Author: Amadjiguéne Ndoye

Multinational mining company Endeavor Mining has announced merger talks with West African rival Teranga Gold as safe-haven gold prices have risen thanks to the global stimulus to protect savings from the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a so-called “equal style” merger, the Canadian miner is considering an all-equity purchase and may offer a low premium for Toronto-listed Teranga. Endeavor, which is 24.12% owned by the Egyptian Sawiris family, is on the trail of acquisitions this year as gold prices have risen on the global stimulus. Last March, Endeavor Mining acquired Semafo to become Burkina Faso’s largest gold producer, one…

African e-commerce platform Jumia announced an almost 18% drop in revenue in the third quarter, from 49.9 million euros ($ 58.8 million) in 2019 to 32 , 4 million euros ($ 38.3 million) currently. The firm has refocused its strategy on cheaper items; a reduction in costs which enabled Jumia to reduce its adjusted loss of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the period. According to figures in the latest quarterly report, Jumia’s gross profit after execution costs reached 6.6 million euros ($ 7.7 million), compared to a loss of 1.7 million euros (2 million dollars) in the…

Nigerian fintech start-up Kuda has closed a $ 10 million seed funding round to accelerate its growth and meet customer demand. Kuda joins the list of startups that have crossed the $ 1 billion valuation threshold, including Paystack and Interswitch. The tour de table is led by Target Global with participation from Entry Capital and SBI Investment, and also involving leading fintech founders and angel investors such as Raffael Johnen, Johan Lorenzen, Brandon Krieg, Ed Robinson and Oliver and Lish Jung. The funds will be used for key recruitments, product development and expansion of operations across Africa. This is a…

Allianz announced on Friday, November 6 that its total revenue reached 31.4 billion euros ($ 37.2 billion) in the third quarter (Q3) of 2020, after falling 6.1% from the corresponding period of the previous year. In the same period, the group achieved operating profit of 2.9 billion euros ($ 3.4 billion), down 2.6% compared to the same period in 2019. Operating profit came to 7.8 billion euros, rising to 9.1 billion euros excluding the impact of COVID-19. Net income attributable to shareholders for the quarter was up 5.9% to 2.1 billion euros due to higher non-operating investment income, partially offset…

The African Import-Export Bank, Afreximbank, announced the establishment of a $ 1.5 billion mechanism in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (COPREFA) to finance African countries to fight against economic impact of the pandemic. In addition to Afreximbank, the facility is co-financed by the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) – the trade finance arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) – and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA). The funds will be made available to African central banks and trade organizations and will finance the equipment needed to meet the challenges of food security. Funding will be…

The second annual retreat of the African Permanent Representatives and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) ended in Mahe, Seychelles, late Tuesday following two days of intense dialogue on key development priorities that can lead to accelerated development in Africa. Debate on climate change took centre stage as Ambassadors and ECA experts discussed how the continent, in particular small island developing States (SIDS), can leverage new technologies and research to mitigate the impact and vulnerabilities they face due to their remoteness, frontline exposure and levels of development. Africa has six SIDS namely Cabo Verde, the Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritius, Sao Tome…

The Egyptian Central Bank on Thursday (November 14th) announced the upcoming creation of a $ 600 million company to guarantee export credits to Africa. The company in creation will have as main mission to support the industrial exports and services towards Africa. In addition, it will provide support to Egyptian construction companies to win important projects from African governments. It should be noted that the African Export-Import Bank acted as technical adviser to the project. “Egypt, which assumes the presidency of the African Union this year, aims to become a business gateway for business with Africa and strengthen its trade…

Rwanda is expected to grow by 8.5 percent, according to a new forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday (November 13th). The IMF had previously forecast 7.8% growth for the country. Also, according to the IMF, growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) exceeded expectations, averaging 10.3% in the first half of 2019. “Rwanda has grown above 10 percent in the first half of 2019. All major indications show continued growth,” said Laure Redifer, head of the IMF’s Rwanda mission in Kigali. Justifying this growth, Laure Refugee cited major construction projects undertaken by the Rwandan government, an increase…

South African insurer and financial services group Sanlam has announced the completion of the acquisition process of the Rwandan insurance company Soras Insurance General Ltd., which will now operate under the Sanlam brand. The complete merger was announced Wednesday, November 13 in Kigali by officials of both companies. The acquisition process began in 2014, when Sanlam acquired 63% of the capital of Soras before becoming a full owner in 2018. “We now have all the shares and passed the acquisition phase. We are now entering the organic phase to ensure that our presence in Rwanda corresponds to a pan-African vision…

Media, Technology, Business and Senior Government Leaders from All Over Africa and Beyond Debated 10-12 November in Dakar, Senegal on “Business Strategies for the Media” African “. On the Bloomberg initiative, the fifth annual Bloomberg Africa Business Media Innovators Forum (ABMI) focused more on some very promising approaches to foster a vibrant and competitive media sector on the continent. Justin B. Smith, CEO of Bloomberg Media Group, answers Financial Afrik’s questions. Does digitalization force African media to reinvent itself? The digitization of the media should not be debated, it is a reality. You know everything is destined to become digital,…

