Sudan’s central bank has transferred the compensation the nation agreed to pay U.S. victims of militant attacks and their families, allowing for the lifting of sanctions. Sudan agreed to make the payment of $335 million, as part of a deal with the United States to get the country removed from its list of state sponsors…
Mastercard Foundation has issued a $20.4 million grant that will be distributed among 65,000 Nigerian farmers as part of a broader plan aimed at revitalizing the agriculture sector from the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The Foundation has teamed up with Alluvial Agriculture in an arrangement that will enable farmers access a farming collective,…
Botswana’s finance minister has revealed that the country’s economy will grow by 7.7% in 2021, from a contraction projection of 8.9% in 2020, on the back of improved sentiment in the global diamond industry. Botswana’s economy dropped by 24% in the second quarter of 2020, as coronavirus enforced lockdowns at home and across the world…
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has announced that the country’s economy grew 6.1% in 2019/20 financial year. The Ministry of Finance in June, said that the economy was projected to grow 9% for the same period. In a speech to lawmakers, PM Abiy said, “For eight months we registered a healthy economic growth but after…
As the world hurtles towards 5G mobile network, NASA has selected Finish tech company Nokia to construct the first-ever 4G mobile network on the moon. Nokia’s U.S. industrial research arm, Bell Labs, is offering up its infrastructure to NASA to assist build out the lunar network. An announcement from Nokia claims that the network will…
Kenya’s economy contracted by 5.7% in the second quarter of 2020, from a growth of 5.3% in the same period in 2019, data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicates. The main sectors of the economy that were hit hardest include accommodation & tourism, and the education sectors, recording declines of 83.3% and…
President Cyril Ramaphosa unveiled a plan on Friday, to return South Africa’s economy back on track by focusing on massive public works and job-creation. Following a record gross domestic product (GDP) contraction in the second quarter, Ramaphosa said that his plan will unlock more than 60 billion dollars in investment in the next four years…
Zimbabwe’s average annual inflation rate will drop to 134% in 2020, according to a new report published by the Ministry of Finance. The Southern African country has been grappling with dire economic declines for more than ten years, with runaway inflation hitting the 659.4% mark in September. As a result, there have been severe shortages…
Welcome to Isinya; in the heart of Kajiado County, 58 kilometers south of Kenya’s capital Nairobi. The area is sparsely populated majorly because it falls within Kenya’s pastoralism belt. But in the last four years, this area has witnessed an influx of real estate companies, as developers move away from the more expensive satellite towns….
Uber Eats has launched a new app-based over-the-counter medicine delivery service in South Africa. The unit of the U.S. ride-hailing service, Uber Technologies, holds a dominant share in South Africa’s $600 million food dispatching market. However, the company believes that it can also hold a huge swathe in the lucrative medicines delivery market, currently held…
The World Bank has issued an urgent call for $25 billion in further COVID-19 emergency financing to assist the world’s poorest nations tackle the challenges raised by the pandemic. David Malpass, the World Bank’s president, spoke to finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 major economies that he would lay out a supplemental…
The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has revealed that piracy kidnappings have increased by 40% in the Gulf of Guinea in the first nine months of 2020; and the regions accounts for 95% of global maritime kidnappings. This region off West Africa’s coast has become the new front for piracy, as eight more seafarers were kidnapped…
Ethiopia’s Finance Ministry has postponed the planned privatization of Africa’s most profitable airline – Ethiopian Airlines, as it aims to maintain current capacity of its flagship carrier. In a press conference, Minister of Finance Ahmed Shed said, “With the currency efficiency and competitiveness, the plan of the government is to make Ethiopian airlines more strong….
Rwanda’s government has confirmed that it is in discussions with four American and European companies about processing cannabis for export, in order to meet increasing global pharmaceutical demand for the drug. Officials announced that the move, if successful, would boost the state’s revenues as it battles the effects of coronavirus pandemic. Rwanda is the latest…
Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), has launched the Strategic Business Plan for the establishment of a Plastic Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) in Kenya. The PRO will drive collective Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the country, whereby a producer’s responsibility for a product is extended to the post-consumer stage of a product’s life cycle, whilst turning plastic waste into valuable resources. The Strategic…
South Africa’s economy will contract by 8% in 2020, though the International Monetary Fund projects a 3% growth in the 2021 financial year in its World Economic Outlook report. The IMF’s 2021 growth forecast is 0.5% less its previous estimate released in June, and in line with projections by the Ministry of Finance. President Cyril…
As airlines worldwide struggle to stay afloat due to the coronavirus pandemic, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Airports Council International (ACI) World have urged governments to use testing as a means to safely re-open borders. Both organizations are also calling to for the re-establishment of global connectivity to avoid the systemic collapse…
Mozambique will receive support from the European Union in tackling increased terror attacks in the country’s north. The EU Ambassador to Mozambique, Antonio Sanchez Gaspar announced the offer, while insisting that the aid will be more in terms of training, logistics and medical services to the Mozambican Defence Forces. “The government of Mozambique has asked…
Ghana has officially become the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 1, which is the target of halving extreme poverty. The success stories don’t end there though. According to a report from the Ministry of Finance, the country became a middle income economy in June, and with an economic freedom…
Rwanda’s Kigali International Finance Centre (KIFC) has signed a financial agreement with French public investment bank Bpifrance that sets the path for the two public institutions to support and promote business exchange and economic cooperation between both nations. The agreement is particularly a major milestone for the Kigali International Finance Centre as it aims to…