The carmaker Nissan received the approval of Algerian investment council for the construction of an assembly plant at Relizane (300 km West of Algiers), Motors Magazine reported on December 16, quoting one of the Japanese group’s local partners. "We have received the government’s approval to launch the assembly of Nissan cars. Nissan will thus be the only Japanese brand to be authorized, for...

In Nigeria, the unemployment rate rose to 23.1% in the third quarter of 2018, against 18.1% a year earlier, representing a 5% rise within a year, according to figures published on December 19, 2018, by the national bureau of statistics. "As of Q3 2018, the calculated unemployment rate was 23.1 percent, the underemployment rate was 20.1 percent, and the combined unemployment and...

Sudan expects the economy to grow by 5.1% in 2019 against 4% in 2018, according to the government's draft bill adopted on December 19, 2018. The draft bill also expects the budget deficit to drop from 3.7% in 2018 to 3.3% in 2019. Exports should rise by 30% in 2019 while the government’s revenues will increase by 39% to SDG162.3 billion ($3.43 billion) according to the forecasts. "The 2019...

On December 18, 2018, the Kenyan communications authority revealed that the mobile money segment recorded 730.2 million operations in the third quarter of 2018, amounting to Ksh2 trillion ($19.6 billion). This represents a 19.45% rise on a year on year basis. Indeed, in Q3, 2017, the mobile money segment recorded 611.3 million transactions for about $18.6 million in value. According to the...

During the Vienna summit, the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced, on December 18, 2018, the provision of €15.4 million to improve communications in East Africa. The fund will be used to extend the network and connect regions that do not actually have access to broadband internet. According to the EIB, the investment made is justified by the rapid growth of data traffic in...

Within the last seven days, the market capitalization of Diamond Bank on the Nigerian stock exchange gained the equivalent of 20%, representing about NGN4.4 billion ($12.11 million). This performance is due to the announcement of a principle agreement that could lead to a merger with Access Bank, another large bank in Nigeria.   Access Bank is indeed offering to pay NGN3.13 for each of...

In a release published on December 13, 2018, the central bank of Mozambique announced that it has allowed the South African credit bureau Compuscan to operate in the country to try to reduce credit risks.   Compuscan Mozambique is also to gather data on banks and financial institutions clients’ loans and their credit profiles. This “will allow creditors to evaluate and improve risk...

African Development Fund Board approves US$149 million credit risk participations by the Private Sector Credit Enhancement Facility in seven private sector operations targeting low-income countries. The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional window of the African Development Bank Group, approved on 14 December 2018, credit risk participations by the Private...

The curtain has fallen on COP24, this year’s global climate summit held in Katowice, Poland. However, negotiations continued throughout the weekend to reach agreement on specific parts of the 'rulebook' to be applied  from 2020 by the 197 signatories of the Paris Agreement, to limit global warming to 2°C-1.5°C relative to pre-industrial levels. Intense negotiations,  modest...

The American restaurant chain Pizza Hut announced on December 16, 2018, the launch of three restaurants in Lagos, Nigeria, in partnership with local group Marathon Restaurants Africa. "We are thrilled to bring Pizza Hut to Nigeria as we continue our African expansion. This is our 14th country launch in sub-Saharan Africa in the past four years", said Ewan Davenport, general manager of Pizza Hut...