Author: Editor

Careem will continue to operate under its own brand while remaining under the leadership of its founders Careem and Uber to further develop the mobility platform in Morocco and the region and support the growth of the digital economy Transaction is the largest ever in the technology industry in Africa and the Middle East Careem and Uber have reached an agreement under which Uber will acquire Careem for $ 3.1 billion. With this agreement, Uber will take over all of Careem’s services in Morocco, the Middle East and Pakistan. Following completion of the transaction, which is expected to be completed…

Executive Director, Sahara Group, Wale Ajibade, has said collaboration between financial institutions, development agencies, trading companies, National Oil Companies and other stakeholders in Africa would enhance the contribution of intra-Africa led solutions to addressing the sector’s trade and project finance challenges on the continent. This was Ajibade’s submission as he gave a key note address on Challenges of Financing and Investing in the African Oil Industry at the ongoing African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO) CAPE VII Congress and Exhibition in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. “Our collective mandate and deliverable should be to prioritize African solutions for African challenges. Our businesses should…

Fitch Ratings has assigned Togo-based bank holding company Ecobank Transnational Incorporated’s (ETI) upcoming five-year senior unsecured notes issue of up to USD500 million due in 2024 an expected long-term rating of ‘B (EXP)’ with a Recovery Rating of ‘RR4’. The final rating is contingent upon the receipt of final documents conforming to information already received. KEY RATING DRIVERS  The expect rating is in line with ETI’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of ‘B’, as the notes will constitute the holding company’s direct, general, unconditional, unsubordinated and unsecured obligations and rank equally among themselves and with all of ETI’s other senior…

ECA’s Executive Secretary Vera Songwe met on Sunday 24 March with the Egyptian Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform Hala Helmy El Said and Deputy Minister for Planning Ahmed Kamaly, on the sidelines of ECA’s 52ndSession and Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. Their discussions included possible cooperation opportunities on national accounts. They also focused on collaboration on employment issues, a topic the ECA Office in North Africa is currently specializing in. They agreed on the joint organization of a regional workshop on the mainstreaming of SDGs into national policies and strategies, to be held…

Afrobytes is partnering with Congo Business Network to organize the first-ever “Pitch My Country Congo” session to be held on May 15, 2019 in Paris at Station F, the world’s largest startup campus. The “Pitch My Country” sessions aim to literally “pitch” a country’s entrepreneurial potential to investors, large companies and major international media. During the 4th edition of Afrobytes, Congo Business Network will lead a delegation composed of the most promising tech start-ups from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The startups selected for the 2019 edition are: MaxiCash, maxicashapp.com (FinTech) MEDpay, medpay.io (HealthTech) Tinda, tinda.cd (Logistics) MOKO, themokoapp.com (Music)…

Number two of the global manufacturers in the smartphone market, Huawei continues to grow and is now one of the leading R & D leaders. The company ranks fifth in the R & D industrial investment scoreboard in 2018 and was ranked 12th this year on Brand Finance Global 500 with 63.7% growth in annual value. Published by the Joint Research Center of the European Commission, since 2004 this ranking has been a key reference in the field of innovation. Every year, this document lists the 2,500 European and international companies most invested in the field of R & D.…

The Boards of Directors of the insurance companies RAWSUR SA and RAWSUR LIFE SA officially announce that they have been approved as insurance companies operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo by the Autorité de Régulation et de Contrôle des Assurances (ARCA) on Thursday 28 March 2019. In addition to effectively liberalizing the insurance sector, this decision also heralds the beginning of a new economic era, given the important role that insurance companies are called upon to play in the economic and social development of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They will act as a catalyst for financial inclusion and…

