Author: Editor

TDB was announced as this year’s winner of the Best Development Bank at the Global Trade Review (GTR) Leaders in Trade Awards ceremony held in London this past 4th of May 2022. GTR awards “highlight excellence in the trade, commodity, supply chain, export finance and fintech markets. Each year GTR recognises the market’s pioneering institutions and top performers from around the world“. This accolade celebrates TDB’s continued excellence in driving impact in the region it serves through trade finance activities. It recognizes the Bank’s critical role facilitating greater intra- and inter-African trade, addressing supply chain disruptions as well as trade finance and forex…

Today, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed an ambitious Guarantee Agreement through which the European Commission will support up to €26.7 billion of EIB financial operations to enable crucial public investments in sectors like clean energy, digital and transport infrastructure, health and education over the next seven years, rolling out Global Gateway worldwide. Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement,Olivér Várhelyi, said: “Today’s landmark guarantee agreement with the European Investment Bank will enable to finance the implementation of our Economic and Investment Plans for the Western Balkans, the Southern and Eastern Neighbourhood. We launched these three substantial investment plans to support…

A few months before work begins at Timor Port, the initiatives to protect the eco-system of this future deep water port are continuing. Timor Port and its local partner, the NGO KFF (Konservasaun Flora no Fauna) have planted the first 500 trees in this conservation area. This ceremony took place in the presence of representatives of the Timorese environmental authority and local authorities. The launch of this mangrove conservation area is part of its Biodiversity Action Plan. Timor Port will then plant 3.5 hectares of mangroves, which is equivalent to a total of 18,000 trees. It is also about ensuring …

Heads of State and Government meeting at the United Nations’ global conference on land have called on the international community to take urgent action to stem the loss of life and livelihoods that communities all over the world are experiencing due to the increasing and devastating impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought.  Speaking at the Heads of State Summit convened ahead of the opening of the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Alassane Ouattara, President of Côte d’Ivoire, declared: “Our Summit must be one of hope, of…

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“Our role is to support African economies ” Admassu Tadesse, is President Emeritus and Group Managing Director of the Trade and Development Bank (TDB Group, former PTA Bank), a specialized development finance institution serving Eastern and Southern Africa and beyond. In this interview the “Best development banker in Africa“, a distinction presented during the last Financial Afrik...

By Maria Nadolu, Bucarest. Ion Florescu is born in Casablanca, from a Romanian father, refugee during the days when Romania was occupied by the Soviet Union, and an Italian mother with African connections. Growing up in between Rome, London, and Geneva, he graduated History at Cambridge, and then, went to Eastern Europe lured by some ancestral call, and challenging opportunities in a fast-transforming region. His investment fund group, Reconstruction Capital and Reconstruction Capital II, is well-known for its activities in Romania and South East Europe; having been involved in some of the most important economic sectors in the…

The General Commission has the honor to announce that the Inaugural Conference of The Africa Road Builders – Trophée Babacar NDIAYE 2022 will take place on March 31, 2022 in Abuja, Nigeria, under the theme: “Building roads, building economies”. As every year, for 7 years, the Inaugural Conference takes place in the country that won the previous edition of the Babacar NDIAYE Trophy. As a reminder, in 2021, it is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, HE Mr. Muhammadu BUHARI, who was named Winner of the Super Prize Great Builder – Trophée Babacar NDIAYE, for his personal leadership…

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a new policy that aims to strengthen debt sustainability among low-income African countries. The Board approved the Sustainable Borrowing Policy on 23 February 2022. The new policy primarily targets recipients of the African Development Fund, the concessional window of the Bank Group. The Fund caters to low-income and transitional countries on the continent. The Sustainable Borrowing Policy responds to a changing debt landscape in Africa, especially among the abovementioned countries. In recent years, low-income countries have gained access to new sources of finance, including private creditors and creditors…

Following our exclusive article announcing the dismissal of the Managing Director of Shelter Afrique, we received, on March 3, 2022, a right of reply from Mrs. Célestine Ketcha Courtès (photo), Minister of Housing and Urban Development of Cameroon in her as President of the Bureau of the General Assembly of Shelter Afrique. We publish the right of reply dated February 23, 2022 in its entirety. On February 18, 2022 you published an article in your newspaper entitled “The General Manager of Shelter Afrique dismissed”. In it, you allege the support of the Cameroonian Minister of Housing and Urban Development in…

OCP Group, the world’s leader in the phosphate fertilizer market, has earned the first level of EDGE (Economic Dividends for Gender Equality) certification. This is considered the global  standard for assessing corporate performance in terms of gender equality and the creation of  equal career opportunities for both female and male employees.   This first level of certification, called Assess, is based on a broad criteria including the gender  balance within core functions; recruitment and promotion policies; pay equity; and inclusive  culture. This certification also takes into account employees’ perception of the degree of inclusion and career opportunities within the company.  This…

From June to November 2021, Bolloré Logistics Tanzania carried out the logistics for the Songo Songo  project by transporting 5,000 freight tons of pieces and equipment. Relying on its expertise in industrial  projects and energy logistics, the company was able to accomplish a historic feat being the first to send  a large land craft on the Songo Songo island.  A total of seven barge vessels were required to deliver the equipment to the island at different intervals.  Several specialised pieces of equipment were used including a 130-ton and a 60-ton crane, an  excavator, a modular hydraulic trailer and 2 semitrailers…

African entrepreneurs provide a service to a growing business niche.  Mwungano, which means alliance in Swahili has been created by two communication industry veterans, Sophie Masipa, CEO of Fikira Consulting, and Kwame Senou, Founder and Managing Director of Holding Opinion & Public (HOP). Today, the pair have joined forces to expand their offering, launching the first specialist pan-African environment, social and governance (ESG) communications agency. Mwungano ESG will serve companies that are prioritising ESG, to address the complex landscape of issues with an effective and clear communications strategy – and a team of senior specialists to implement it. The agency…