Author: Editor

Nana Akufo-Addo is the king of rhetoric. In December 2017, the African youth outside Ghana discovers in a virulent speech in response, apparently, to the French President, Emmanuel Macron: “We can not continue to make policies for us, in our countries, in our regions, on our continent on the basis of support that the Western world, France or the EU would like to give us. It will not work, it did not work yesterday and it will not work tomorrow, “the Ghanaian launches in Accra. This particularly virulent tone against France earned him a reputation as “standing president” among African…

Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Executive Secretary, Vera Songwe, on Friday met and discussed with a European Union delegation the role of non-state actors in ensuring the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The EU delegation was led by the President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EU-EESC), Luca Jahier. Trade, investment, economic growth and migration were at the core of the discussions that came a day after the AfCFTA came into force. The Executive Secretary highlighted the role of the AfCFTA as an exciting and promising stimulant for economic growth in Africa, infrastructure investments as…

The admonitions of the IMF would they be right of the Guinean authorities? As a reminder, during his last mission in Conakry, experts from the Bretton Woods institution were surprised by the absence of the $ 90 million paid to the State for the award of the 4G license to Orange. Faced with the steamroller of the media, political parties and civil society, the Minister of Finance, Mamady Camara, sent to the coal, explained: “‘With regard to the 90 million of 4G, the Guinean Government to through the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy and ORANGE-GUINEA signed a…

TDB’s lowest-cost-ever global Eurobond is 3.3X oversubscribed TDB’s senior unsecured 5-year USD 500mn Eurobond issued this past May 16th, makes history as TDB’s lowest-cost-ever global Eurobond. With a reoffer yield of 5.000% and a 4.875% coupon, the bond was oversubscribed 3.3 times, and closed with an order book of USD 1.65bn. With a 50bp tightening throughout the book building process on a yield basis, TDB achieved a rare negative new issue premium, a remarkable achievement given the current rising interest rate environment. Citi, Commerzbank, Emirates NBD Capital, MUFG, SMBC Nikko, and Standard Chartered Bank were the Joint Lead Managers on…

The Aga Khan Academy Mombasa today celebrated its 13th graduation ceremony for 85 exceptional students who join a growing legacy of global young leaders, driven by the academy’s unique curriculum and approach to education. The graduation marks a proud milestone of 1,000 such leaders across both the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa and its sister school, the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad, India. One key mission Aga Khan Academy Mombasa is to create ethical leaders working towards a shared goal of sustainable development to improve the lives of those living not only in Kenya, but also across the globe. The Academy places…

This May 25th, The Africa Day . The Continent is celebrating a new era of growth and economic development. The Energy Sector is definitely a key success factor.   By Mamadou Goumble* In 2019, Africa is well positioned to leapfrog the developed nations by adopting and embracing new and innovative green energy solutions. In recent years, green energy has become more affordable and cheaper than conventional energy sources. The price levels achieved in various renewable energy programs, such as the Scaling Solar program, is strong evidence of this. In the future, renewable energy will become the dominant source of energy leaving conventional…

Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) has today assigned a first-time Baa2 foreign currency long-term issuer rating to the African Local Currency Bond Fund (ALCB Fund). The outlook is stable. The ALCB Fund is focused on developing domestic capital markets in Africa by investing in private sector bonds issued domestically in local currency. It was created by Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW, Aaa stable) in 2013, which acts on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, with the development mandate of pursuing financial inclusion and capital market deepening. KfW is the main shareholder, owning 87% of the Fund’s shares,…

Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) has today assigned B1/Not Prime local currency long-term and short-term deposit ratings and B3/Not Prime foreign currency long-term and short-term deposit ratings to Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited (Stanbic Uganda). Stanbic Uganda’s B3 foreign currency deposit rating is constrained by Uganda’s foreign currency deposit rating ceiling of B3. Moody’s also assigned a counterparty risk assessment of Ba3(cr)/Not Prime(cr) and a counterparty risk rating of Ba3/Not Prime. The outlook assigned to the deposit ratings is stable. The Local Currency Deposit rating of B1 assigned to Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited (Stanbic Uganda) is a notch above Uganda’s sovereign issuer…

President Andry Rajoelina of Madagascar has urged the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to partner with the government in its effort to make the country the “window into a modern Africa”. Speaking yesterday in Antananarivo when he received an Afreximbank delegation led by Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of the Bank, President Rajoelina said that the government had put in place an “Initiative for Emerging Madagascar” which articulates its plans to turn the country into a modern industrial nation. That document had been endorsed by key internal and external stakeholders as necessary for the country’s development, he stated. It captured the government’s vision to become…

Wari and Mara Phones announce the signing of a strategic partnership to enable delivery of financial and commercial services to Wari clients more effectively through the Mara Phone. The two African companies aim to collaborate together and develop in the 54 countries of the continent. They both look to preload Wari’s offerings, bundling their services with the Mara Phone to all Wari clients through all of Wari’s locations and distribution channels. This pan-African collaboration between two major national actors will be highly impactful given that Wari and Mara Phones are committed to doing good and doing well for years now.…

