Author: Amadjiguéne Ndoye

South African insurer Old Mutual said Tuesday, March 23, a drop in its revenues for the year 2020 linked to Covid-19. The company restored its dividend even as the pandemic took its toll on the business, which resulted in a total annual loss of 5.7 billion rand ($ 385 million). The loss is driven by higher provisions for excess claims. The company has also seen its sales drop and its credit losses increase. But Old Mutual also had to increase its disruption and rescue reserves to $ 53.5 million in the second half – an increase that was more than…

Telecommunications company Airtel Africa has announced a $ 200 million investment from The Rise Fund, TPG’s global impact investing platform, in Airtel Mobile Commerce BV (AMC BV), a subsidiary of mobile money operations Airtel Africa, with potential for IPO within four years. The investment will see the AMC BV business valued at $ 2.65 billion and operate Airtel’s mobile money business across all of its 14 mainland markets once the inclusion of the remaining mobile money operations. under AMC will be terminated. The Rise Fund will hold a minority stake in AMC BV upon completion of the transaction, with Airtel…

The African Union announced this Thursday, March 18, that it had given the green light for the vaccine against the Covid-19 AstraZeneca and recommended the continuation of vaccinations on the continent. For the organization, the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks. John Nkengasong, director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a press conference that “the benefits always outweigh the risks” and countries should “move forward” with the vaccination. He said “adverse reactions would be monitored and reported for future vaccine evaluations.” A positive opinion that comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed the vaccine.…

The French Development Agency (AFD) will allocate $ 6.95 million to finance digital financial inclusion in Africa, to promote gender equality in digital financial services. The funding will target, among other beneficiaries, 20 to 25 million women over five years. The project is part of the African Facility for Digital Financial Inclusion (FADI), supported by the French Development Agency (AFD) and hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB). The goal of the facility is to ensure access to the formal economy for an additional 332 million Africans, 60% of whom are women, by 2030. Of the funding of $ 6.95…

The World Bank has announced the launch of funding projects to provide 30 African countries with vaccines against Covid-19, without disclosing the amount of support under discussion. The first countries concerned include the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Niger, Mozambique, Tunisia, Eswatini, Rwanda and Senegal. According to the institution, the funds are already available, and for most African countries. Funding will be in the form of grants or on so-called highly concessional conditions. Already in February, the World Bank financed its first operation to support the vaccination plan of African countries against Covid-19 and help with the purchase and…

African telecommunications group Liquid Telecoms announces that it has successfully raised more than $ 840 million through a bond and term refinancing facility launched a few days ago. The deal of $ 600 million senior secured bonds and $ 220 million South African rand-denominated secured term loans has attracted more than 230 investor orders, including anchor orders the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund. “The order book, which totaled US $ 3.2 billion, was oversubscribed more than five times, which helped generate a coupon rate of 5.5% compared to the group’s starting coupon of 8, 5%…

The Cameroonian fintech start-up Diool continues its development and attracts new investors in this fundraising of 3.5 million USD intended to finance its operations. The funding brings its overall secure investment to 4.6 million USD. Founded by Serge and Phillipe Boupda, Diool specializes in the aggregation of financial services. The startup, launched in 2015, began operations as a mobile top-up project providing small retailers with a way to sell prepaid top-ups from a single app to their customers. Through its platform, Diool offers small merchants the means to accept payments from their customers and to reimburse their suppliers more easily,…

Allianz Nigeria plans to roll out a cyber insurance policy before the end of the first half of 2021, announces Adeolu Adewumi-Zer, the CEO of the company. The insurer, which awaits regulatory approvals, recently published a risk barometer based on a survey of 193 Nigerian companies questioned which shows that cyber incidents are the second perceived risk in 2021, just behind Covid-19, while ‘they were only considered the eighth most important risk. The new insurance will cover data loss and reputational risk as well as cybercrime. “As the Covid-19 pandemic significantly accelerates the need for work from home, cybersecurity is…

The rating agency Fitch Ratings has confirmed the default rating of the long-term issuer (IDR) of Mauritius’ largest bank, Mauritius Commercial Bank Limited (MCB) at “BBB-” with a negative outlook. The rating takes into account the significant impact of the pandemic on the Mauritian economy which suffered from a two-month nationwide lockdown at the start of the crisis and the country’s prolonged border closures. Measures that have heavily impacted the tourism sector and related industries, which together represent a significant percentage of the country’s GDP. For Fitch, the Mauritian economy is expected to grow slowly, with real GDP growth of…

Lebanese bank BLOM Bank announced on Sunday (January 17th) that it had sold its 99.4% stake in its Egyptian subsidiary BLOM BANK Egypt to Bahraini bank Bank ABC for an amount of $ 427 million. The transaction, subject to regulatory approvals in Bahrain, Egypt and Lebanon, is expected to close in the first half of 2021. The transaction includes all physical and non-physical assets of Blom Bank Egypt as well as accounts clients. The bank had started talks with ABC in December. Once validated, the acquisition will allow BLOM Bank to subscribe to Banque du Liban (BDL) capital increase requirements…

