Author: Albert Savana

In a candid interview with Alain Foka, Tidjane Thiam, former CEO of Credit Suisse and declared candidate in the Ivorian presidential election, dismisses any comparison with Alassane Ouattara. “Comparing our paths is pure ignorance,” he says, visibly exasperated by the recurring parallels between the two men. “He is an international civil servant at the IMF....

The West African Development Bank (BIDC), a regional development financing institution based in Lomé, closed the 2024 fiscal year with an increase in performance. Its net profit stands at 6,430 million units of account (UC), equivalent to 8,545 million dollars or 5,165 billion FCFA, marking a 13% increase compared to the 5,700 million UC achieved...

The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) updated its official list of approved payment institutions in the UMOA area on June 25, 2025. This new version includes three new approvals, notably marking the entry of Togo and Guinea-Bissau among the countries now with regulated fintechs operating under BCEAO approval. The new approved institutions are: – INTOUCH Guinea-Bissau – SAMIR Money Senegal SA – INTOUCH Togo With these approvals, the INTOUCH group confirms its regional expansion, now present in Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, and Togo. On the other hand, SAMIR Money, a Senegalese actor, becomes the fifth approved institution…

As global economic power shifts, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth funds are emerging as leading driving forces, combining strategic returns, economic diplomacy, and targeted deployment across the African continent.  In recent years, Abu Dhabi has developed a centralised but diversified investment strategy, with sovereign wealth funds managing over USD 1.7 trillion in assets. Moving beyond oil, these funds focus on technology, infrastructure and value chains, with Africa as a key area of expansion. Rather than short-term speculation, they follow a long-term approach, using Mubadala, ADIA and ADQ to build influence through targeted, strategic investments.  The year 2024 marked a turning point.…

1 USD = 9.16690 MAD. Wafa Assurance has made a strong start to the 2025 financial year, reporting a consolidated turnover of MAD 4.35 billion in the first quarter—a 6.2% increase compared to the same period in 2024. This performance reflects balanced growth across both Life and Non-Life segments, underpinned by strengthened positions in international markets. Non-Life: Growth Boosted...

Western Union has opened its first “concept store” in Morocco in partnership with Cash Plus. Located in Errahma, near Casablanca, this store offers a new experience for customers sending and receiving international funds. This opening is part of Western Union’s global “Evolve 2025” strategy, aimed at providing dedicated locations for smoother and more accessible money transfers. Mohamed Touhami el Ouazzani, Western Union’s Regional Vice President for Africa, expressed his satisfaction: “Morocco is a key market for our growth in Africa. We are delighted to collaborate with Cash Plus to improve accessibility and financial inclusion.” In 2023, Morocco received approximately $12…

The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), a Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) company, and the International Finance Corporation  (IFC) has announced that the Fonds Commun de Titrisation de Créances (FCTC) Sonatel bond – backed by the EAIF and IFC as anchor investors – has listed on the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM), the West African Economic...

In the intersection of destinies between Rwanda and Senegal, a meeting is currently taking place in Dakar, illustrating the diversity and richness of the paths of African sovereignty. On one side, President Kagame, a visionary modernizer, embodying a form of enlightened dirigisme that propelled Rwanda onto the path of indigenous development. On the other side,...

The merger between Sanlam and Allianz, which received some favorable opinions from the Regional Insurance Control Commission (CRCA) of the Inter-African Insurance Markets Conference (CIMA) on February 17, 2024, is currently underway. Sanlam-Allianz CEO, Heinie Werth, oversees the pan-African insurance company from Cape Town, with Burkinabé Delphine Traoré heading the General Insurance division of the...

With the upcoming BRVM Days set to unfold on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on May 7th and 8th, excitement is brewing for a pivotal convergence of financial minds from West Africa and South Africa.” This event promises to be a cornerstone moment for dialogue, exchange, and collaboration between two distinct regions, each with its...

The new administration set to take office after South Africa’s general election on May 29 will inherit a challenging array of structural issues that threaten the nation’s economic growth and credit standing, Moody’s said on a 2th May report. These problems include stimulating years of lackluster economic performance, addressing persistent power shortages, and tackling high...

Ecobank Group has announced a significant milestone, reporting a net revenue exceeding $2 billion for the first time since 2015. This achievement underscores the early success of the bank’s Growth, Transformation, and Returns (GTR) strategy. Key financial indicators reflect the robust performance of the bank: Return on Tangible Equity (ROTE) stands at 24.9%, Cost-to-Income ratio...

Convicted in 2018 for robbing an agency of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) during the post-electoral crisis of 2011, which led to the death of 3,000 people, former Ivorian President, aged 78, has openly opposed this conviction. This happened at a rally in Agboville, 70 km north of Abidjan, organized by his...

AVCA launches the 2023 African Private Capital Activity Report London – 2nd April 2024 – AVCA – The African Private Capital Association – today announced the release of the 2023 African Private Capital Activity Report, the anticipated annual report providing insight into dealmaking, fundraising, exits and the key trends shaping Africa’s private capital landscape. In...

