Author: Rédaction Financial Afrik

The members of the Selection Committee of The Africa Road Builders – Babacar NDIAYE Trophy met on May 05, 2021 by videoconference, as part of the annual meeting to designate the winner of the Super Prize Grand-Bâtisseur – Babacar NDIAYE Trophy. The meeting was attended by representatives of several media from all sub-regions of Africa. The Selection Committee worked on the basis of the 2021 report made by the Media Network for Infrastructure and Finance in Africa (MIFA). The Selection Committee also took into account the public reports of international institutions and organizations in the field of road and transport…

Banque Populaire launched on Wednesday May 19, 2021 in Fez “Les Régionales de l’Investissement”, the first step in a series of 10 unprecedented regional meetings across the Kingdom, in the service of economic recovery. First step of its roadshow “The Regional Investment”, which takes place until July 08, 2021 in 10 large cities of the Kingdom, the Banque Populaire organized Wednesday May 19 in Fez a first meeting in the form of a webinar, in the strict compliance with health rules and monitored directly by more than 300 economic operators. The kick-off of this event, which is part of the…

The year 2020 was marked, in Côte d’Ivoire as in the rest of the world, by an economic and health crisis, due to the explosion of the COVID19 pandemic. In this context, it seemed important to us, for this year 2021 which should correspond to a pivotal year, to lay the groundwork which would allow an effective exit from the crisis for the Ivory Coast. This edition of the Country Risk Conferences will thus place particular emphasis on the impacts of the health crisis on the economy and on populations; the various panels will also discuss, and this is the…

The Comorian President, Azali Assouman, is attending the summit on the financing of the African economies most affected by COVID-19 on May 18, 2021 in Paris. While the pandemic is responsible for the decline in African GDP by 1.9% in 2020, the Comoros will post economic growth of 0.2% in 2020 against an initial projection of 4.5% according to the Central Bank of the Comoros. For the archipelago, quick and immediate solutions are needed to stay on the path to emergence. Announced last April, the summit on the financing of African economies opens this Tuesday, May 18 in Paris. Around…

At the end of its first financial year, on April 30, 2021, the FCP SOAGA EPARGNE ACTIONS recorded a performance of 27.26%. This performance, achieved while the market has alternated between bearish and bullish trends, confirms the relevance of the choice of SOAGA, to launch an equity fund in a bearish context. For Mr. Dally GOTTA, manager of the equity fund, this performance is a source of satisfaction, as this fund is part of SOAGA’s vision of offering its savers dynamic and competitive products. The SOAGA ÉPARGNE ACTIONS FCP is a fund accessible to all. Units initially valued at FCFA…

The UEMOA Regional Mortgage Refinancing Fund (CRRH-UEMOA), in partnership with the World Bank, organized on Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 May 2021, by videoconference, a second training workshop on “ENVIRONMENTAL RISK AND SOCIAL HOUSING LOANS IN UEMOA ”. This workshop is in line with the recommendations for the regular republication of the workshops on the environmental and social risk of home loans from the first workshop. The objective of this workshop is to build on the achievements of the first workshop on best practices for managing the environmental and social risks of housing loans in each country of the Union…

Douala, Cameroon – 11 May 2021 – Maviance PLC (www.smobilpay.cm), a Cameroon-based fintech, announced today that it has closed its Seed investment round of USD 3 million from the pan-African digital payments hub MFS Africa, which comes on board as a strategic investor. Maviance will be using the new funding to increase its footprint in its Cameroon and to expand into other countries in the central African economic region (CEMAC). Maviance chose MFS Africa as an investor to leverage on its pan-African infrastructure and its vast product offering and partnerships to deliver new digital financial products in the CEMAC region.…