The initiative to create a Great Green Wall in the African Sahel region has succeeded in attracting new funding to the tune of $ 14.2 billion on the sidelines of the One Planet Summit for biodiversity jointly organized by France, the Nations United and the World Bank organized Monday January 11 in Paris. The amount allocated is for the period 2021-2025, a success given that the expected amount was around 10 billion dollars for the next five years. Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El-Ghazouani, current President of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Pan-African Agency of…

After seeing their rating plummet to “BB-”, impacted by South Africa’s “BB” sovereign rating from “BB-” in November, five South African banks have just received the excellent rating “ AA + ”from the rating agency Fitch Ratings. They are Absa Bank Limited, FirstRand Bank Limited, Investec Bank Limited, Nedbank Limited and The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited. This long-term national rating, backed by a stable outlook, reflects an improvement in their creditworthiness compared to the best credits in the country, according to Fitch. Debt ratings were also upgraded a notch. Fitch has also taken similar rating action on the…

Far from being spared from the COVD-19 pandemic which continues to wreak havoc on economies around the world, African countries have suffered significant damage to their economies due to lockdowns as part of a containment strategy. Through this interview with the editorial staff of Financial Afrik, Matthew Winkler, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus and co-founder of Bloomberg News, outlines the means at Africa’s disposal to reorganize its economy and forecast its prospects in relation to the global economy With the smallest number of detected coronavirus cases in the world, how is Africa economically affected by the Covid-19 pandemic? As a region of 54…

AM Best confirmed the excellent “A” financial strength rating and long-term credit rating of the issuer “A” of the reinsurance company African Reinsurance Corporation (ARC) (Nigeria). The outlook for these credit ratings is stable. The ratings reflect the strength of ARC’s balance sheet, which AM Best ranks as the strongest, as well as its strong operational performance, favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM). The agency believes that “ARC’s balance sheet strength is based on its highest risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best’s capital adequacy ratio (BCAR).” ARC’s capital position is expected to remain stable thanks to strong…

Solar energy start-up, Oolu Solar, raised $ 8.5 million in Series B capital. The transaction was led by independent renewable energy developer RP Global. Other additional investors also participated in the funding round, including Persistent Energy Capital (PEC), Shell’s impact investor, All On, Gaia Impact Fund and DPI Energy Ventures. The startup specializes in providing affordable energy to rural and peri-urban areas in West Africa. With this investment, Oolu plans to expand its commodity offering to meet the needs of its customers and further develop its operations. The company operates in Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. The operation…

Egypt has just approved the construction of the country’s first dry port. The facility, announced in the city in the city of October 6 (urban area of ​​Cairo), will be Africa’s largest dry port. The implementation of the project is entrusted to a consortium comprising: DB Schenker, a division of the German rail operator Deutsche Bahn AG which focuses on logistics and supply chain management; Elsewedy Electric Co S.A.E, formerly known as El Sewedy Cables, an Egypt-based limited company engaged in the manufacture of integrated cables and electrical products; and 3A International. The project requested the participation of the European…

Guinea Bissau will receive funding of $ 12 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) intended to support the economic recovery in Guinea-Bissau within the framework of covid-19. Since the start of the pandemic, the country has recorded 2,444 positive cases since the start of the pandemic, according to data from the High Commission for Covid-19. The Covid-19 has severely impacted the cashew nut marketing campaign, the country’s main export product, a sector that employs more than 80% of Guineans directly or indirectly. For the year 2020, Guinea-Bissau will record negative economic growth of -2.9% in 2020 and internal state…

Pan-African group Liquid Telecom has appointed Wole Abu as CEO of Liquid Telecom Nigeria. He will also be in charge of the Data Center for Africa (ADC) in Nigeria, effective January 2021. Former CEO of Pan African Towers (PAT) before joining Liquid Telecom, Wole Abu held the position of Vice President of Sales at Airtel Nigeria, where he also held several managerial positions in the human resources departments, engineering, operations, finance, legal and marketing respectively. He has, during his rich career, also managed startups and mature companies. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering with Honors from the University of Benin…

The French Development Agency (AFD) has granted 715.6 million euros ($ 866.6 million) in funding to Egypt, the Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation announced on Wednesday (December 9th). The aim is to strengthen the transition to a green recovery and to invest in human capital. The agreements, signed on the sidelines of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s visit to France, are part of the 2019-2023 strategic partnership for social and economic development between Egypt and France, worth 1 billion euros ($ 1.2 billion). “Part of the funds will finance the energy sector support program worth $ 181.5 million, and a…

Pan-African reinsurer Continental Re has announced the appointment of Ogadi Onwuaduegbo as regional director, Anglophone West Africa. His appointment will be effective in January 2021. Ogadi has over ten years of business development and brokerage experience gained in Nigeria and the UK. A licensed insurer, Ogadi holds an MSc in Management from Robert Gordon University, UK and a BSc Actuarial Science and Insurance from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He has worked for reputable organizations such as Marsh Limited, London and Afro-Asian Insurance Services, London where, until recently, he served as Senior Broker and Commercial Producer for Nigeria. “We have…

Egyptian bank Banque Misr (BM) has been assigned a “B +” rating from Fitch Ratings due to the Egyptian authorities’ limited capacity to support when needed. The outlook remains stable and is backed by the country’s sovereign rating. Egyptian banks will come under further pressure from risks to their operating environment, Fitch said, leading the agency to put down a negative outlook. On the other hand, the short-term risks weighing on the credit profiles of Egyptian banks, and in particular on their financing and their liquidity in foreign currency (FC) due to the fallout from the coronavirus crisis, are diminishing.…

After downgrading South Africa’s sovereign rating from “BB” to “BB-” on November 20, Fitch has just downgraded the long-term issuer default ratings (IDRs) of five South African banks. These are Absa Bank Limited, FirstRand Bank Limited, Investec Bank Limited, Nedbank Limited and The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited which also saw their ratings slide to “BB-” from a “BB” previously. The outlook remains negative. The rating actions also affected four South African bank holding companies – Absa Group Limited, Investec Limited, Nedbank Group Limited and Standard Bank Group Limited. All international debt ratings have also been downgraded. For the…

Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria, has been hit hard by falling oil prices on the world market. The country officially entered recession for the second time since 2016 after its gross domestic product (GDP) contracted for the second quarter in a row, according to new data released by the National Statistics Office on Saturday (November 21). This is the worst downturn in its economy in almost four decades. The report calls into question the prolonged period of low prices that the global oil market is going through, exacerbated by the dire economic situation resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. For Africa’s largest…

Access Bank Plc achieved 16% growth in profit after tax (PAT) to 102.3 billion naira ($ 270 million) for the nine months ended September 30, 2020, from 88.4 billion naira ($ 232 million) recorded during the same period in 2019. A solid result despite the current economic context marked by the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting drop in the price of oil. The bank’s pre-tax profit also jumped 16% to 116.6 billion naira ($ 306 million) as results released Thursday, November 19 on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). According to the latest information from the bank, gross income rose 15%…

In DR Congo, the new price of the biometric passport is set at the Congolese franc equivalent of USD 99, broken down as follows: USD 50 for the contracting authority and USD 40 for the holder. As for the validity, it is fixed at 5 years. Under the terms of an interministerial decree signed on November 10, 2020 by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marie Tumba Nzenza, and the Minister of Finance, Sele Yalaghuli. The waiting period for the delivery of the biometric passport is set at 7 days for applicants located in Kinshasa, 14 days for those from the…

Tunisian banks will face a sharp rise in credit losses over the next 12 months as borrowers’ debt service capacity weakens due to the recent end of support measures put in place amid the pandemic coronavirus, announced the rating agency Fitch Ratings in its report “Large Tunisian Banks: 1H20 Results” published on November 9, 2020. Fitch says a drop in profitability will negatively impact already limited capital buffers, especially in banks with lower core profitability. Ratings could be lowered for banks whose financial parameters are deteriorating beyond the agency’s basic expectations. “Most major banks recorded modest increases in loan and…

Multinational mining company Endeavor Mining has announced merger talks with West African rival Teranga Gold as safe-haven gold prices have risen thanks to the global stimulus to protect savings from the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a so-called “equal style” merger, the Canadian miner is considering an all-equity purchase and may offer a low premium for Toronto-listed Teranga. Endeavor, which is 24.12% owned by the Egyptian Sawiris family, is on the trail of acquisitions this year as gold prices have risen on the global stimulus. Last March, Endeavor Mining acquired Semafo to become Burkina Faso’s largest gold producer, one…

African e-commerce platform Jumia announced an almost 18% drop in revenue in the third quarter, from 49.9 million euros ($ 58.8 million) in 2019 to 32 , 4 million euros ($ 38.3 million) currently. The firm has refocused its strategy on cheaper items; a reduction in costs which enabled Jumia to reduce its adjusted loss of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the period. According to figures in the latest quarterly report, Jumia’s gross profit after execution costs reached 6.6 million euros ($ 7.7 million), compared to a loss of 1.7 million euros (2 million dollars) in the…

Nigerian fintech start-up Kuda has closed a $ 10 million seed funding round to accelerate its growth and meet customer demand. Kuda joins the list of startups that have crossed the $ 1 billion valuation threshold, including Paystack and Interswitch. The tour de table is led by Target Global with participation from Entry Capital and SBI Investment, and also involving leading fintech founders and angel investors such as Raffael Johnen, Johan Lorenzen, Brandon Krieg, Ed Robinson and Oliver and Lish Jung. The funds will be used for key recruitments, product development and expansion of operations across Africa. This is a…

Allianz announced on Friday, November 6 that its total revenue reached 31.4 billion euros ($ 37.2 billion) in the third quarter (Q3) of 2020, after falling 6.1% from the corresponding period of the previous year. In the same period, the group achieved operating profit of 2.9 billion euros ($ 3.4 billion), down 2.6% compared to the same period in 2019. Operating profit came to 7.8 billion euros, rising to 9.1 billion euros excluding the impact of COVID-19. Net income attributable to shareholders for the quarter was up 5.9% to 2.1 billion euros due to higher non-operating investment income, partially offset…