Author: Albert Savana

African countries are expected to continue strengthening their civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems as a foundation for robust and sustainable legal identity systems on the continent following the ongoing fifth conference of African ministers responsible for civil registration. This was said Tuesday by Zambia’s Home Affairs Minister, Stephen Kampyongo, during a ministerial media briefing on the conference that opened in Lusaka, Zambia, Monday. The conference is a standing regional forum of the African Union which was set up to provide policy directions for the transformation and accelerated improvement of civil registration and vital statistics systems in Africa. The…

The Attijariwafa Bank Group’s Africa Development Club has joined the Trade Club Alliance, officially launched on October 1 in London by the banking group Banco Santander. Created at the initiative of Banco Santander, this international network brings together 14 partner banks from Europe, Africa, Asia and America, supporting companies in their international business activities. This digital platform, gathering more than 16,000 member companies to date, covers 65% of international trade corridors and 46 countries with the prospect of reaching 90% and one million members at the interface of banking network platforms by 2022. Attijariwafa bank, a founding member of this…

Award-Winning Team to Focus on African Region’s Developmental Potential An award-winning team of communications specialists has officially launched Djembe Consultants, a global consultancy that advises local, regional and multinational organizations on how to achieve their full potential both within the African region and on the international stage. Rooted in Africa and with a network of fully operational offices in high growth countries, Djembe Consultants brings together the very highest international standards of a communications consultancy with the history, traditions and values of a dynamic business that understands Africa. With an existing wholly integrated network of full-time professionals in Africa, Asia, Europe, North…

Global broking business Brokerslink continues to strengthen its presence in Africa with the announcement of a new strategic partnership with African insurer SUNU Group. Brokerslink’s brokers and their clients will have access to exclusive wordings and health insurance plans with management delegation, and to SUNU’s specialist knowledge of local markets, multiple regulatory regimes and business cultures. The partnership will build on SUNU’s and Brokerslink’s strong mutual presence in a number of the Francophone countries in Africa and enable SUNU to expand its distribution relationships into more countries across Africa. Anne Collette, Director of Business Development for Brokerslink explained the importance…

The credit profile of Cameroon (B2, stable outlook) is constrained by the weak institutional environment and rising public and external debt, Moody’s Investors Service said in an annual report this week. Credit strengths include the economy’s relative diversification and the development of natural gas reserves, which offers the potential to compensate for gradually declining oil production. “Cameroon’s public and external debt has increased significantly on the back of the mostly externally financed public investment programme,” said Kelvin Dalrymple, a Moody’s Vice President – Senior Credit Officer and the report’s co-author. “This has exacerbated by the country’s below median revenue-generation capacity,…

Challenge Bank Al-Maghrib and Paris EUROPLACE, in partnership with HPS and Talan, are launching the Africa Blockchain Challenge for startups, particularly in Africa, with a view to implement innovative solutions using Blockchain or any other disruptive digital technology. This callfor projectsis being held underthe theme «Blockchain at the service of Financial Inclusion». The proposed solutions should cover one of the themes of financial inclusion, preferably one of the following topics: 1. Monitoring financial inclusion; 2. Funding very small business; 3. Strengthening financial education. Registrationsto this program are open on the website www.africablockchainchallenge.com until October 13th 2019. The selection criteria include…

Senegal has prioritised the development of renewable energy as it aims for universal access to electricity by 2025. Led by President Macky Sall, increased renewable energy generation is now core to the country’s power generation strategy. Senegal has huge potential for solar and wind energy, with photovoltaic (PV) technology now being introduced, while various wind power projects are already helping with rural electrification. Senegal has traditionally relied on imported liquid fuels for its oil and diesel-fired plants, but recent oil and gas discoveries could see the country become an oil exporter in the near future. The country will feature at…

