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VIENNA–(BUSINESS WIRE/AETOSWire)– The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) have signed a $50 million loan agreement to help finance and build infrastructure needed for Africa’s post-COVID recovery. This represents the first direct financing co-operation between the two institutions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005070/en/ The proceeds of the 10-year loan to AFC will help address the continent’s well-known infrastructure financing gap. The loan will also support increased financial flows to Africa and contribute to COVID-19 recovery efforts in African economies by freeing up government funds to meet urgent financing…

Office funded by a new $2 million commitment from Hazem Ben-Gacem ’92. Cambridge, MA – Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) announced today that it will continue to provide a wide range of research opportunities and programming through its Tunisia Office for a further six years, supported by a $2 million gift from Harvard alumnus Hazem Ben-Gacem ’92. The office, which opened its doors in Tunis in January 2017 with the support of an initial gift from Ben-Gacem, provides students and scholars with a bridge to renowned Tunisian archival facilities, serves as an incubator for analysis of the evolving…

By decision No. 230/2020 / CREPMF dated December 16, 2020, the Regional Council for Public Savings and Financial Markets (CREPMF) withdrew the approval granted on December 17, 2010 to the Société Générale des Finances SA, based in Lomé, Togo, as a business provider on the West African Monetary Union (WAMU) financial market. This decision, which takes effect as from its notification, was motivated by four cumulative failures of the Générale des Finances. The first is the failure to comply with the transmission of periodic reporting information to CREPMF in accordance with Instruction 53/2017 relating to the authorization of business introducers.…

Long paralyzed by the Joe Biden program to cancel the tax incentives put in place by his predecessor, Wall Street has turned tack, welcoming the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States with new records set on Wednesday, January 20 while the whole world was focused on Donald Trump’s absence from the handover ceremony. Thus, the Nasdaq soared 260 points, or 1.97%, to 13,457 points and this after having seen red the day after the announcement, in early January, that the Democrats would control the two chambers of Congress. , on the grounds that they would be more…

The Banque Populaire Foundation took part, on January 18, 2021 in partnership with the Regional Academy of Education and Training (AREF) of Casablanca-Settat, in an operation to distribute digital tablets to some 350 students in disadvantaged neighborhoods of Casablanca. The ceremony took place in the premises of the AREF in Casablanca-Settat, in the presence of its Director, Mr. Abdelmoumen TALIB, and Ms. Asma Lebbar, President of the Banque Populaire Foundation. Under this partnership, the Banque Populaire Foundation donated digital tablets, which will allow students to continue their education, in particular through the TELmidTICE distance learning and support platform of the…

Johannesburg, January 19, 2021 — Following the announcement by the African Union Chairperson, President Cyril Ramaphosa on the 14th of January 2021 that the African Union has secured a provisional 270 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for Africa through its COVID-19 African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT), the Africa Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP), on behalf of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), today commences the COVID-19 vaccines pre-order programme for all African Union Member States. Afreximbank will facilitate payments by providing advance procurement commitment guarantees of up to US$2 billion to the manufacturers on behalf of the…

At 76 years old and all his teeth, Yoweri Museveni is still there, embodying the African leader. The man who broke the lock on the term limit in 2005 and the age limit in 2017, is running for a sixth term in the presidential elections on January 14, 2021 in one country, Uganda, which it presents, supported by international statistics, as one of the fastest growing economies over the past ten years.

Amsterdam, 4 January 2021.  FCI along with Afreximbank announce the appointment of Mr. Nassourou Aminou as the new Regional Manager for Africa. The recruitment of the Africa Chapter Regional Manager is a joint effort of FCI and Afreximbank. Mr. Nassourou Aminou is a Cameroonian and joins FCI with tremendous experience in factoring, credit insurance and IT support solutions for factoring and receivables finance. He was previously a consultant specializing in the development and implementation of factoring software in African countries. Before then he worked with Coface as Regional Head of Factoring Projects. During this period, he launched the first factoring…

The National Telecommunications Company of Senegal (SONATEL) will proceed, on January 16, 2021, to the payment of half-yearly interest on its bond loan called “Sonatel 6.50% 2020-2027” for an amount of 3.250 billion FCFA (4.875 million of euros). In order to finance its 2020 investment plan linked to its operations in Senegal (its main market), Sonatel had launched on the financial market of the West African Monetary Union (UMOA) a bond loan by public offering. for an amount of 100 billion FCFA. An interest rate of 6.50%, payable semi-annually from the vesting date of the securities (acquired since July 16,…

Le Journal de l’Economie Sénégalaise (Lejecos) has just released its third special issue entirely devoted to the recovery plan (PAP 2) of Senegal. In his editorial, the director of publication, Ismael Bâ, salutes the leadership of President Macky Sall, architect of the revival. The involvement of the private sector is strongly encouraged by the Head of State. “The call of the Head of State to the private sector in the PAP2A budgeted at 22.4 billion euros, in particular up to 42% of this amount, is commensurate with the role that the private sector must play in mobilization of resources, ”recalls…

French Sanofi announced on Friday a delay in the development program for its COVID-19 vaccine developed with the British GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) due to an insufficient immune response in the elderly, which is a major setback for the pharmaceutical group in the global race for a vaccine against the new coronavirus. “The results of the study do not live up to our expectations,” GSK Vaccines President Roger Connor said in a statement. “In adults aged 18 to 49 years, the interim results of the phase I / II study showed an immune response comparable to that of patients who recovered from…

The Africa Economic Zones Organization held on December 3rd, 2020, in conjunction with the “AfCFTA Business Forum”, its 5th Annual meeting as a virtual transmission, under the theme: “The Role of Economic Zones in supporting the implementation of the AfCFTA and Regional Integration“. The event is organized in partnership with The African Union Commission and The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The opening ceremony was chaired by Mr Fouad Brini, Chairman of Tanger Med and Honorary President of the Africa Economic Zones Organization as well as Mr Albert Muchanga, Commissioner of Trade and Industry within the…

54% of the countries of the continent, a record percentage, are accessible to African travelers without a visa or who can obtain one upon arrival in the country of destination. In 2020, The Gambia joined Seychelles and Benin as a country allowing visa-free entry to their territories for all African travelers. Twenty-four African countries issue electronic visas, which represents 44% of countries on the continent. The trend increase in African countries to liberalize their visa granting conditions and to accommodate African travelers more easily continues, according to the 2020 Africa Visa Openness Index report published on Thursday, December 10 ,…

The African startup StarNews, specialized in the field of mobile video, carries out its first fundraising with Investisseurs & Partenaires, a pioneering group of impact investing dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa, through its fund I&P Africa Entrepreneurs 2. A clear ambition: to become the first mobile video network focused on local content in Africa StarNews started its activities in 2017 in Ivory Coast. The company is positioning itself in a unique niche specifically adapted to the African context to unlock the potential of the mobile video content creation market on the continent. StarNews was designed and…

Helios Investment Partners (“Helios”), the largest dedicated private equity fund in Africa with more than $ 3.6 billion in assets under management, today announced a partnership with BİM BİRLEŞİK MAĞAZALAR (“BIM ”), The Turkish leader in discount food distribution, listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of over $ 5 billion. This partnership aims to support the development plan of BIM’s activities in Morocco through the acquisition of 35% of this subsidiary by Helios, valuing the company at more than $ 200 million. Created in 2009, BIM Maroc is the leader in food distribution at discount prices…

BGFIBank is the first bank in the DRC and one of the few in sub-Saharan Africa to obtain AML 30000® certification, an international standard designed to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism (AML / CFT). BGFIBank RDC was advised for 18 months, for the upgrade process, by the Paris office of the first American law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP. The certification process took 4 months and ended on December 4, 2020. The assessment was carried out by Maghreb Corporate (member of the IWK Group) and the certification issued by COFICERT (Commission for Financial Certifications); two independent…

For reasons related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 5th edition of the AFRICAN BUSINESS & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FORUM will take place on Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 May 2021, in Marrakech, MOROCCO. This new edition, which has the theme “RETHINKING CSR IN AFRICA TO DEFINE ITS REASON TO BE”, will see the participation of many companies but also of institutions such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), etc. Organized by LATITUDE MONDE, CSR Consulting Firm, the AFRICAN BUSINESS & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FORUM has become a force of proposal to…

The diasporas have a new tool to transfer funds without exorbitant cost nor long queues in front of the counters. This is the challenge which the company TapTap Send has set itself to propose an alternative to the already existing solutions. The startup explains that has found a way to send money directly from Europe to beneficiaries’ mobile phones, betting on interoperability. “With our accounts, our customers can send funds directly via MTN or Orange Money which are the most widespread operators in West and Central Africa, particularly in Cameroon with the promo code CMR237”, explains Fatimatou Ousmanou, Head of…

Cairo, 24 November 2020: – African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Republic of Rwanda, on 22 November 2020, in Cairo, signed key documents related to the establishment of the Fund for Export-Development in Africa (FEDA), a development-oriented subsidiary of Afreximbank. The Establishment Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding were signed by His Excellency Alfred Kalisa, Ambassador of the Republic of Rwanda in Egypt, and Afreximbank’s President, Professor Benedict Oramah in the presence of His Excellency Mahamadou Labarang, Dean of the African Ambassadors in Cairo and FEDA Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Philip Kamau. The Establishment Agreement creates FEDA while the Headquarters Agreement…

According to the latest Bloomberg ranking, US entrepreneur Elon Musk is now the second richest person on the planet, ahead of Bill Gates. Originally from South Africa, the boss of Tesla, who wins in 5 minutes, what a Swiss worker earns in 12 weeks, or an Ivorian minimum wage in 9.8 years. Taking advantage of Tesla’s meteoric rise in the stock market, Elon Musk’s fortune currently stands at $ 127.9 billion, an increase of $ 100 billion since the start of the year. He is now just ahead of the founder of Microsoft, whose fortune amounts to 127.7 billion dollars.…

The Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) announced on Tuesday, November 17 at the end of a round table of donors, that it had raised 3.8 billion euros in funds to finance eleven integration projects. regional, to be implemented between 2021 and 2025 in the six CEMAC countries. “The total amount of funding announced or mobilized (at the end of the roundtable) amounts to around 3.8 billion euros, well beyond the amounts sought. The financing of eight projects out of the eleven has been fully completed, ”declared the permanent secretary of the CEMAC Economic and Financial Reform Program…

EBI SA, the international subsidiary of the pan-African banking group Ecobank, is launching Rapidtransfer International, a digital payment service for the African diaspora between Europe and the 33 African countries where Ecobank operates. In 2018, financial flows from the diaspora to sub-Saharan Africa were $ 46 billion according to World Bank data. That same year, $ 5.596 billion was transferred from the UK to Africa and $ 1.356 billion from France to the African continent. While the UK and France are the two main target countries, Rapidtransfer International is also available in other important markets such as Italy, Spain and…

Following the approval by the Council of Ministers of the Government of the Republic of Guinea, and on behalf of the Guinean government, the Ministers in charge of Mines, Budget and Transport have officially signed with Winning Consortium the Railway Agreement for Evacuation of the Iron Ore of Blocks I and II of Simandou and the Port Agreement for the Evacuation of Iron Ore of Blocks I and II of Simandou. The ceremony was attended by HE Mr. Minister of Mines and Geology, HE Mr. Minister of Transport and HE Mr. Minister of Budget, as well as representatives of WCS.…

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank approved, Monday 09 November 2020 in Abidjan, the update and extension until December 2022, of the Country Strategy Paper (CSP) of Djibouti for the period 2016 -2020, pending the new five-year development strategy in preparation. The CSP articulates how the Bank intends to support development efforts over a given period in a regional member country (RMC). The strategy is generally formulated in a participatory manner, guided by selectivity and aligned, on the one hand, with the development objectives of the countries embodied in the national development strategies or plans, and on…

Cyber ​​SecureTM offers the first set of integrated cyber capabilities for banks and their businesses Mastercard today announced the launch of Cyber ​​Secure, a set of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, the first of its kind, which enables banks to assess cyber risk across their ecosystem and prevent potential breaches . With these capabilities, banks can identify and prioritize threats and vulnerabilities across their cyber environment. In addition, acquiring banks can help merchants understand their own cyber risk, preventing hundreds of millions of dollars in potential fraud. As the digital economy grows, both in size and complexity, its vulnerable points of…

The Chinese Poly Changda withdraws the contract to build the Rosso bridge and its access viaducts for 47 million euros. It beats a whole host of competitors including the Chinese giants China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC); Hunan Road and Bridge Construction, China Railway Seventth Group and Stecol Corporation, the Egyptian Arab Contractor, the Portuguese Teixeira Duarte, the Senegalese Rizzani De Eccher / Ecotra / Spic …… Poly Changda won over Nouakchott and Dakar all the more as his bid was by far the best compared to those of 16 other contenders. The Chinese have 30 months to complete their…

Signature of a new partnership between the French Development Agency and the Sahara and Sahel Observatory for the establishment of a regional initiative: “Water stress and climate change in North Africa”. North Africa, with a naturally arid or semi-arid climate, is already suffering the effects of climate change such as exacerbated water stress, declining agricultural yields as well as the increase in frequency and the intensity of extreme events. According to a recent report from the Mediterranean Network of Experts in Environment and Climate Change (MedeCC), the area is experiencing an increase in temperatures at a rate 20% higher than…

African development will create centers of competence First phase of development: e-gov projects, banking & telecom sectors Start of activities since August 2020 Launched in January 2020, Intelcia IT Solutions -ITS- is continuing its development by setting up in Cameroon and Ivory Coast. This deployment comes in response to the Group’s desire to invest in the IT services market in West Africa, but also to the growing need of international groups, particularly Moroccan groups, to have a multi-country outsourcer capable of supporting them in their development. Specialized in the outsourcing of IT solutions, Intelcia IT Solutions aims to establish new…

President of the National Transitional Council (CNT) Henri Konan Bédié is under house arrest, while some opposition leaders and activists have been arrested. The situation remains tense in the country as voices are raised to call for dialogue. According to information from the Chief of Staff of the Executive Secretary, Jan Baptiste Kouamé, since Tuesday, November 3, “the security forces on duty have informed President Bédié that he was under house arrest. The domestic staff were released after checks ”. The same source reports the arrest of several members of the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI). Among others, Maurice…

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group and the founding partners of the Africa Investment Forum 2020 (AIF) have approved the postponement of the event to 2021 due to the current Covid-19 pandemic. This annual forum of investors in Africa was initially planned for three days, in November, in the South African metropolis of Johannesburg. The collegial decision is the result of a careful assessment of the impact of Covid-19 and its evolution, the associated risk of a second epidemic wave and its repercussions on worldwide travel, investments as well as the rules. of physical distancing. The…