Japan is preparing the launch of a trade insurance solution covering the entirety of exports and loans for the infrastructure sector in Africa. According to the Nikkei Asian Review revealing the information on April 29,2019, by launching this credit insurance, Japan wants to catch up with China in the continent. This solution will be launched in the framework of a partnership between the Nippon...

Somalia will soon launch the construction of its first National Innovation Center (SO NICE), Abdi Ashur Hassan (photo), the minister of posts, Telecommunications and technology, indicates. The infrastructure will help create an innovative digital ecosystem in the country and boost the advent of the digital economy. The centre will be installed in the headquarters of former incumbent operators....

Mauritius Telecom (MT) will soon launch the mobile money service, Sherry Singh (photo), the incumbent operator’s CEO, announced on April 24, 2019. The announcement was made during the opening ceremony of the 39th edition of the conference of the Southern Africa Telecommunications Association (SATA), which he will preside for the 2019-2020 period.   According to the executive, the service...

The Agent Banking Company, that gathers banks and financial institutions on the same platform, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) signed a $1.9 million agreement to develop a network of banking agents in rural zones within 30 months and boost access to financial services. In Uganda, 41% of the adult population living in rural zones has no access to financial services, the IFC...

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is considering an investment of $20 million in the first investment fund launched by Okavango Capital, private equity based in Kenya, to make impact investments in SMEs in East and Southern Africa. The investment strategy of this private equity consists of supporting firms in the food safety, climate technology and nature tourism sectors. The target...

Kenyan exports to the USA in the framework of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) rose by 25.8% in 2018, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) announced in a recent report. In the report, the KNBS indicates that these exports, mainly made of textile products, grew from Ksh33.1 billion in 2017 to Ksh41.6 billion in 2018. The exports under the AGOA agreement represented 88% of...

Every year, Nigeria loses about $29.3 billion (close to 7% of its GDP) due to power outages and poor quality of energy distribution. This was announced this weekend by the electricity generation company GenCos, according to local media The Nation. Despite the current government’s efforts and important generation capacity, the Nigerian energy sector is hardly able to address its various...

HapsMobile, a subsidiary of Japanese holding SoftBank Corp, announced on April 24, 2019, the signature of a long-term partnership with Loon, Alphabet Inc’s unit that uses floating balloons to bring connectivity to remote areas around the world. Via this partnership, HapsMobile will invest 125 million in Loon, which should later invest the same amount in HapsMobile later. HapsMobile’s...

South African investment firm African Rainbow Capital (ARC) has acquired majority stake in Qed Actuaries & Consultants Ltd, a consulting firm present in 17 African countries.   The volume of this transaction has not been disclosed but, it was conducted via ARC Financial Services, the financial service branch of ARC. According to Craig Falconer, managing director of Qed, this acquisition...

In 2018, Kenya’s growth reached 6.23% thanks notably to the agriculture sector favored by good rainfall, the Office for National Statistics indicated on April 25, 2019. In 2019, the growth was slowed down to 4.9% due to drought and tensions created by a long electoral process. Zachary Mwangi, director of the national office for statistics, explained the agriculture sector (which represents...