Sawari Ventures, Egypt’s leading venture capital firm today announced that it has led a $4.5 million Series A investment round for e-learning platform, almentor.net with participation from Egypt Ventures, Endure Capital and angel investor Mohamed El Amin. This brings the total funding raised by the company to USD $8 million to date. almentor.net was launched in 2016 with a mission to address the lack of online personal development content for Arabic-speakers. The platform offers a catalogue of exclusive training videos and expert talks, introducing unique knowledge development solutions for the region in areas including health, technology, humanities, entrepreneurship and business management. “We are very pleased to have led this latest round.…

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Union Commission (AUC) on Wednesday assured Zimbabwe of continued technical support in assisting the country in its efforts to develop a national strategy to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). In remarks during the opening session of a two-day validation workshop of Zimbabwe’s national AfCFTA strategy, Mr. Batanai Chikwene, a Programme Management Officer with the ECA, said the organization was willing and prepared to support the government and people of Zimbabwe in their economic development process. “The ECA through the UN system in Zimbabwe will continue…

L-R: UN-ASG Mohamed Beavogui, Director-General, African Risk Capacity, and Dr. Stergomena L. Tax, Executive Secretary, Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) exchanging copies of the MoU at the SADC Secretariat, Gaborone, Botswana. “The partnership will enable us to systematically work with SADC to better profile disaster risks facing the region, strengthen existing response capacities and contingency plans, and offer sovereign insurance options to enable rapid action when natural catastrophes occur” – ASG Mohamed Beavogui, DG, ARC The African Risk Capacity (ARC) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Secretariat today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen resilience in the…

To benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area, Zimbabwe must deploy deliberate strategies towards ensuring the private sector, a key stakeholder in production and trade, is strategically positioned to exploit larger market opportunities offered by the AfCFTA, with reduced tariff and non-tariff barriers, says Batanai Chikwene, an Economic Affairs Officer at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Speaking at a workshop organised by the Zimbabwe government, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the ECA in Harare today, Mr. Chikwene said it was imperative for Zimbabwe to address supply-side constraints limiting the productive capacity of its industry to stimulate competitiveness…

This week global business and research pioneer, Dalberg, partnered with The Africa Center and the African Leadership Institute to Launch (AFLI) the “Future Forum” initiative in New York City. This future-forward project brings together leaders and innovators from across Africa, and the world, to create a shared vision around today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities – especially those related to African youth and employment. The event, structured around Africa @ Work, created a platform promoting curated conversations between Africans and Diaspora. “Africa@Work is a conversation between Africans and the Diaspora that aims deepen our shared understanding of African labor market complexities,…

Three Middle Eastern countries rank in the Standard Chartered Trade20 Index, which identifies the markets with the greatest potential for future trade growth Oman and the UAE feature in the top 10 markets that have most rapidly improved their trade growth potential over the past decade, according to new research from Standard Chartered (www.SC.com). The Trade20 Index, which identifies the 20 rising stars of global trade, also features Bahrain among the nations that have shown the most progression. The Trade20 Index determined each market’s potential for trade growth over the past 10 years by analysing economic dynamism, trade readiness and…

On the margins of the United Nations Climate Action Summit convened by the Secretary-General, H.E. Mr Antonio Guterres to drum up support for climate action, a group of like-minded countries, financiers, project developers and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) launched on Monday an initiative to energize climate resilient development in Africa faster, better and cleaner with deployment of 10,000 MW by 2025 The SDG7 Initiative for Africa is aimed at crowding in private sector finance for accelerated clean energy deployment to address Africa’s increasing need for energy, while contributing to climate action through more ambitious nationally determined contributions…

Afreximbank President Prof. Benedict Oramah displays the 2019 African Renaissance and Diaspora Network Private Sector Development Award he received at the United Nations Headquarters. With him were Dr. Djibril Diallo, CEO of ARDN (left) and Constance Newman, Chairman of ARDN. Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), yesterday at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, received the 2019 African Renaissance and Diaspora Network Private Sector Development Award.      The award, presented by the African Renaissance and Diaspora Network (ARDN) during the “Africa: Open for Business Summit” on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, celebrates leadership…

