Egyptian Exchange, the main Egyptian financial market based in Cairo, recorded a loss estimated at EGP 75.2 billion ($4.12 billion) in 2018. On December 31, 2018, its market capitalization was EGP749.7 billion while a year earlier, it was EGP824.9 billion. This negative performance was also observed for the three main indexes of the exchange. The EGX 30, the index of the thirty most important...

In Q3, 2018, Kenya’s economy recorded a 6% growth against 4.7% during the same period in 2017, according to figures published by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) on December 31, 2018. Indeed, between July 1 2018, and September 30, 2018, the agriculture sector grew by 5.2% against 3.1% a year earlier, thanks to favorable climate conditions. The manufacturing sector grew by...

In an evaluation grid produced by an independent investor based in Côte d’Ivoire, it appears that NSIA Bank could soon become the second largest bank in the country behind the local subsidiary of Société Générale. NSIA Bank, which is managed by Jean Kacou Diagou and was recently listed on the BRVM, is already the largest commercial bank in terms of network with 82 agencies (according to a...

On December 26, 2018, Ahmed Zidane, the deputy spokesperson of Egypt’s communication and IT committee, revealed that by 2020, the government would replace 95% of its copper telecom network, which is now 60% replaced, with fibre optics cable. By modernising its internet network, Egypt wants to improve its broadband internet penetration rate that was 43.3% in 2015. In 2019, the government plans...

The African Development Bank Civil Society and Social Innovation Division organized a one- day “Civil Society Awareness Brown Bag Lunch” on 19 December 2018 at the Bank’s headquarters. The Bank, under the leadership of President Akinwumi Adesina, has gradually placed African citizens at the centre of its intervention strategy, making civil society a key partner to achieve greater results...

In a release published December 24, 2018, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) announced that it provided $15 million to Securiport Sénégal SUARL, subsidiary of Securiport group, the world leader in the design and realisation of biometric identification technology, in Senegal. This fund is to help the group elaborate a system for the security of the civil aviation and for...

The economic interest group ACE GIE is being targeted by an order of Benin’s electronic communication regulatory agency (Arcep) because of illegal operation of the submarine optical fibre Africa Coast to Europe (ACE). The telecom regulator allowed the group, which consists of Beninese internet access providers and telecom operators, up to December 27, 2018, to stop exploiting the...

Algeria’s foreign reserves fell from $97.33 billion on December 31, 2017, to $82.12 billion at the end of November 2018, Mohamed Loukal (photo), governor of the country’s central bank announced on December 23, 2018. Speaking to the national assembly, the governor explained that at the end of June 2018, the reserve was $88.61 billion and at the end of September 2018, it...

Air Tanzania received, on December 21, 2018, its first Airbus A220-300, which should be used in its local and regional network. The Tanzanian public company is thus the first African airline company and the fifth in the world to receive an Airbus A220-300, after Swiss, Air Baltic, Korean Air and Delta Airlines. In January 2019, Air Tanzania will receive another Airbus A220-300, specially...

Swiggy, the largest food products distribution platform in India, raised $1 billion during a funding round led by the South African multimedia group Naspers Ventures. Six other investors participated in this funding round along Naspers Ventures.   The Russian billionaire Louri Milner also took part in the operation via his venture capital fund DST Global. There was also the Chinese...