Millions of unbanked and financially excluded residents in the DRC will have access to formal financial and digital services Mastercard technology to enable the development of various digital payment solutions The partnership is aligned with the DRC’s National Digital Plan (PNN) Mastercard has partnered with Billetera, Kenya, to provide millions of residents of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with access to formal financial and digital payment services. The partnership aims to support the vision of the DRC government, which, under the leadership of President Félix Tshisekedi, has an ambitious digitization program aligned with the country’s National Digital Plan…

WIC Capital and WE! Fund, a fund of the Sovereign Fund of Strategic Investments (FONSIS) of Senegal and UNCDF (United Nations Capital Development Fund) dedicated to SMEs, announce their investment in the Senegalese startup MBURU. MBURU is a bakery brand created in 2019 in Ngaparou, in the Thiès region, by Ms. Isseu DIOP SAKHO and operated by the company PATRIA. MBURU specializes in the production and marketing of breads, pastries and pastries made from local raw materials (millet, corn, sorghum, seasonal fruits, etc.). These cereals are still little used in Senegalese bakeries despite their nutritional value and local availability. MBURU…

Accused by the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) of being the “intellectual responsible” for the “financial debacle” of the agro-industrial project of Bukanga Lonzo, the former Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo, who became a senator, denounces a file ” riddled with lies ”. He is the subject of a request for a waiver of immunity by the justice system which has seized the upper house of Parliament. “If respect for the truth was respected, we would not even have asked for the lifting of immunity because the file of the General Inspectorate of Finance on which the initiative of this…

Air Senegal will connect Washington via New York at the rate of two frequencies per week from September 2. As of this date, Air Senegal will be the only African company to operate regular direct flights between the United States and Senegal. This connection will be made by Airbus A330 neo, an ultra modern aircraft, equipped with the latest generation amenities. Attractive prices, easy and fast connections via Dakar: The fares are already available for sale with attractive prices for all the destinations served by Air Senegal which connect in both directions via Dakar. Flight schedules will also facilitate connections…

(Premium article offered) In Guinea, a rather curious provision of an order signed by the Minister of the Budget, Ismaël Djoubaté, worries investors. Indeed, decree A / 2021/816 / MB / CAB / SGG of April 27, 2021 applying the provisions of article 16 of the 2021 Finance Law cancels all tax and customs exemptions...

Enrich in Africa (EIA) is launching a 3-month call for projects “Bees soft-landing program powered by EIA”, which intends to select 10 African entrepreneurs, start-ups or SMEs. Bees soft-landing program is initiated and funded by the European Commission through a consortium of twelve African and European organizations (streinbeis 2i, Bpi France, Impact hub, Methys Group, etc.). The objective of this project is to support African entrepreneurs in the development of their business in Europe and, also, to reconnect the entrepreneurial ecosystems of these two continents.The soft-landing program will allow entrepreneurs to participate in development training. international included in the project.…

The Development Innovation Fund (FID) is an innovative initiative to support innovations that help reduce poverty and inequalities in the world. Through grant funding following flexible modalities, the FID enables innovative and research teams to test new ideas, take strategic risks, demonstrate what works and deploy on a large scale the solutions that have the most positive impact. and the most efficient for reducing poverty and inequalities. A new innovation fund for development (FID) has been set up by the French Development Agency (AFD) since December 2020. Open and flexible, FID finances any innovative solution that aims to fight against…

A monument of the Pan-African press bows out. The founder of the pan-African group Jeune Afrique, Bashir Ben Yahmed, died Sunday evening (May 2, 2021) at the age of 93. At the head of the Jeune Afrique group since its creation on October 17, 1960, Béchir Ben Yahmed was ephemeral minister of the first government of Habib Bourguiba, in 1953, barely 28 years old, before crossing the Mediterranean. In Paris, he spent decades delivering his point of view in his editorial “What I believe”, the opening of a newspaper that has become more than a newspaper among the elites of…