Major building blocks to catalyse the entry of Central African countries into the fourth industrial revolution, induced by digital transformations, have been laid at an intergovernmental conference extended to the private sector and academia, taking place in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. On the second day of this annual subregional meeting convened by both the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Government of Equatorial Guinea, experts weaved outlines to a framework that could blitz a transition to a subregional digital economy pronged on: public-private partnerships (PPP’s), e-commerce and technological innovations. Public private partnerships According to a first group of the…

African Youth Climate Hub aims to mobilize youth’s voices from the Global South A major new climate change initiative focused on promoting ideas and solutions from young Africans has been launched during the 2019 Climate Action Summit of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, by Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, President of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection. As a committed global leader, Her Royal Highness has, for several decades, consistently and concretely put Youth and the Public at the center of the activities of the Foundation, with a…

The workshop notably provided information on training and capacity building in Uganda’s oil & gas sector KAMPALA, Uganda, September 24, 2019/ — In line with Oranto Petroleum’s commitment to domestic capacity building and local content development across sub-Saharan Africa, the company organized a tender workshop in Uganda in partnership with the Petroleum Authority of Uganda, the Local Government Administration and KITADI consultancy. Organized in the region of the Albertine Graben where Oranto Petroleum has its Ngassa licenses, the workshop was attended by over 250 participants, a majority of which were business owners and entrepreneurs. “Oranto understands that oil resources have…

It is urgent to break away from generic and unproductive approaches towards digital transformations in Central Africa that have caused no real change on the ground for the last two decades and act on a new paradigm that would spur sustainable development in the subregion, experts have asserted. The entreaty was made during a high-level debate on the digital economy in Central Africa, described as the least advanced on the continent, on the first day of the 35th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of Senior Officials and Experts (ICE) for the subregion. The conference has assembled more than a hundred…

Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Senegal will continue to showcase their hydrocarbon potential at the 2019 Africa Oil & Power conference and exhibition. Senegal and South Sudan will launch their next oil and gas licensing round at AOP 2019. Senegalese President, H.E Macky Sall, will be honoured as Africa Oil Man of the Year by Africa Oil & Power for his work in developing the Senegalese energy sector. Registration is open for the 2019 Africa Oil & Power conference in October 9 -11. The conference will take place at the CTICC1 in Cape Town, South Africa. Determined to attract investment and…

West Africa Rating Agency (WARA) has raised the long-term rating of CFAO Motors Ivory Coast, a subsidiary of the CFAO group specialized in the sale of motor vehicles, from “BBB +” to “A-” with a stable perspective. “This rating is two notches below the Ivorian national ceiling, which is set to ‘A +'”, specify those responsible for this rating structure based in Dakar. They add that the short-term rating is “w-3” with a stable outlook. According to WARA, the rise in the CFAO Motors CI rating is the result, among other things, of a consolidation of its position as a…

The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), managed by the African Development Bank has approved a $500,000 grant to support the development and launch of the Nigeria Energy Access Fund (NEAF), a new private equity fund developed by All On, a Nigerian impact investment firm financed by Shell. NEAF will make strategic investments in sustainable energy in Nigeria, particularly in the country’s burgeoning off-grid and mini-grid sectors. The SEFA grant will support specific workstreams to set NEAF in motion and enhance its engagement with private and public sector investors. NEAF will be a first-of-its-kind facility to provide eligible projects and…

The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, in partnership with the Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union Commission (AUC) held an AfCFTA Sensitization Workshop in Lilongwe on Tuesday 17 September. This workshop brought together approximately 100 participants from the private sector, civil society organizations, government and academia. The purpose of the workshop was to promote dialogue and develop a better understanding of the AfCFTA, as well as, secure consensus for Malawi to ratify the AfCFTA Agreement. In his official opening remarks, Dr. Joseph Mkandawire, Director of Administration and Finance, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, delivered a speech…

