Côte d’Ivoire’s IT and telecommunications regulatory agency (ARTCI) and the National Agency of the Universal Service of Telecommunications / ICT (ANSUT) signed a MoU with TRA, the United Arab Emirates’ telecommunications regulator on November 2, 2018. This was on the third day of the conference of plenipotentiaries of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) which would be held...

The African Development Bank announces a new initiative to promote innovation and citywide inclusive sanitation services for sub-Saharan Africa’s urban inhabitants. The Bank’s Africa Urban Sanitation Investment Fund Program, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is funding the initiative designed to focus on the poor. The Gates Foundation, in partnership with the Government...

"More than 53% of the population said they are not satisfied with their housing and living conditions" meaning that "less than 40% of the Ivorian population live in a decent environment", said  Bruno Koné, Côte d'Ivoire's minister of construction, housing, and Urbanism. The official made this statement on November 2, 2018, in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, during a strategic...

Today November 6, 2018, at the end of a meeting of the EU finance ministers, Namibia was unlisted from the European Union's blacklist of tax havens. The Economic and Financial Council (ECOFIN) approved the withdrawal following the country’s promises to reform its laws and practices. Only five countries remain on the list now; Samoa, American Samoa, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, and Trinidad &...

Ceberus Capital Management, a private equity fund based in the United States announces that it inked its agreement for the purchase of SGI Frontier Capital, a Singapore-based firm whose main activity is to grant alternative fundings to economies in Asia and Africa. This transaction whose amount has not been revealed will allow Ceberus to definitively position itself in frontier markets thanks to...

Solomon Belay Tessema, managing director of the Ethiopian space science and technology institute, revealed that the country would launch its first satellite into space in 2019.  This will be an earth observation satellite launched in China while the command center will be in Ethiopia. The satellite is currently being constructed by Chinese engineers assisted by 20 Ethiopian...

The United States has announced new fundings to support operations of the G5 Sahel force in West Africa. This was revealed, last Friday, by Samantha Reho, spokesperson for the US-Africa command in an interview granted to Bloomberg. According to information relayed by the American media, the US will almost double the volume of its financial support to this West African force. From the $60...

The African Development Bank has approved a sovereign loan of US$229.5 million to the Republic of Uganda to finance phase one of the Kampala-Jinja Expressway project. The financing will reinforce Uganda’s position as a regional transit hub, supporting its ambition to propel its economy into middle-income status by 2020. Approved by the Board of the African Development Bank on Wednesday, 31...

The Africa Investment Forum kicked off on Monday with a media briefing in the South African capital. The game changing event, aimed at attracting multi-billion-dollar deals across the continent, is set to usher in a new era for Africa’s investment landscape.  Regional and global investors and institutional investors, private sector leaders, prominent government officials, and...

At the sidelines of the World Investment Forum he attended in Geneva, Switzerland, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development of Zimbabwe shared with us some of the secrets of his country's performance and economic prospects. Ecofin Agency : According to the latest forecast on Zimbabwe's economy, growth could reach 4.5% this year 2018 and 5% in 2019. What could be the main drivers of...