As part of the international online conference organized by the ECOWAS Commission, from April 28 to May 10, 2021, to share its experience of food security storage with its partners and other regions of the world, humanitarian agencies have come together committed to supporting and accompanying the West African food security storage system. This declaration follows discussions on food reserves and management of recurrent and expansive food, nutritional and pastoral crises in West Africa: achievements, lessons, current challenges and prospects for the regional food security storage strategy. Humanitarian agencies, in their interventions of April 29, 2021, noted the potential of…

The Sanlam Group is strengthening its stake in Saham Assurance Maroc, increasing it from 61.7% to 84.5% of the share capital and voting rights of SAHAM Assurance Maroc, following the acquisition of 22.8% of the shares of Sanam Group for a total amount of 1,241 million dirhams (or 1,320 dirhams per share). This investment is made entirely by the Sanlam Group in foreign currencies. As a reminder, SAHAM Assurance (leader in Non-Life insurance in Morocco, listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange) had until then been 61.7% owned by Sanlam Pan Africa Maroc, a holding company incorporated under Moroccan law which,…

The international financial rating agency Standard & Poor’s maintained the rating assigned to the Republic of Benin, with a stable outlook. This decision once again attests to the resilience of the country’s economic fundamentals, which led the agency to maintain Benin’s rating in June and October 2020, despite the Covid-19 crisis. “Standard & Poor’s welcomes the ambitious reforms implemented within the framework of the Government’s Action Program, and the quality of the management of the Covid-19 crisis by the authorities”, indicates a press release from the Beninese Ministry of the Economy and Finance. Benin has thus preserved the dynamism of…

AZA Finance’s merger with South African fintech Exchange4Free aims to double the volume of annual transactions to more than $ 2.5 billion, and expand the reach to 115 countries worldwide. Nairobi, April 29, 2021 – Following a wave of consolidation generated by the transformation of the global digital payments system, AZA Finance has agreed to acquire cross-border payments specialist Exchange4Free, becoming the largest non-bank service provider FX cash flow across Africa. The acquisition of Exchange4Free, South Africa’s largest non-bank currency broker, will allow AZA Finance to double the volume of its transactions to more than $ 2.5 billion in 2021,…

200 of Tunisia’s elite medical students will have access to Harvard Medical School’s HMX online learning platform in the next five years. The funding will enable medical faculties at the Universities of Tunis El Manar, Sfax, Sousse and Monastir, to offer Harvard Medical School fundamental courses and lectures in biochemistry, genetics, immunology, physiology and pharmacology. Successful students will obtain an HMX certificate, alongside their local university degree. Agreement made possible thanks to a US$1 million scholarship gift by Hazem Ben-Gacem that will fully finance this initiative. Enabling Tunisian students to attend Harvard Medical School online courses (HMX), builds on the…

Malians living abroad, and more particularly their investment practices and intentions in Mali, are at the heart of an online study just launched by the new investment fund Zira Capital intended to support SMEs, very small businesses and Malian start-ups. This new device carried by IPDEV II (fund managed by “Investors & Partners”) which has already sponsored and participated in the launch of funds in five African countries (Senegal, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Burkina and Niger) and Mohamed Youssouf Keita, with the support of IFAD and the European Union, aims in a participatory approach to strategically involve the Malian diaspora and…

A food company, CDL focuses on transforming fonio, a former African superfood, into a range of fonio-based products. ShEquity today announced its investment in the Beninese startup Céréales de Laury (CDL). Céréales de Laury is an agri-food start-up focused on the transformation of fonio (an ancient African super-food cereal) into a range of products that easily adapts to the culinary needs of the average African: semolina, infant flour for food. healthy and balanced for babies or even degué (popular dessert in several West African countries). These products are 100% natural, nutritious and gluten-free and have virtues that can improve the…

On March 15, 2021, Outsource Monetic ™, an Atlanta GA-based startup, officially began commercial and technical operations in West and Central Africa. Outsource Monetic ™ is the 1st Independent Operator of Automated Banking Machines (or IAD – Independent ATM Deployer) to operate in the 8 WAEMU countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo) and the 6 CEMAC countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon). “We are delighted and excited to start our startup in West and Central Africa,” said Mika DIOL, Founder and CEO of Outsource Monetic ™; “Thanks to…

As part of the project on the second container terminal in the Port of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire Terminal is announcing the order of 36 electric towing vehicles from the manufacturer Gaussin. The new handling machines will equip the future container terminal, construction work on which was launched in October 2020 by Côte d’Ivoire Terminal. The order, for a total of €9.9 million (6.5 billion CFA francs), is one of the commitments made by the leading shareholders of Côte d’Ivoire Terminal, Bolloré Ports and APM Terminals as part of the public-private partnership signed with the Côte d’Ivoire authorities. It is notably…

Watch it live on Friday April 23 from 10am GMT on financialafrik.com, YouTube and Facebook. On the occasion of the release of his book ”CFA Franc, Eco and Monetary Sovereignty, Stakes and Reality”, published by NEI-CEDA Editions, Kouassi Kouamé will answer Financial Afrik’s questions, in a debate on CFA Franc reforms, and the transition to Eco. Engineer Statistician Economist, Mr. KOUASSI has served at several levels of responsibility, as Director General of Budget and Finance at the Ivorian Ministry of Economy and Finance, Director and Administrator of the BCEAO, Chairman of the Board in various public and private institutions .

London, 20 April 2021 – Global and African dignitaries, institutional investors, fund managers and entrepreneurs opened the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association’s (AVCA) 17th annual conference today. The live virtual programme brought together more than 350 key private equity and venture capital practitioners from over 50 countries around the world, to discuss the trends and developments shaping Africa’s investment landscape in 2021 and beyond. H.E. Nana Addo Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana, launched AVCA’s virtual conference week. Introducing the theme “Resilience, Resurgence and Results” with a keynote address, he commended the private sector’s role in pushing Africa’s…

To follow live, Friday April 16 from 10am GMT, on financialafrik.com, youtube and Facebook. Journalist Lemine Ould Mohamed Salem will face Adama Wade, publication director of Financial Afrik magazine. Journalist, reporter, writer and director, Lemine Ould Salem gives his point of view on the jihadist threat that is undermining the Sahel. Author of the investigative books “Bin Laden of the Sahara: In the footsteps of the jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar”, published by La Martinière in 2014; “The Secret History of Jihad, Al-Qaida to the Islamic State”, published by Flammarion in 2018, and also of the documentary “Salafists” shot in 2016, Lemine…

The West Africa Trade & Investment Hub (Trade Hub) has announced the launch of its Virtual DealRoom which enables international investors to access Trade Hub information and business opportunities. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Trade Hub aims to catalyze economic growth in West Africa using a market-based approach. Through its co-investment fund, the Trade Hub intends to attract $ 400 million in new private investment. The Virtual DealRoom has been implemented on Asoko Insight, a business data and engagement platform providing international investors, multinationals and development institutions with an efficient way to discover, shortlist…

While his comeback in 2022 in French politics is no longer a mere hypothesis, Financial Afrik lifts a corner of the veil on the mysterious back and forths of Nicolas Sarkozy in Africa. The former French president, seen in Kigali these days, is not strictly speaking an evening visitor to Conakry, a roving ambassador from the Ivory Coast or a selfless tourist in the savannah. Read our exclusive survey on Friday February 5, written by Alexandre Varel. En savoir plus sur ce texte sourceVous devez indiquer le texte source pour obtenir des informations supplémentaires

These massive appointments are due to the new administrative (regional) division. In fact, the number of regions has increased from 15 to 20. It appears that 13 soldiers close to Assimi Goita, vice-president of the transition in charge of defense and security questions, were appointed in place of civilians to lead a ten new regions. Previously there were only five soldiers out of the fifteen regional governors. According to sources, Colonel Assimi Goita and the Minister of Territorial Administration had the upper hand over these appointments. The objective is to apply the new strategy of defense and security of the…