) announced this week it is tripling aid for displaced people in Ituri, DR Congo. According to spokesperson Hervé Verhoosel, the plan is a response to the malnutrition crisis in the country. With more than 13 million people (including 5 million children) being food insecure, the crisis in DR Congo is the worst, after that in Yemen. WFP says this situation is due to...

State-controlled Banque National Agricole BNA completed its capital increase from TND176 million to TND320 million (about $105 million), a statement issued July 3 by subsidiary BNA Capitaux indicated. The operation was done through cash injection and capitalization of reserves. TND140.8 million was raised through the issue of 28,160,000 shares at TND12 each, split into TND5 in par value and...

South Africa’s data center provider Teraco announced it is conducting a project to strengthen business and expand infrastructure in the country. The 2-phase project is valued at R1 billion ($71.4 million). First phase is already underway and will be completed by Q3 this year. The company said monies to finance the project come from its shareholders and banking groups such as Absa Bank; but the...

The World Bank announces a new disbursement of $100 million to accelerate digital transformation in rural areas in the Republic of Benin. The project is designed to make broadband internet and digital solutions more accessible in the focus areas. The institution said this will improve the efficiency of selected value-chains, ease financial inclusion and access to markets. The digital rural...

One of the recommendations of the 55th ordinary session of the ECOWAS’ Heads of State and Government, held on Saturday 29 June in Abuja, Nigeria, is to accelerate the operationalization of the regional visa, the ECOVISA. The Heads of State say the implementation of this visa will boost tourism in the region. During the workshop, participants decided to “take measures to accelerate the use of...

The Angolan telecoms minister, José Carvalho Da Rocha, and the Finnish communications minister, Sanna Marin, have agreed to collaborate in broadband and information and communications technologies. The document was signed last week during a working visit to Helsinki by an Angolan delegation led by the minister. According to José Carvalho Da Rocha, “the challenge of the new Angola is to...

HBG Holding, managed by the Hédi Bouchamaoui family, which operates in agriculture, real estate, distribution and catering, has acquired a stake in the capital of the fruit and vegetable exporting company La Cinquième Saison. The latter is a subsidiary of the Spanish group SanLucar, which specializes in the production and distribution of fruit and vegetables. The amount invested and the shares...