Published on the theme of the 2063 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the 2019 Africa Governance Report is based on data from the Mo Ibrahim Index of Governance in Africa. The report focuses on the need for African states to improve the availability of data to achieve development goals. Ms. Aïcha Bah Diallo, spokesperson for the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, former Minister of Education of Guinea, adviser to the NGO / UNESCO Liaison Committee for Girls’ Education in Africa, answers Financial Afrik’s questions. Why have this report focused on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union…

Morocco’s Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) announced on Wednesday, September 18, a net profit of 1.64 billion dirhams (170 million dollars) in the first half of 2019, an increase of 5.5%. The bank recorded during the same period, a growth of 4.8% of its net banking income to reach 8.78 billion dirhams (907 million dollars). In a statement issued to that effect, the Moroccan bank indicates that total deposits reached 286 billion dirhams (29.5 billion dollars) in June 2019, including 4 billion dirhams (413 million dollars) additional collected from Moroccan individuals and the diaspora. At the same time loans granted by…

Insurance companies in Kenya saw their profits plummet to less than 61.5% in 2018 to reach $ 33 million, marking their worst year of growth. On this same decreasing slope, the sector recorded a cumulative profit after tax of $ 33.7 million in 2018 compared to $ 87.7 million in 2017. Note that the largest loss in the sector is recorded in the non-life business, which posted a loss of $ 26.6 million against $ 9.5 million a year earlier. In addition, commissions and expenses grew almost steadily with figures increasing from $ 652.7 million to $ 660.3 million. Growth…

The National Insurance Commission of Nigeria (NAICOM) has authorized the insurance companies Cornerstone Takaful Insurance Company Limited and Salam Takaful Insurance Company Ltd. to operate in the Nigerian market. It should be noted that the two companies, which have just obtained the agreement in principle from the regulatory body, have been approved as Takaful composite operators for the family and general commercial transactions of Takaful in Nigeria. “The approval in principle granted to the two new companies is in line with our desire for inclusion to increase the penetration of insurance in the country,” said NAICOM in a statement released…

The Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC) announces that it has raised 1.2 billion shillings ($ 11.5 million) in equity from eight Kenyan commercial banks. The Kenya Commercial Bank Group (KCB) led the banks involved in this fundraising. The bank committed itself to 600 million shillings ($ 5.7 million) in equity for a stake of 25.3%. The remaining funds are Co-operative Bank 200 million shillings ($ 1.9 million), representing 8.4%; NIC Group, HF Group, Barclays Bank of Kenya and Diamond Trust Bank Kenya each paid 50 million Shillings ($ 481,000) of equity for a 2.1% interest. Stanbic Bank and Credit Bank…

The international rating agency Standard & Poor’s believes that the credit quality of the assets held by the monetary fund FCP Capital Monetary, managed by BMCE Capital Gestion, management company of the BMCE Bank of Africa group, is strong and comparable to other ratings issued by S & P internationally. Standard and Poor’s has just attributed the double rating of credit quality and volatility ‘Af / S1 +’ to the fund. The ‘S1 +’ rating means that the fund has very low volatility in returns comparable to that of a portfolio of short-duration Treasury Bonds with the highest credit quality…

BMCE Capital announces the launch of an open innovation program, called “CAP’TECH by BMCE Capital”, with the aim of improving the experience of its customers, strengthening internal collaboration and streamlining its processes. In a press release issued on September 5th, the institution indicates that the program launched in partnership with the technology startup LaFactory by ScreenDy, will allow BMCE Capital to establish partnerships with African or African diaspora start-ups. The goal is to design together innovative solutions that meet the identified challenges. Casablanca will welcome the selected start-ups for three days, to give them the opportunity to collaborate with the…

Ghana’s GCB Bank Limited has been recognized as the Best African Bank for Compliance by the Association of Certified Professionals in Compliance in Africa (ACCPA). Ghana Commercial Bank was in competition with five mainland banks including FNB (South Africa), Standard Chartered Bank (Kenya), BANGE (Equatorial Guinea) and BAI (Angola). At the award ceremony last weekend...

The South African insurer Sanlam Ltd plans to invest in Egypt in the year 2020, according to its CEO, Ian Kirk, in a statement made to Reuters. The group had recently announced its intention to take a stake in an Egyptian company once the appropriate partner found. For the first half of 2019, the group...

Al Baraka Bank South Africa, a subsidiary of Al Baraka Banking Group based in Bahrain, announces for the first half of 2019, a net profit up 64% over the same period in 2018. In the financial statements reported in a bank press release, it is noted that total operating income increased by 7% to $...

With an expected 6% increase in 2019, Sukuk or Islamic bond issues around the world are expected to reach about $ 130 billion, up from $ 123 billion in 2018, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The show will increase for the fourth year in a row. According to Moody’s, this increase is attributable to the intensification of activities in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, which made it possible to issue large issues of $ 87 billion in the first six months, up 37% over the same period. last year, thus reducing the need for financing. However, volumes in the second half…

With an assembly plant planned in Ghana next November, Volkswagen South Africa (VWSA), a subsidiary of the German automaker of the same name, is consolidating in West Africa and confirms its expansion on the continent. The installation will be done through a joint venture with Universal Motors, its historic partner in Accra, according to VWSA CEO Thomas Schaefer, who says the final details will be finalized in the next 4 weeks. The automaker previously signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ghanaian government last September to establish a vehicle assembly facility in the country and assess the feasibility of introducing…

Orange Money Morocco is officially operational on the Moroccan kingdom since the publication of its approval in the official bulletin of August 12, 2019. This launch comes almost 11 years after its start in Africa, Côte d’Ivoire. The new subsidiary has a capital of 10 million dirhams ($ 1 million). It will offer payment services, including the transfer of funds, cash deposits and withdrawals to a payment account, the execution of payment transactions, the execution of permanent collection or unitary payment transactions by card and the execution of transfer to a payment account. As a reminder, it is in February…

Signed between Maroc Telecom and the Moroccan government, Monday, August 26, the sixth investment agreement between the two parties concerns the development of telecommunications in the Kingdom through the realization, over the next three years (2019-2021), an investment program of 10 billion dirhams (about 1 billion dollars). Through a press release issued on the same date, the Moroccan telecom operator indicates that the said convention will bring the total cumulative volume of its investments to more than 68 billion dirhams (7.10 billion dollars). The agreement will allow, among other things, the development and reinforcement of the telecommunications infrastructure, the deployment…

As of August 20, many Nigerian insurance companies have complied with the deadline set by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to submit their recapitalization plans. Companies submitting their plans include AXA Mansard Insurance Plc, Allianz Nigeria Insurance Plc, SUNU Plc Insurance, FBNInsurance, NEM Insurance Plc, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, LASACO Insurance, AIICO Insurance Plc and Mutual...

Nigerian telecommunications company 9mobile announced on Sunday (August 25th) a $ 230 million loan from Africa Finance Corporation, a multilateral financial institution specialized in financing infrastructure projects in Africa. The announced amount, divided into two tranches, will enable 9mobile to pay off existing debt, finance its costs and invest in growth. “We can only express our gratitude to the AFC for approving this loan facility which will not only contribute to the sustainability of our business, but also to its growth to better serve our many loyal customers in Nigeria. We have completely revised our operational, regulatory, financial and technical…

Egypt’s Housing and Development Bank (HDB) reports net profit after taxes of 1.072 billion Egyptian pounds ($ 64.7 million) in the first half of 2019, an increase of 7.8%. In a statement to this effect, the bank said the portfolio of loans and advances is estimated at 14.85 billion Egyptian pounds (896 million dollars), an increase of 9.2%. At the same time customer deposits reached 37.2 billion Egyptian pounds, or 2.2 billion dollars. HDB’s total turnover is 2.07 billion Egyptian pounds ($ 124 million), compared to about 1.9 billion Egyptian pounds ($ 114 million), a growth of 8.7% over the…

MCB Group Ltd, owner of the second largest bank in Mauritius, now has a representative office of its wholly-owned Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd (MCB) at the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC). The new subsidiary is entrusted to the banker Sebastian Graewert, appointed senior representative for the MENA and Asia regions, based in Dubai. Graewert is a former Credit Suisse, UBS and Indosuez. “Establishing a presence in Dubai and getting Sebastian to join the firm is an important part of our international growth strategy,” said Alain Law Min, President and CEO of MCB in a statement released on Sunday. Founded in…

Investment bank Sterling Capital, based in Kenya, announces the acquisition of a 20% stake in private equity firm Afvest. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed. It should be noted that this acquisition is part of Sterling Capital’s investment strategy targeting start-up companies and entrepreneurs with the potential to generate high returns. Sterling Capital said the acquisition will diversify its investment portfolio, consisting primarily of equities and bonds, into the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) segment. In March, Sterling Capital launched a hedge fund of 2 billion shillings, with the support of Kuramo Capital, a private equity firm based…

Investec Asset Management (IAM) announced on Sunday (July 14th) its first private equity investment in Egypt with the acquisition of the supermarket chain Spinneys Egypt. Investec bought Spinneys Egypt from Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Group, which acquired the company in 2014, but subsequently liquidated it as a result of the financial crisis. Negotiations for the acquisition of the Egyptian firm had begun in March. This type of investment offers us the opportunity to support the accelerated expansion of the business in Egypt and we are delighted with this very attractive growth opportunity for the company, “said Nick Marsh, Investment…