Africa Emerging Markets Finance International

Nigeria emerges as Africa’s FDI hub of digital technology

Nigeria emerges as Africa’s top destination for foreign direct investment (FDI), having reportedly attracted over 30% of the FDI in the continent’s tech ecosystem and increasingly becoming the hub of digital technology in the continent. “The Nigeria tech ecosystem has attracted about $4.4billion investment between the year 2015, 2019 and 2020 respectively, and ICT contributing […]

Africa Business Emerging Markets Finance Headlines International

Africa’s FDI in 2023 led by mining, gas sectors, but global headwinds loom

Foreign direct investment (FDI in Africa looks set for a strong 2023 thanks to some lucrative mining and gas projects, but an IMF report warns countries on the continent need to build resilience to manage the inevitable shifts in trade and FDI flows. After a lackluster investment climate during 2022, FDI flows into Africa are […]

Business Features Finance Headlines Tunisia

AfDB forecasts 2.3 growth rate for Tunisia over 2023-2024 period

Tunisia will witness a 2.3 per cent economic growth rate in 2023 and 2024, the African Development Bank (AfDB) announced Wednesday, as it presented its economic outlook for 2023. The Abidjan-based institution also projects inflation to stand at 8.8 per cent over the same period. The inflation figure is slightly higher than that of the […]

Egypt Finance Headlines

Fitch downgrades four Egyptian banks’ Issuer Default Ratings to “B”

Earlier this May, Fitch downgraded Egypt’s sovereign rating to “B” with a negative outlook. Three of the four banks, whose ratings it downgraded, are public banks exposed to the state. Rating agency Fitch downgraded on May 17 the credit ratings of four major Egyptian banks, namely The National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, Banque […]

Africa Emerging Markets Energy Finance Headlines International Morocco

Renewable Energy: Morocco called to share its successful experience – AfDB President

Morocco is called upon to share its successful experience in renewable energies with African countries, said President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Akinwumi Adesina, who is taking part in the AfDB annual meetings held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, this May 22-26. Morocco aimed high in capitalizing on renewable energy to develop its economy, said […]

Africa Business Features Finance Headlines International

IMF $3bn bailout package for Ghana defies Akufo-Addo’s ‘Ghana beyond aid’ policy

Ghana, formerly praised for its stability and good governance, is finally getting some breathing room after Ghanian officials announced last week (18 May) that the $3 billion bailout for the West African nations had finally been approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Ghana has been facing a severe economic crisis since the onset of […]

Business Energy Features Finance Headlines

Nigeria should stop depending on oil, gas revenues — WTO chief

The World Trade Organization chief has urged Nigeria to see alternative revenue sources as the oil and gas industry becomes less lucrative. