Author: Editor

At the end of the first half of 2018, the Gabonese reinsurer saw a decrease of 2.56% of the turnover compared to the same period of 2017, ie 6,698 billion FCFA against 6, 873 billion FCFA in 2017. According to the SCG-Re newsletter, this deceleration is consecutive to that of the 16% legal divestments resulting...

The General Directorate of Customs (DGD) has awarded four Bolloré Transport & Logistics (BTL) Awards of Excellence for its performance in implementing transit facilitation measures and contributing to the strengthening of foreign trade operations. By Achille Mbog Pibasso, Douala. Beyond the recognition of the performances achieved by this company over the past ten years, particularly for the facilitation of transit and the strengthening of foreign trade operations, these awards also make it possible to highlight the contribution of Bolloré Transport & Logistics to the improvement of merchandise export operations, a growth lever for Cameroon. These include the Award of Excellence…

After the February 1, 2019 dismissal of Hassoumi Massaoudou, Minister of Finance, replaced at short notice by Mamadou Diop, former vice-governor of the BCEAO, the way emerges for the powerful Mohamed Bazoum, likely candidate but still no declared for the presidential elections of 2021. But, it is clear, the Minister of Public Security, Decentralization and...

Carlos Lopes is a professor at the Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town, High Representative of the African Union for partnerships with Europe post-2020, and a member of the Global Commission on the Economy & Climate This week, heads of African states are convening at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where they will discuss the African Union’s strategy for socio-economic development, known as Agenda 2063. This agenda casts a vision of inclusive growth and sustainability, in the face of the growing risk of climate change. It is true: rising global temperatures pose a serious challenge to the lives and livelihoods of Africans. But climate change also offers an unprecedented opportunity to steer our continent towards a more sustainable, inclusive and prosperous future. The most recent report of The New…

Ethio Telecom, which has around 66 million customers, took a major step forward in its much-anticipated privatisation last month by pre-selecting six consultancies in partnership with the World Bank Telecom, media and tech investment and consolidation activity in Africa is predicted to reach a record high for 2019 as a number of significant deals including the opening up of Ethiopia’s telecom sector are scheduled, reports specialist news provider TMT Finance (www.TMTFinance.com). Pan-African telecom operators MTN, Orange and Vodacom are among those vying to enter Ethiopia for the opportunity to serve its 105 million population following progress in the telecom privatisation…

Economist and banker Cheickna Bounajim Cisse has just published “FCFA – Hidden Face of African Finance” (Ed BoD, 2019). The author reviews the controversy related to the presence of France in the decision-making bodies of the African central banks of the franc zone. Money is a tool of hunting, an instrument of domination, in the hands of those who guarantee it, manufacture it, emit it, create it and circulate it. In a word, of those who control it. The CFA Francs, these 70-year-old currencies shared by 14 African countries in the franc zone, are increasingly attracting the attention of the…

The Cameroonian government and this financial institution initialed a financing agreement of 62 billion FCFA for the improvement of the cotton production. By Achille Mbog Pibasso, Douala The Ministry of Economy, Planning and Spatial Planning (MINEPAT) that the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) through the International Islamic Finance Corporation (ITFC) has opened a line of credit of 62 billion CFA intended for the financing of the 2018/2019 cotton campaign for the benefit of the Cotton Development Company (SODECOTON). The Murabaha loan agreement includes the purchase of agricultural inputs, including fertilizers, pesticides and grain and soybean herbicides. The Ministry of Economy said…

“It is imperative to encourage AU Member States to subscribe to the ARC mechanism considering the level of success it has achieved in bringing a complementarity that can address challenges associated with the causes of migration within the five years of its existence.” – H.E. Sacko Josefa Leonel Correa   The AU Commission (AUC), African Risk Capacity (ARC), African Development Bank (AfDB), and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), on the margins of the ongoing 32nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, held a High-Level Side Event under the theme: “Migration and…

The Federal Government of Nigeria has allocated a 5.12-hectare piece of land in Abuja to the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) for the development of a centre of excellence for medical services to serve Nigeria and the west African subregion. The centre of excellence, the first by Afreximbank in Nigeria, will be completed 24 months after a groundbreaking exercise expected to take place in December. It is being developed by Afreximbank in collaboration with Kings College Hospital (KCH), United Kingdom, which is serving as the strategic partner. Afreximbank said that allocation of the land, which took place on 29 January, would…

The World Bank has opened a line of credit in the form of a guarantee for project developers including Electricité de France for the construction of this hydroelectric dam which will bring a substantial energy supply for the country. By Achille Mbog Pibasso, Douala Cameroon, which aspires to become an emerging economy, must improve the energy supply, which currently covers only 62% of the country’s total population. With a view to improving electricity production, the World Bank, through the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), has granted a loan of FCFA 108 billion to Cameroon for the construction of the Nachtigal…

At a hearing with Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, held on 29 January in Nouakchott, ECA Executive Secretary Vera Songwe congratulated Mauritania for ratifying the Free Trade Agreement. exchange for the African continent (AfCFTA or ZLECA in French), a major project for the economic development of the region. Mauritania is one of the first countries to sign AfCFTA documents, which shows that its president and government are convinced of the importance of regional integration, Songwe said. The talks with President Ould Abdel Aziz focused on the strategic choices regarding ECA’s activities in Mauritania and…

The Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM) and the Côte d’Ivoire SME Agency (CIPME) signed a memorandum of understanding under the Chairmanship of the Ivorian State Secretary for SME Promotion, on Monday, January 28, 2019. Abidjan. This agreement, which formalizes the collaboration between the two institutions, aims at pooling their efforts with a view to, among other things, making available information on the financing opportunities available in the WAEMU regional financial market, promoting the Third Sub-Fund of the BRVM to SMEs and to reinforce the capacities of SMEs on the management of companies and the different modes of financing.

The I & P Afrique Entrepreneurs 1 (IPAE 1) fund, launched by Investisseurs & Partenaires in 2012, is now completing two new outings: the CONERGIES group, based in Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, and the Senegalese company Delta Irrigation. Both are with strategic partners who can lead these companies to a new stage of development while respecting the vision and values ​​of I & P and entrepreneurs. Strategic partnerships to continue the development of promising African SMEs Founded in 2003 in Senegal, Delta Irrigation specializes in the design and construction of hydraulic systems, especially in the agricultural field and water treatment.…

Afreximbank President Prof. Benedict Oramah addressing participants at the opening of the Financing Investment and Trade in Africa conference in Tunis.  The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the equity investment fund created recently by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), will catalyse foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into Africa’s trade and export sectors, Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of the Bank, said yesterday. Speaking in Tunis during the opening of the Financing Investment and Trade in Africa conference organized by the Tunisia-Africa Business Council, Prof. Oramah said that Afreximbank’s vision was to leverage $1 billion in support of FEDA’s mission and to…

By Kako Nubukpo, former Togolese Minister of Forecasting and Evaluation of Public Policies. Italy has obviously never fully recovered from its defeat at the Battle of Adoua against Ethiopia, which partly sold the end of its colonial adventure in Africa and certainly marked its decline on the international scene. It has nonetheless retained a strong grudge and a longing for France and Great Britain, which in this case have had more prosperous destinies. The proof was given to us these last days, marked by the heavy fire of statements of Luigi di Maio and Matteo Salvani, both vice-presidents of the…

Finnfund, a Finnish development finance company, provides a EUR 2.5 million secured loan to Africado, a Tanzanian avocado producer. Sustainable avocado farming is a viable alternative for Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro region farmers whose livelihoods have been shaken by the plunging price of coffee. The price of coffee has fallen sharply in recent years primarily due to expanded production in Brazil and Vietnam. The impact is felt also in Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro region where coffee farming has long been an important source of livelihood. Now local farmers are urgently seeking alternative crops Africado was established in 2007 as Tanzania’s first commercial and international…

By Christine HOLZBAUER, Paris. Since January 8th, it is the guéguerre between France and Italy with little murderous phrases largely relayed by the media on both sides of the Alps. What fly so stung Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio, the two vice-presidents of the Italian Council of Ministers, so that they decided to open...

By Achille Mbog Pibasso. The Equatorial Guinean State, through the auction, raised 15 billion FCFA of assimilable treasury bills (BTA) on the market of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC). According to the chronogram of activities on the securities market published by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), this is the...

By Rodrigue Fenelon, great reporter. Emmanuel Macron is conducting a strategic visit to Egypt on January 27, 2019, where he will meet with President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi. Four ministers accompany the head of the French state on this trip: Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Florence Parly, Minister of the Armed Forces, Franck Riester,...

Challenges: meeting of Francophone and Anglophone Ministers from 18 OPPA member countries and companies and organizations that play a key role in the oil and gas sector. The Organization of African Petroleum Producers (OPPA) and its member countries call for unity, cooperation and reform among oil producers in the run-up to the CAPE VII Congress and Exhibition, which will take place from 1 to 5 April in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. OPPA invites all interested companies and organizations to participate in this important meeting of government and private decision-makers in the oil and gas sector in Africa in 2019, which will…

By Achille Mbog Pibasso. Activities are gaining momentum at the port of Kribi with the entry into operation of the multipurpose terminal. The multipurpose terminal platform of the Kribi port is now operational. Managed by the Cameroon consortium Kribi polyvalent multiple operators (KPMO), it officially entered into business with the arrival of the first commercial...

The operationalization of the newly-created Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) moved into high gear today with the holding of the pre-incorporation meeting of the Board of Directors in Cairo. FEDA, a wholly-owned development-oriented subsidiary of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has been set up to implement the Bank’s Equity Investment Programme by providing seed capital to companies in Afreximbank’s key focus sectors, including agri-business; manufacturing; consumer and retail; financial services; technology; travel and tourism; transport and logistics; and industrial parks. It will invest across all market segments but will have its greatest focus on small and medium-sized enterprises. The long-term…

Congo Business Network, Legal Tech Africa, and Tribune Justice are organizing an online event on February 16, 2019 on Cisco WebEx from 18:00 to 20:00 Paris time. The theme of this event is: “Legal Tech: Its Advantages for Success in Business in Africa.” The objective of this session is to bring together professionals and entrepreneurs who have experience in business in the diaspora and in Africa, and who can share knowledge and experience in the legal tech sector.  Speakers will give important information to participants so that investors, institutions, SMEs and startups can be better informed about the best way…

By Brice Kouao. WHAT IS THE MOST OFFENSIVE BANK FOR CREDITS IN COTE D’IVOIRE? Between 2013 and 2017, loans granted by the Ivorian banking sector increased by 105%, from CFAF 3,065 billion to CFAF 6274 billion. 80% of its credits came from the country’s top eight banks out of a total of 28 players. However,...

By Rasheed Hashi In recent weeks, many Somalis have raised an important question: after nearly 60 years of independence, why need a “white” man – a muzungu or saan-cadde as they say – to play the baby? – Serve and lead the central bank, a sovereign Somali entity? If the information is correct, a Briton...

Mr. Director of Publication, It was with great surprise that I read the article entitled “Haussmann Group Africa from success story to disillusionment”. I founded Haussmann since its inception and would like to draw your attention to the fact that the information relayed is completely false and without foundation: in the space of a year since our fundraising, we have opened offices in 9 countries, doubled the number of employees and almost tripled our revenues without resorting to any bank credit of any kind whatsoever . The numbers speak for themselves and I am sure you will agree with me…

The President of the Union of the Comoros, Azali Assoumani, the first Head of State to visit the new Secretary General of La Francophonie, took the opportunity of this meeting to renew his congratulations to Louise Mushikiwabo for her election which had seen Africa speak with one voice. In his declared determination to see the next Comorian elections take place in total transparency, the President of the Republic has shown his willingness to see the OIF accompany the electoral process underway, including by sending observers. “It is essential that the President who will come out of the polls is unquestionable…

In an audience with the President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz held yesterday in Nouakchott, ECA’sExecutive Secretary Vera Songwe congratulated Mauritania for having ratified theAfrican Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), as a major project for the region’s economic development. Mauritania is one of the first countries to sign the AfCFTA documents, this shows that its President and government are convinced of the importance of regional integration, said Songwe. Discussions with President Ould Abdel Aziz included strategic choices for ECA’s work in Mauritania and its cooperation with the country as part of its role in support…

More than 1,000 delegates from various African markets will attend the African Federation of Insurance Companies (FANAF) meetings scheduled for Tunis from February 17 to 21 under the banner of promoting insurance. After the 2018 edition in Kigali (Rwanda), which invited delegates to rethink “African Insurance in the face of disruptions”, the 2019 General Assembly, to remain in the continuity of reflection, is placed under the central theme: “What market structure to promote the development of African insurance? Says Adama Ndiaye, president of FANAF. The main theme will be the subject of four major panels that will involve eminent specialists…

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) is at the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) what the IFC (International Finance Corporation) is at the World Bank. It is the reference instrument of the Islamic Bank Group dedicated to financing and supporting the private sector. In this exclusive interview, ICD CEO Ayman Sejini, who has been in office since October 2018, strives to establish the institution instead of Africa.