Commenting on the performances of his group during the first nine months of 2018, Ade Ayeyemi, CEO of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) declared: "the risk profile of our credit portfolio is improving, our cost structure is lessening and is becoming more profitable… We are still excited by the perspectives of our diversified pan-African banking model as well as by outlooks in our...

Since November 17, 2018, Mauritius has been connected to its tenth district, Rodrigues Islands, by the Mauritius Rodrigues Submarine Cable (MARS). Sherry Singh (photo), managing director of the incumbent operator Mauritius Telecom, the project manager, revealed that the 700 km infrastructure whose service life is 25 years was deployed in ten days by Cable Ship Maram. Huawei Marine and Pacific...

Benin instructed its digital economy and Finance ministers to negotiate the construction of the western loop of the national optical fiber network with Axian and Bouygues Energies & Services. The telecom infrastructure which falls within the framework of phase 2 of projet de développement des infrastructures de télécommunications et des TIC (PDI2T), an IT and telecoms development project,...

Angola, Ethiopia, and Kenya’s debts represent 47% of African debts owed to China, according to a report published on November 14, 2018, by the rating agency Moody’s. Titled "Sovereigns - Africa, China's lending supports growth, exacerbates fiscal and external pressures in Sub-Saharan Africa", the report explains that Angola owes 30% of the continent’s debt stock towards China. This means...

Remittances from the Egyptian diaspora reached $5.9 billion in the first quarter of the 2018-2019 fiscal year against $5.8 billion by the same period during the 2017-2018 fiscal year. This represents a 1.5% increase on a year to year basis according to figures published by Egypt's Central Bank. The same source reveals that in September 2018, these remittances reached $1.8 billion...

Following the French president (photo) Emmanuel Macron's announcement of the launch of a €65 million fund to finance African startups, Proparco indicated that a first tranche would be provided by 2019.   This tranche of €50 million ($57.1 million) will be invested in the tech ecosystem on the continent. Siby Diabira, director of Proparco’s regional bureau in Southern Africa...

Cloudleaf Inc partnered with the tech services provider Bahwan CyberTek (BCT) to extend its digital supply chain solutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). With its partner BCT which is already operating in the United States, Asia and the MENA, Cloudleaf Inc, will elaborate targeted solutions in the logistics chain, transport, and software for companies in North Africa. The two...

The Pan-African telecom firm Liquid Telecom, in a bid to develop connectivity in Africa, signed a servicing agreement with the American firm Kymeta Corporation, specialized in the provision of internet connectivity thanks to its network combining satellite and cell technologies. The partnership was signed during the AfricaCom 2018, held on November 12-15, 2018 in Cape Town, South...

A threat is looming over Zimbabwe's incumbent telecom operator TelOne’s voice and data services. Indeed, according to Chalton Hwende (photo), president of the parliamentary committee in charge of the IT sector, this threat is the result of an $18 million debt owed by the public company to many strategic partners such as Eximbank of China, West Indian Ocean Cable Company (Wiocc), TDM...

Côte d’Ivoire will benefit from a $33 million support program from World Bank, Xinhua indicated November 17, 2018, citing official sources. According to information reported by the Chinese media, the new program should fund a program aimed at preserving the country’s coasts (566 kilometers long) targetting Grand-Lahou, 145 km from Abidjan, mainly. It should improve the resilience of...