USD 800,000,000 or more Dual Tranche Syndicated Term Loan Facility Tuesday, 2nd April 2019, on behalf of The Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd (the “Borrower”, or “MCB”) (www.MCB.mu), Standard Chartered Bank (“SCB”) and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Limited (“SMBCE”), together the coordinators (“Coordinators”) and active bookrunners (“Active Bookrunners”), are pleased to announce the signing and successful closing of general syndication for MCB’s USD 800,000,000 Dual Tranche Syndicated Term Loan Facility (the “Facility”). Proceeds from the Facility will be used for general corporate purposes, including trade finance. Citi joined the Facility as Bookrunner prior to the launch of syndication. Mizuho Bank, Ltd…

The Chief Executive Officer of the Attijariwafa Bank Group addressed the closing ceremony of the Africa Development Forum on 15 March 2019. Summary. “It is now my honor to officially close this 6th edition of the International Africa Development Forum, under the patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, which God is assisting. From the outset, I would like to thank you for the high content of the debates, and the wealth of meetings held in the framework of the B to B that augur significant achievements in terms of intra-African trade and investment. The energy, the voluntarism and the…

The 2019 Annual Adebayo Adedeji Lecture on the theme, “Digital Transformation of Africa: Hype or Reality”, was delivered by Dr. Omobola Johnson, Former Minister of Communication Technology, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Board Member of the Web Foundation. Although a lot has been written in the popular press about Africa’s digital transformation, not a great deal is known about how much of that is just hype and how much of it is reality. The objective of the 2019 Adebayo Adedeji Memorial Lecture was to raise issues that will help policymakers to disentangle the hype from reality for them to make…

Developing Africa’s ocean economy and investing in sustainable growth The second Africa Blue Economy Forum (ABEF) will take place on 25-26 June 2019 in Tunis, historic city for maritime trade and economic powerhouse at the crossroads between Europe and Africa. Once again, the annual event will bring together 150+ delegates from across the globe, including ocean experts and innovators, African political leaders and policy makers, international entrepreneurs and investors, as well as NGOs and multilaterals, to discuss the great potential of the blue economy to drive sustainable growth in Africa. Last year, during the forum’s inauguration, speakers and delegates at…

A partnership agreement was signed between OCP Group and Fraunhofer IMWS for the creation of the Fraunhofer-Mazagan lab, a world-class research center based in the Mazagan Urban Pole (PUMA), dedicated to the development of sustainable solutions – the first of its kind in Morocco. The ecosystem of research and innovation, initiated by Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, is reinforced by this partnership agreement. The objective is to capitalize on the University’s research works and evolve them into applied research and pilot programs, prior to large-scale industrialization. Innovation and sustainable development are priorities for OCP Group. On Wednesday March 6th in Rabat,…

A new Global Witness survey reveals that ten European companies could import Congolese illegal timber worth several million euros to the EU. For example, ten EU traders import timber from IFCO (Congo Forest Industry), a forest company in the Democratic Republic of Congo accused of ignoring forest laws and the labor code. In addition to representing a real danger for the humid forests that play a key role in climate regulation, such actions could constitute a direct attack on the EU Timber Regulation, a historical legislation that gives rise to the imposition of penalties. severe. These European companies, which have…

By Christine Holzbauer Notwithstanding her flawless academic career in Tunisia, Spain and the United States, Leila Bouamatou has the merit of being the first woman to run a banking establishment in Mauritania. Admittedly, the daughter of the famous opponent of President Aziz did not choose the facility by agreeing in 2018 to “return home” to take over the family bank. After having made her debut in 2009 as head of the Treasury of the General Bank of Mauritania (GBM), she is now director and general manager. A position at high risk that his solid experience in the field of international…

The Mining Challenge by OCP is an innovative concept that highlights the dynamics of open innovation, a model that the Group calls on as part of its digital transformation. This OCP initiative aims to strengthen the Group’s position as a key player in open innovation and support the development and promotion of the African and international entrepreneurial ecosystem. OCP Group launches the « Mining challenge by OCP », an open innovation program contributing to the Group’s digital transformation. Through this initiative, OCP Group seeks to identify local and african startups and those performed by the African diaspora, to co-develop with…