Democratic Republic of Congo conducts national consultation on the AfCFTA Addis Ababa, September 17, 2019 (ECA) – By establishing a single market of 1.2 billion individuals representing $ 2.5 trillion of cumulative GDP, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is an important lever to increase the production capacity of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and unlock its commercial potential. It also offers the prospect of generating higher value-added processing opportunities for this state of more than 85 million people, which shares borders with nine neighboring countries and faces the challenge of diversifying its economy. Against this backdrop, a…

Finnfund supports the expansion of Yalelo Limited, an integrated tilapia aquaculture company in Zambia with a 6 million US dollar equity investment. It is the first direct investment by Finnfund in Zambia. Yalelo is the largest aquaculture company in Africa, producing 12,000 tons of tilapia annually. With the investments from Finnfund and Dutch FMO, Yalelo intends to expand its annual production to 25,000 tons. The rising population of Zambia, together with significant overfishing, has created a challenge for food security. Sustainable aquaculture provides a solution: tilapia is one of the most efficient sources of protein and has a much lower…

The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) is extending USD 100,000 in grant funding to assist the victims of Cyclones Idai and Kenneth in Mozambique. A ceremony to mark the occasion was held on Friday the 13th of September at INGC’s offices in Maputo where the grant was presented by Dr. Mabouba Diagne, TDB Coverage Executive, Franco-Lusophone Africa. “Food relief items were identified as some of the most pressing needs to be catered to”, commented Isabel Sumar, TDB’s Non-executive Director from the Ministry of Finance of Mozambique. These will be supplied by Merec Industries and Phoenix Mozambique, TDB’s…

• Africa Oil & Power (AOP) is outraged by the violent attacks on foreign nationals living in South Africa. As government adopts measures to ensure safety for all, AOP calls for violence to come to an end. • As of Monday, the South African Police has made 639 arrests related to the xenophobic attacks in South Africa.  • South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa says there is no justification for the attacks and calls on ministers and the police service to find solutions to address the violence. Africa Oil & Power (AOP) and its partners strongly condemn the violent attacks on foreign nationals living in South Africa which have resulted in businesses being looted and at least 12 lives claimed. In addressing the issue with determination to…

Zimbabwe has confirmed that it will host the 6th Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) which will be held in the resort town of Victoria Falls from 24-27 February, 2020. Officials from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) met Monday with senior government officials, including Labour, Public Service and Social Welfare Minister, Ms. Sekai Nzenza, in the first preparatory meeting towards Harare’s successful hosting of the Forum. Ms. Nzenza said Zimbabwe is proud to host the ARFSD, adding the Forum is a great opportunity for the country to showcase itself and its transitional stabilisation programme, whose major…

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced the opening of registration for its 20th Afreximbank Trade Finance Seminar and Workshop, which will take place in Durban, South Africa, from 4 to 7 November 2019. The seminar and workshop series, formerly known as the Structured Trade Finance Seminar and Workshop, is being organized this year in collaboration with the South African province of Kwazulu-Natal. The series aims to equip African financial institutions, bankers and professionals from regulatory agencies, corporates and legal firms with skills for dealing with the challenges of financing transactions in times of economic uncertainty. In an announcement in Cairo…

Africa Finance Corporation (“AFC” or “the Corporation”), Africa’s leading investment-grade infrastructure solutions provider, announces the successful closure of general syndication which raised US$ 233 million and JPY 1 billion. MUFG Bank, Ltd. (“MUFG”) and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (“SMBC”) acted as Mandated Lead Arranger and Bookrunner. MUFG will be acting as Facility Agent on the transaction, while SMBC will be acting as Documentation Agent. The Facility, which comprises two tranches, with both tranches (US$-denominated Tranche A and JPY-denominated Tranche B) carrying a tenor of three years each (bullet repayment), is AFC’s first Asian-currency denominated loan facility. It is an important step…