As a logical follow-up to the recent development of its gas strategy (Gas Master Plan), Mauritania has just launched – through Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière (SNIM) – a limited international consultation for the feasibility study of its offshore gas pipeline network. This thus comes opportunely in view of the “first gas” of phase 1 of Grand Tortue/Ahmeyin (GTA)  planned for 2023, the imminence of the signature of the final investment decision (FID) of the phase 2 of scheduled by end of 2022, as well as the promises of development of the gigantic offshore gas field BirAllah whose initial reserves…

In Algiers, French President Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by his Minister of Defense, Sébastien Lecornu, and 89 businessmen and intellectuals including the historian Benjamin Stora, did not escape the quarrel over memories and, for to resume its polemical expression, of the “memorial rent”. The tenant of the Elysée who had qualified in 2017, while passing through Algiers, when he was a presidential candidate, French colonization as a “crime against humanity”, has since returned to the red lines defended by the official history of France. “Gratitude yes, repentance no,” he will say in essence. “I often hear that, on the question of…

Nuclear energy was discussed during the audience granted on August 18, 2022 by Cameroonian Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute to his compatriot Enobot Agboraw, newly appointed Executive Secretary of the African Nuclear Energy Commission. Appointed only at the beginning of June 2022 by the President of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, after a selective process, the Cameroonian executive wants to give reality to an African nuclear energy program which is currently limited to regular declarations of intent in a context where, it must be emphasized, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), is losing ground. With…

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A coverage rate of 66% … which denotes the immaturity of the market or the low appetite of investors for securities deemed yet safe because issued by the State and indexed to the dollar.

The race for the “big five” metals of the energy transition is well underway but could quickly reproduce the drama of Kivu, a rich province of the RFC, today at the mercy of traffickers and armed gangs. These 5 most sought-after metals are copper, of which the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) precisely holds 80%...

It was his fifth presidential bid. The election of the last chance for this veteran, soft leftist, imprisoned for nine years, several times minister, prime minister but never president. This time, Raina Odinga, 77, head of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya (Coalition for Unity) coalition, is very close to the holy grail he had...

With his visit to Rwanda, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended a diplomatic tour on Thursday marking the return of the United States to the game of influence on the African continent. This last stage was undoubtedly the most closely scrutinized by the international community and the most delicate for the American diplomat who,...

President Ouattara caps commodity prices and subsidizes fuel at the risk of offending liberal orthodoxy. A costly but essential strategy for the preservation of social peace. The effort is substantial. The State of Côte d’Ivoire (Ba3 by Moody’s and BB- by S&P and Fitch) has granted subsidies of around 500 billion CFA francs (USD 778...

The Central Bank’s key rate has briskly crossed 200% and the Zimbabwean dollar has lost 72% of its value against the dollar in 7 months 1 USD = 361.9 ZWD] Zimbabwe sees its inflation rate peak at 256.9% in July against 191.6% in June. The former Southern Rhodesia, freed from Apartheid by Robert Mugabe in...

The uninhibited liberal Abdoulaye Wade and the Melenchonien socialist Ousmane Sonko would they form an alliance between the carp and the rabbit? After two democratic alternations in 2000 and 2012, Senegalese democracy is moving up a notch with, a first in the history of this country which has been voting since 1848, a virtual balance of power between the opposition and the power. The result of the vote puts the country of Teranga in the same configuration as Ghana, another great West African democracy with since the 2020 elections, a parliament comprising 137 deputies for the ruling party (New Patriotic…

Conakry had until August 1 to propose a “reasonable” deadline for the transition. An agreement had indeed been reached on July 20 between Guinean Bissau President Umaro Sissaco Embalo, current president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Colonel Mamadi Doymbouya, head of the National Committee of the Rally for Development (CNRD)...

Mr. Amadou Hott, Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation, signed two financing agreements with Dr. Sidi Ould TAH Director General of the Arab Bank for Development in Africa (BADEA). These agreements relate to the Emergency Access Roads Program and the Urban Modernization Project of four municipalities, for a total amount of 75 million dollars, or...

The volume of Islamic banking services in Egypt stood at around 429 billion Egyptian pounds EGP (more than 27 billion USD) in 2021, according to a report by the National Islamic Finance Association (Eifa). Up 17.4% from 2020, this level represents around 5% of the country’s total banking market size. According to the report presented...

The French Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, is the subject of a complaint from a Malian civil society organization before the economic and financial center of Bamako, an entity attached to the Ministry of Justice. The complaint relates to the awarding of a passport market under the former regime. On...

The Gabonese Reinsurance Company (SCG-Ré) will be listed on the Central African Stock Exchange (BVMAC) in 2022 in accordance with its expansion plan. The initial public offering of the subsidiary of the Gabonese Strategic Investment Fund (FGIS) in the equity compartment is in line with its development program, the objective being to cover the countries...