As a duck is to water, the word “diamond” is synonymous with this southern African nation. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Botswana’s diamonds have topped the world’s ornament market bringing huge revenues to the government and transforming the country into an upper middle income economy. But as with any reliance lies the risk…
When Joseph Gitile started his soap manufacturing business in 2017; he was exuberant and very optimistic that within a few months he would be Kenya’s next millionaire. In January, reality dawned, and he had to painfully shut down his business after accumulating millions of shillings, not in profits – but debts and unpaid bills. Joseph…
Africa’s second largest oil producer has a problem, and it’s one that is uncommon in a region beset with many challenges. Conflict, poverty, and recently the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic have straddled borders and impacted the lives of hundreds of millions of Africans. But in Angola another problem is as much troublesome — and…
Nigeria’s economy surprisingly came out of a recession in the fourth quarter, fuelled by growth in the agriculture and telecommunications industry that offset a sharp drop in oil production. Africa’s largest economy recorded a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 0.11% in the three months through December from a year eariler, compared with a drop…
Makthar Diop, the World Bank’s vice president for infrastructure, has been appointed to head the International Finance Corporation (IFC), becoming the first African to lead the Washington based lender’s arm for the private sector. Diop will take over at the IFC at the beginning of March, World Bank President David Malpass said in a statement…
Democratic Republic of Congo’s economy thwarted a projected COVID-19 pandemic-induced recession in 2020 to grow 0.8% boosted by strong returns in the mining sector, a central bank official announced on Tuesday. The official, Plante Kibadhi, said in a tweet that economy is expected to grow by 3.2% this year. DR Congo has been spared the…
Zambia’s central bank has increased its benchmark interest rate to 8.5% from 8%, marking the first such raise since November 2019. In explaining the move, Governor Christopher Mvunga told reporters that the increase will bring down “spiraling” inflation that is at a five-year high and prop up the economy. It came after two days of…
South African Airways has received a further $346 million from the Department of Public Enterprises, which the struggling airline will use to complete severance payments that form part of its rescue plan. In October, the South African government approved a $650 million bailout for the struggling airline in its mid-term budget. The state-owned airline has…
Nigeria’s annual inflation rate jumped 0.72% to 16.47% in January from the previous month, marking a 17th monthly increase as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic weighed on the index. Africa’s most populous country is facing its worst economic recession in 37 years, triggered by a COVID-19 pandemic-induced crash in global crude oil prices that…
Compounded by crises in the north with the fighting in Tigray and a simmering land dispute with its western neighbor which threatens to spill over into a full blown war, Ethiopia’s president Sahle-Work Zewde took a much-needed break from mitigating multiple conflicts to visit another Eastern African in a bid to improve ties with regional…
Lagos-based Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) will shift its energy portfolio towards greener projects to attract greater investment from institutional partners, its new chief investment officer Sameh Shenouda announced. Shenouda joined the pan-African infrastructure bank from Blackstone-owned energy group Zarou on Monday, and he said the AFC board had agreed to a plan to bundle new…
Sudan’s government has accused Ethiopian troops of entering its territory, further escalating a dispute over land that straddles their border. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said, “Sudan strongly condemns the aggression carried out by Ethiopia, in which its forces entered into territories that legally belong to Sudan.” It described the incident as “a direct…
Kenya will raise more money from foreign than domestic sources, as it restructures its debt portfolio to take advantage of growing appetite for high-yielding debt. The National Treasury said it is seeking to raise $1.13 billion in sovereign bonds in the next four months and an additional $1.14 billion during the financial year starting July…
Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari has approved the creation of a new entity that will focus on infrastructure development, with a seed capital of $2.63 billion, the office of the president said in a statement. The company, named Infra-Co, will be a public-private partnership, and the initial capital will come from the central bank, the Nigerian…
Guinea is battling a new outbreak of the deadly Ebola disease which has so far claimed the lives of four people with several others testing positive. The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that the number of new cases recorded so far may be a sign that the deadly hemorrhagic fever is resurging again in the…
Kenya Airways has received a government bailout worth $92 million, as part of efforts to prop up the national carrier after the COVID-19 pandemic hurt global aviation over the last financial year. The airline, which is majority owned by the government with Air France-KLM holding a small stake, secured $76 million from the National Treasury…
The African Union has denied halting the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine but will target its use in countries that are yet to report cases of the South African strain of the disease, the head of the African Center for Disease Control (CDC) announced. South Africa’s temporary halt of the rollout of the vaccine because…
Uganda’s Ministry of Finance expects public debt will surge to 50% of its annual economic output by June this year, driven by fresh borrowing to fund financial stimulus packages as the country suffers economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. That marks an increase of about 9% in the debt-to-GDP ratio, from 41% in the financial…
South Africa’s largest mobile operator by subscribers – MTN Group – projects its 2020 earnings to almost double, powered by gains from the sale of Ghana and Uganda tower joint ventures. MTN is in the middle of a $1.67 billion divestment plan aimed at simplifying its portfolio and reducing debt over the next three to…
Angola’s government has formally asked a Dutch court to hand over a $500 million stake in the Portuguese oil company Galp linked to Isabel Dos Santos, the daughter of ex-president Jose Eduardo dos Santos. As part of the request, Angola says that top officials of the former regime took advantage of high oil prices in…