The African Development Bank has welcomed the Islamic Development Bank’s agreement to contribute USD$3 million to the multi-partner Somalia Infrastructure Fund (SIF). The signing ceremony for the agreement took place on the sidelines of the 44th Islamic Development Bank (IsDB)’s Annual Meetings in Marrakech, Morocco. Dr. Mansur Muhtar, IsDB Vice President for Country Programmes, signed the...

Liquid Telecom announced on April 3, 2019, the finalisation of the acquisiton process for 8% of its equity by CDC Group.   The process was finalized after all the regulatory approvals had been received. Thanks to the $180 million raised via this transaction, Liquid Telecom will densify its fibre optics network and boost its cloud and hosting offers in Africa.  “Data...

Banque Internationale pour le Commerce et l’Industrie de la Côte d’Ivoire (BICICI) and its sister company in Burkina Faso will exchange their respective managing directors in the coming weeks.   Jean-Louis MENANN-KOUAME who has been leading the BICICI since December 2014 is appointed the new managing director of the sister company in Burkina Faso. In Burkina Faso, the current manager...

In 2019, world trade growth should be on a downward trend, the World Trade Organization (WTO) indicated in a press release published this week. According to the institution, the growth should be around 2.6% while in 2018, it was 3%. This is in part due to trade tensions around the world and to decreasing demands. According to the figures, North America recorded a 5% rise in imports in 2018...

Economic growth in East Africa is soaring ahead of other regions on the continent at close to 7 percent while the overall outlook for the rest of Africa is cautious, but positive. Job creation and ramping up manufacturing will continue to be major priority areas for creating growth and employment across the continent the African Development Bank regional reports noted. The Bank launched four of...

One hundred and sixty young women have begun a month-long coding class on two Nigerian campuses under a new programme to give African youth digital skills for the work force. The Coding for Employment programme, organised by the African Development Bank and Microsoft Philanthropies, prioritises young women who typically have been side-lined in the technology ecosystem. At a launch event...

There is a bit more information about the legal proceedings initiated by Tanzania against Hisham Hendi (photo), Vodacom’s managing director. Along with five other employees, the managing director is accused of depriving the government of more than Tsh11 billion ($4.8 million) by allowing other people to illegally use Vodacom’s telecom infrastructures. This constitutes economic...

In Angola, growth should average 3% in 2020 and 2021 thanks to a boost of activities in the non-oil sector, the country’s finance ministry announced this week. In the past three years, the country was in recession (-2.6% in 2016, -0.1% in 2017 and -1.1% in 2018) because of the fall in oil production. To address these poor performances, the government multiplied its investment diversification...

The American venture capital Endure Capital that operates in Africa via its representation office in Egypt has co-led an $800,000 funding round for Brimore, a local retailing group. The investment firm Flat6labs and venture capital 500 start-up took part in this operation. The E-commerce firm mainly distributes products offered by SMEs. It will use the funds to develop its marketing...

Overall economic growth in West Africa is projected to be at 3.6 percent in 2019 and 2020, boosted by the recovery of commodity prices and improved production and service sectors in the region, although challenges and uneven performance would remain, the African Development Bank’s regional economic indicator report revealed. The Bank launched the 2019 Regional Economic Outlook for West...