Africa50, the pan-African infrastructure investment platform, launched the first edition of its Innovation Challenge at the 2019 Transform Africa Summit holding in Kigali from 14 to 17 May. Through this initiative, Africa50 will crowdsource innovative solutions to help increase access to high-speed internet in under-served areas in Africa. The call is open for ICT developers, innovators, engineers, entrepreneurs to submit workable solutions, via an online platform, to be assessed by the Africa50 investment team and its partners. The winning solutions will receive cash prizes and/or will be considered for project development funding. Projects will be rolled-out in Rwanda as the…

The KCB Group, a banking leader in Kenya, plans to acquire a bank in Rwanda and another in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said its managing director. The GM, Joshua Oigara, who spoke with the press last Friday, did not reveal the identity of the two banks in question. KCB is also planning to open a representative office in China to take advantage of the growing trade links between East Africa and China, he said. Kenyan banks have announced several deals since the government capped commercial lending rates in 2016, reducing their profit margins and forcing them to look…

Good news for Tunisia. Dutch oil and gas exploration and production group Mazarine Energy and ETAP announce the discovery of an oil well in Sidi Marzoug. The site would have a capacity of 2000 barrels per day. According to the release, during the production test, the SMG-1 well revealed reserves, at a rate of 2000 barrels of oil per day and 5 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The well was drilled by the CTF (Tunisian Drilling Company) to a total depth of 3880 m, the statement said. According to the same source, the assessment of the discovery…

The Togolese deputies voted Wednesday, May 8, a constitutional revision providing for the limitation of the number of presidential terms. The law allows the current president, Faure Gnassingbé, to run for the next two elections, in 2020 and 2025. The new law also establishes a first-past-the-post system in two rounds (against one today) for the election of the president. of the Republic. The constitutional reform was approved in a secret ballot by the 90 deputies present (out of 91), two thirds of whom belong to the ruling party, the main opposition coalition boycotting the December elections. In Togo, a draft…

The banking sector of Côte d’Ivoire finances the economy well. According to Guy Koizan, president of the Professional Association of Banks and Financial Institutions of Côte d’Ivoire (Apbef-ci), the sector has achieved a continuous growth of credit to the economy at 7056 billion Fcfa, or an average annual increase of 18%, in 2018. These loans went to households, to businesses, ie to economic agents in general. Regarding banking, according to figures provided by the President of the Apbef-ci, during the traditional ceremony of “official return 2019” of the association, the sector recorded a rate of banking of 19.07%, or an…

Sindika Dokolo is since May 7, 2019 back in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Married to Isabel Dos Santos, this Congolese, heir to a wealthy family, who made his fortune in the mines, lived in exile for more than five years. The son-in-law of former Angolan President Jose Edouardo Dos Santos was on a crusade against President Joseph Kabila’s stay in power. Leader of the citizen movement “Congolese standing”, Sindika Dokolo was to be received by President Felix Tshisekedi. The businessman was sentenced in July 2017 with his brother Luzolo Dokolo to one year of penal servitude and 15,000 US…

According to the World Bank, there is a small revolution in African gold production in 2018. Thus, Ghana has dethroned South Africa, falling to the third continental place behind Sudan (2nd). The former Gold Coast released 158 tonnes of its mines in 2018, up 15%. South African gold production has been on a downward trend for several years (142 tons in 2016 compared to 119 tons in 2018). South African gold production declined in March for the eighteenth consecutive month, prolonging a longer series of contractions since the financial crisis. These figures come as AngloGold Ashanti began selling its latest…

The European Commission has just announced the names of the fteen inspiring young people from around the world who will enrich the debates at the 2019 European Development Days (EDD). These Young Leaders, aged between 21 and 26, have been chosen from among 404 applicants from 99 countries for their exceptional skills, expertise and active contributions to nd solutions to development issues. They will share their vison on how to address inequalities to build a world which leaves no one behind, the main topic of this year’s edition of the EDD. The Young Leaders Programme aims to ensure that young…

The EurAfrican Forum is a networking and discussion platform underpinned on the power of Diasporas for connecting people, cities, regions and continents The EurAfrican Forum (www.EurAfricanForum.org) organization announced today the presence of the President of Mozambique, His Excellency Filipe Nyusi, for an institutional speech on the first day of the event, July 4, 2019, on the same day that António Vitorino, Director General for the International Organization for Migrations – UN Migration Agency (IOM) will address about the migration dialogue between Europe and Africa. After the 2018 edition where the launch theme was «Crafting Coalitions for Change», this year the…

The second Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2020) scheduled to take place in Kigali from 1 to 7 September 2020 will target the execution of Intra-African trade deals worth more than $40 billion, Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), announced today. Prof. Oramah was speaking in Kigali at the signing of the hosting agreement for IATF2020 by the Government of Rwanda, Afreximbank and the African Union. Soraya Hakuziyaremye, Minister of Trade and Industry of Rwanda, signed for the Government while Prof. Oramah signed for Afreximbank and Amb. Albert Muchanga, Commissioner for Trade and Industry of the African Union, signed…

