The Burkinabe government is launching a big program worth about $309 million to rehabilitate roads across the country. The information was reported Wednesday June 19 by spokesman Rémis Dandjinou (photo).According to him, the program targets 14 projects in various towns including Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso. Nearly $45 million will be used, in the first city, to develop the...

Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), an international organization that advocates for greater accessibility of the Internet worldwide, will conduct a study on improving electronic communications and postal services in Benin. The decision was taken by the government following a Council of Ministers held June 19, 2019. “This study aims to improve accessibility to networks and services, in...

Nigeria is getting $225 million under a USAID program to improve access to basic care for populations. The information was reported by Stephen Haykin (photo) who led the US Agency for International Development -USAID- mission in the country. This disbursement, Mr. Haykin says, is part of the 5-year Integrated Health Program (IHP) that “will bring quality basic healthcare closer to the...

Luc Missidimbazi, telecoms and digital services adviser to the Congolese Prime Minister Clément Mouamba, has been leading a digital prospecting mission in France since 18 June 2019. The mission is to consolidate the Congo-France Digital Club, a club for business convergence and opportunities between Congolese and French digital companies, created on 15 April in Brazzaville, on the sidelines of...

The Investment and Support Fund for Businesses in Africa (FISEA), owned by the French Development Agency (AFD), approved a €1.8 million ($2 million disbursement in favor of AB Bank Zambia. With this amount, the Zambian bank intends to increase support to small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) which make 97% of the country’s corporate world and provide 70% of national GDP. AB Bank...

Egyptian sports betting platform Eksab has mobilized funding from the US venture fund 500 Startups to expand its business. The company intends to leverage the 2019 African Cup of Nations in Egypt, which starts June 21, to strengthen its position in the sports betting and entertainment games segment. Eksab says it has recorded more than 5 million of bets in a 2-year period. According to Sharif...

Gilbert Togbonon (photo), the Special Prosecutor of the Court of Anti-Economic Offences and Terrorism (CRIET) in Benin, called on mobile operators MTN and Moov last June 17 to end sale of pre-registered SIM cards. The sale of those cards, pre-registered with another person’s name, is not in accordance with the country’s regulatory principles, website cio-mag.com reports. Any offender to the...

The government of Mozambique expects ports to handle more than 50 million tons of goods by the end of 2019, above what was initially envisaged. According to the transport minister, Carlos Mesquita, who reported the information, the higher volume outlook is linked to programs thought by the State to upgrade port transport facilities and equipment. These include the acquisition of buses and...

The French Development Agency (AFD) will grant, through its ARIZ financing mechanism, a guarantee of R28 million ($1.8 million) to partially cover the operations carried out by the South African investment fund ASISA Enterprise and Supplier Development (ASISA ESD). ASISA ESD aims to conduct equity investments in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a high social and environmental...

Finance ministers and Central Bank Governors of the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) countries gathered in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, on June 17 to discuss ways to accelerate the creation of the single currency set to come out by 2020. Speaking during the meeting, the Ivorian minister of finance, Adama Koné (photo), admitted that many challenges remained to be met until the...