The Autonomous Port of Douala (PAD) and the Grand Maritime Port of Bordeaux (GPMB) in France signed a three-year cooperation agreement covering several areas of intervention. In initialing this document, the Deputy Director General of the GPMB, Renaud Picard, indicated that the CSA, which is in a restructuring phase, could benefit from the experience of this French port. As proof, “we can bring the history of the city of Bordeaux and its port. A story marked by several stages where the port was in the heart of town, but he turned his back on the city. Then, the city reconquered…

On Wednesday, March 13, 2019, Bolloré Transport & Logistics signed with CLS Logistics, its partner for over 11 years, a memorandum of understanding to create a joint venture. The signing took place in Addis Ababa in the presence of Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Bolloré Transport & Logistics and CLS, which already provide transit and logistics services in Ethiopia, offer customers services that meet the highest international standards. More generally, they aim to improve the supply chain of the country’s strategic sectors, such as textiles, coffee, industrial projects and infrastructure, following the opening of the logistics…

The Director General of the Ivory Coast Coffee-Cocoa Council, KONE Brahima Yves, received in audience a Dutch delegation of 35 businessmen led by the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Abidjan, Mr Robert VAN DEN DOOL. The purpose of the meeting was to encourage the visiting party to become involved in the local processing of cocoa beans. According to information, the Dutch were also looking for more insurance vis-à-vis their big supplier who ended a few months ago the system of the auction for the benefit of the direct sales by telephone. The idea is to get closer to Ghana by…

Following the crash of Boeing 737 Max of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 of March 10, 2019, insurers Chubb Limited, world leader, and its broker Wilis Tower Watson, which insure the Ethiopian company on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the British Global Aerospace (which insures Boeing, via broker March) have their eyes and ears fixed on the initial findings of joint investigations conducted by Ethiopians and Americans. This is the second such aircraft crash, Boeing’s flagship, which saw its stock unscrew by about 6%, on March 13, at the close of the New York Stock Exchange following a…

With or without Karim Wade and Khalifa Sall, President Macky Sall would get 58%. This observation is from the statistician and economist engineer Moubarack Lô, who became famous in 2012 by predicting the victory of Macky Sall in the Senegalese presidential elections at a time when analysts were expecting a duel in the second round between President Wade and one of his historical opponents (Moustapha Niasse of AFP or Tanor Dieng of PS). Since then, polls conducted by the prime minister’s adviser are expected with much apprehension, on the side of the opposition as of power, Mubarack having kept his…

At the Africa CEO Forum on 25-26 March 2019 in Kigali, Rwanda, Bolloré Transport & Logistics is announcing the launch of AEROHUB, a new 15,000-m2 platform in Cote d’Ivoire in April 2019. Located near Abidjan international airport and less than 15 km from the port terminal, AEROHUB will foster the development of national and sub-regional logistics activities. AEROHUB is a new tri-temperature platform – with negative cold (-20°C), positive cold (2°C to 10°C) and ambient temperature – designed for the reception, storage and distribution of a range of goods, including food products (dry, fresh and frozen), pharmaceutical products and high-value-added…

On April 11, tech and finance leaders, policy makers, and investors from across Africa and the United States will gather at the Institute of Peace in Washington to discuss the future of financial technology. The Africa Fintech Summit (AFTS) will open with an address by Jim Ovia, Chairman and Founder of Zenith Bank and one of the continent’s most prominent entrepreneurs. Speakers will include Worku Gachou, Managing Director for Africa at OPIC; Olugbenga Agboola, Co-Founder and CEO of Flutterwave; Iyin Aboyeji, Founder of Street Capital; Nick Talwar, Partner at APIS; Stanley Jacob, Chairman of the Committee of e-Banking Industry Heads;…

Meeting last week in Bangui (Central African Republic), the Franc Zone Convergence Committee (COCOZOF) carefully avoided the annoying subject, namely the recurrent criticisms of “the only stable currency” between Cape Town and Cairo, as had been to blow him a high official Ivorian. At the meeting, Clément Belibanga, CEMAC Commissioner in charge of Economic, Monetary and Financial Policies and Mamadou Makhtar Diagne, UEMOA Commissioner in charge of Economic Policies and Taxation, examined the technical elements with a view to next Finance Ministers’ meeting in the Franc zone, scheduled for Thursday, March 28, 2019 in Niamey (Niger), preceded by a meeting…

Professor Pius Adesanmi was aboard the Boeing 737 Max of Ethiopian Airlines which crashed on the morning of 10 March in Addis Ababa. He was on his way to Nairobi as a participant in the ECOSOCC meeting organized by the African Union. Pius Adesanmi was born in Isanlu, Yagba East Local Government Area, Kogi State, Nigeria. He holds a BA (First Class Honors) from the University of Ilorin in 1992, a Master’s degree in French from the University of Ibadan in 1998 and a PhD in French Studies from the University of British Columbia in 2002. From 2002 to 2005,…

Oil production in Southern Sudan is expected to reach 350,000 barrels per day by mid-2020. This is the goal displayed by the oil minister, Ezekiel Lol Gatkouth, who links these forecasts to the return of peace. South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 when production peaked at 350,000 b / d before the outbreak of a bloody civil war two years later. The Toma South oilfield, currently at 20,000 barrels a day, is expected to become more intense in the coming months. The production that had been suspended since mid-December 2013 is at the center of major development issues in…

After the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX crash on March 10, a few minutes after take-off, reactions are immediate in the aeronautics and aviation sector in general, but also among insurers. The company bereaved by the death of the 155 passengers and crew decided to immobilize all of its B 737 MAX. For its part, Royal Air Maroc which had just received a similar device has just decided to send it for technical revision. This is the second time in a few months at the B737-800 Max experiencing such a disaster. In October 2018, a similar aircraft of the Indonesian…

As the first international event bringing together all the players in global governance, the Paris Peace Forum returns for its second edition from November 11 to 13, 2019, at the La Villette Grande Halle, and launches its new call for projects on March 13, 2019. Pascal Lamy, formerly President of the Orientation Council, was elected President of the Executive Council of the Paris Peace Forum, an association that brings together the six organizations that founded it (IFRI, Institut Montaigne, Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Sciences Po, Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Körber Foundation). The Orientation Council, made up of sixteen governance…

The annual nomination meeting of the Selection Committee of The Africa Road Builders – Babacar Ndiaye Trophy was held on March 20 and 21, 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting was attended by representatives of several media from different sub-regions of Africa. The Committee also recorded the participation of road and transport experts, as well as invited observers for the occasion. The Selection Committee worked on the basis of the report made by the Media Network for Infrastructure and Finance in Africa (MIFA). The Selection Committee also took into account the public reports of international institutions and organizations on road…

Following highly successful events in Washington and Lagos in 2018, the Africa Fintech Summit (AFTS) returns to Washington this April, ahead of the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund. Through a strategic partnership with Congo Business Network, the AFTS seeks to engage Congolese professionals and entrepreneurs who are working to revolutionize the pan-African technology ecosystem On April 11, tech and finance leaders from across Africa and the U.S. will gather at the Institute of Peace in Washington, DC to discuss the future of financial technology. Among its strategic partners is Congo Business Network, an…

Digitization has been variously described as pivotal in ramping-up revenue collection for financing Africa’s development. This convergence of views characterized discussions at one of the plenary debates of the 38th meeting of the Committee of Experts of the ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, taking place in Marrakech, Morocco. Convened to critically discuss and share experiences around the theme: “Fiscal policy, trade and the private sector in a digital era: a strategy for Africa,” the experts mainly evoked questions of speed and productivity, governance, timeliness and cybersecurity associated with digitizing fiscal regimes. “Digitalization has the greatest potential to…