“Although insurance will never cover all the risks associated with a peril in each country, the ARC approach allows for the risks to be managed in a way that multiplies the benefits from limited resources available to Government.” – Mohamed Beavogui The African Risk Capacity (ARC) Agency and the Government of Mozambique have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide mid to long-term solutions against the recurrent episodes of drought, floods, and tropical cyclones in the country. The MoU serves as “a framework to facilitate cooperation and collaboration between the ARC Agency and the Government, and to define the…

This international primary school will be the primary section of Enko La Gaieté Campus The African international schools network Enko Education announced today the launch of a new primary school in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Following parents’ demand, this will be the primary section of the famous international school Enko La Gaieté Campus, the first school of the Enko Education network. Since its inception in 2014, Enko La Gaieté Campus has sent its graduates to prestigious universities such as Yale College in the USA, African Leadership University in Rwanda and Ecole Polytechnique in France. The school wanted to offer more to parents…

The Rockefeller Foundation and the Dalberg Group are proud to announce a landmark convening focused on advancing initiatives that recognize the role of data science in addressing systemic challenges linked to unemployment and the future of work in Africa. Africa is home to the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population with projections of more than 375 million young people in the job market by 2030. Within a few decades, this demographic dividend will increase the size of Africa’s workforce to more than a billion people, making it the largest in the world. However, the gap between the number of work seekers…

Dear friends The executive has been working on creating a business environment more favorable to domestic and foreign private investment in all branches of our economy. We understand the need to diversify our economy, but remain cognizant of the fact that oil is the engine of our economic activity. In recent times we have changed our policy of managing energy resources such as oil and gas to better serve the interests of the country and investors. This new era in oil and gas is the result of Angola having adopted a totally transparent management of the tenders. Creating a national…

The Director of Public Prosecutions announced today that the charges leveled against OCP Kenya and its officers on June 22, 2018 have been lifted, in the context of a procedure designed to erase the unfounded allegations directed against them. At the same time, he ordered the immediate and unconditional release of the fertilizer cargo that had been the subject of the 2018 charges. The OCP Group welcomes this decision of the Kenyan judiciary, who have acknowledged, after a rigorous examination of the evidence and arguments presented by OCP – including test results from international laboratories – the full and complete…

Many rumors are circulating about the latest mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Gabon, which stayed in the country from April 24 to 30 under the leadership of Beninese Boileau Yeyinou Loko, previously stationed in Senegal. The liquidation order of the Compagnie Nationale des Hydrocarbures, the Gabon Oil Company (GOC) and the Gabonese Refining Company (SOGARA), as reported by the press, is unfounded. However, the Fund wants concrete restrictions from the public service. The communiqué of the Ministry of Petroleum, Gas and Hydrocarbons underlines that “there was no question for the Fund to give any injunction to the…

The third tax meeting closed Saturday in Skhirat (25 km southwest of Rabat) resulted in 20 major recommendations (see list below). These meetings led by the Ministry of Finance have highlighted some of the major tax imbalances roayaume. Thus, as recalled by the Minister of Finance, Mohamed Benchâaboun, 50% of the revenues of the three taxes combined (IR, IS and VAT) come from only 140 companies. Only 1% of companies pay 80% of corporate tax revenues (IS). According to the minister, 84 companies pay 50% of the IS. These same companies represent only 28% of the total turnover and 40%…

Victor NDIAYE, president and founder of Performances Group, has been involved for more than 20 years in reflections and strategies on the emergence and development of African states. In this interview, he returns to the necessary partnership between the state and the private sector. What is the correct definition of emergence with Asian and African models in mind? The definition of emergence is the same everywhere: it is possible to optimize the factors that a country has to lift its populations out of poverty and significantly and sustainably improve their standard of living. Indeed, at certain moments in history, we…

Guinea hosted the sixth edition of the Mines Guinea Symposium, April 24-25, 2019 in Conakry, under the theme “Mining and infrastructure synergy: an issue for an integrated and sustainable development of Guinea” under the leadership of the Guinean Ministry of Mines. The fifth edition held in May 2017 in its new formula brought together several multinational mining companies and their subsidiaries based in Guinea, it is under the same impulse of fervor and renewal in mining investment that the work of the sixth edition opened this Wednesday in Conakry. In total, 630 official delegates from some 40 countries joined Conakry…

Kasada Capital Management, a new investment platform dedicated to hospitality in sub-Saharan Africa, closed its first round of fundraising for Kasada Hospitality Fund LP with equity commitments of more than $ 500 million. This announcement follows the July 2018 press release by Katara Hospitality and Accor, which will contribute $ 350 million and $ 150 million, respectively. In a region with strong growth prospects, Kasada plans to build new hotels and renovate and acquire existing hotels (greenfield and brownfield). The hospitality sector in sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most promising in a region that benefits from strong growth economies…