Angola’s GDP contracted by 1.7% in 2018, according to figures published by the National Office for Statistics. During the period under review, most of the economic activities declined except water and energy (+22.3%), construction (+0.4%), posts and telecommunications (+1.8%) and financial (+11.7%). In the fourth quarter of 2018, Angola’s economy grew by 2.2% year-on-year, according to the...

Kenyan businessman Jimnah Mbaru (photo) has sold the 50 million shares he had in Britam Holdings, one of the largest insurers in Kenya, to Swiss Reinsurance Company (Swiss Re), Forbes revealed on April 20, 2019.   The financial details of this transaction have not been disclosed but the 50 million shares are worth at least $4.4 million based on the average price of Britam...

Orange is launching the “Orange Digital Centre” today in Tunis, a place built around a completely new concept and entirely dedicated to innovation. Attending the launch are Anouar Maarouf, Tunisian Minister of Communication Technologies and the Digital Economy, Abdelkoddous Saadaoui, Tunisian Secretary of State for Youth, Alioune Ndiaye, Chief Executive Officer of Orange Middle East and...

The African Development Bank will on Tuesday, 30 April 2019, host an investment forum on its Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) initiative in Abuja, Nigeria. SAPZs are designed to concentrate agro-processing activities within areas of high agricultural potential in order to increase productivity and competitiveness. The forum will update stakeholders on the progress of establishing...

The African Development Bank on Wednesday April 24, 2019 signed a US$50 million risk participation agreement (APR) with investment and corporate bank Natixis. The 50/50 risk-sharing agreement covers a portfolio of commercial transactions totaling US$100 million, which will support commercial operations worth US$600 million in Africa over the next three years. "This historic agreement allows us...

The SMB-Winning Consortium has entered into a high-level partnership with the 2019 edition of the Guinea Mines Symposium (SMG 2019), the main mining industry event in the country held annually for the past 6 years. Each year, the SMG takes on a new dimension and succeeds in attracting the best professionals and experts from the mining sector, from all over the world, to debate and exchange on the...

The civil engineering and telecom revenues of diversified group Servicom respectively recorded year on year decrease of 58% and 50% during Q1, 2019. The group’s civil engineering revenues decreased from TND8.2 million at end-March 2018 to TND3.5 million during the same period in 2019. In the telecom sector, its revenues were TND927,000 at end March 2018 while at end March 2019, they were...

In Cabo Verde, the central bank published a report revising its 2019 economic growth forecast upward to 5.2%. Previously, this forecast was 4.7%. The new estimate takes into account the expected positive impacts of fiscal reforms initiated recently. In the report, the bank explained that the country recorded a 5.5% growth in 2018 against 4% in 2017. According to the report, in the fourth quarter...

United Bank for Africa (UBA) started 2019 with NGN98.5 billion of interest income. This represents a good performance for the NSE listed bank. It is notably due to the better yield on its treasury bonds that generated additional revenue of NGN8 billion, diluting the NGN3 billion decrease on security revenues. In the same wake, the NGN4.4 billion rise of interest expenses was neutralised by the...

China will fund the project for extension and renovation of Sao Tomé &Principe international airport whose cost is evaluated at $31 million. This was announced by Gao Jinbao, economic and commercial counsellor at the Chinese embassy in São Tomé, on April 17, 2019.   The project includes the extension of the airport’s runway from 2,170 meters to 2,800 meters. In the framework of...