About half of the 1 billion world citizens without an official identity live in Africa, Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank’s CEO, indicated last week during a meeting organized in the framework of the United Nations general assembly. Indeed, according to figures published by World Bank, Sub-Saharan African citizens represent the great majority (494 million) of people without an official proof of...

Burundi announces that from October 1, 2018, it will stop the activities of most of the foreign NGOs operating within the national territory. This measure is aimed at forcing them to comply with the regulations. Gen. Sisas Ntiguriwa (photo), general secretary of the national security council explains to that effect that after a close review of the NGOs operating in the country the council...

In Sudan, the central bank is planning to issue new 100 pound notes, Reuters indicated on Sunday, relaying local media. These notes are aimed at increasing the country’s money mass and to attenuate the liquidity shortage affecting the economy for months now; these shortages have led to a considerable drop in the daily withdrawals in that country. It should also help reduce the...

Last September 27, Rwanda’s parliament passed a law punishing the caricaturing of “cabinet or parliament members, an official or any other person with an authoritative position in a public institution”. Henceforth, any “humiliation” of a public authority subjects the author to a 2-year imprisonment and more than $1,000 fine. The law sparked a strong reaction in the country,...

African women have the highest company creation rate in the world, a report published on September 27 by the strategy consulting firm Roland Berger reveals.   Indeed, according to the report titled Women Entrepreneurship in Africa: a path to empowerment, 24 % of African women create their companies, a rate higher than that recorded in Latin America and the Carribean (17%), in North...

Congo’s public mining company Sokimo warned Randgold Resources that it would "assert its rights" if the latter transfers its shares in Kibali gold mine in the framework of the merger announced this week. Indeed, Barrick concluded a merger agreement with Randgold to create the largest gold production company in the world. “Sokimo […] will assert its rights in that umpteenth operation which...

Morocco will have to raise $50 billion by 2030 if it wishes to reduce its greenhouse gas by 42%, Nezha El Ouafi (photo), the secretary of state said last week. According to the official’s statements relayed by L’Observateur du Maroc et de l’Afrique, about half of those funds ($24 billion) should be provided by international investors.   These funds will help implement more than...

Via its subsidiary Fipar Holding, Caisse marocaine des Dépôts et de Consignation (CDG) acquired 22.6% stake in the Moroccan group Les Domaines Zniber.   The acquisition was completed thanks to a MAD400 million ($42.5 million) capital increase. Its immediate effect will be to increase the equity of les Domaines de Zniber, which owns a dozen companies specialized in fruit growing. It will,...

In a recent study on the development of inclusive assurance in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Microsave, the consulting firm with 20 years of experience in financial inclusion around the world, suggests that the assurance sector will grow rapidly if the country capitalizes on other countries’ experience. “The experience in other African countries suggests that within 10 years, millions of...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) granted a new tranche of $500 million to Egypt for its development projects, a statement by the country’s ministry indicated earlier today. According to the document relayed by Reuters, the new funds should help implement development projects with a focus on the social aspect.   It should then “support development programmes that meet the...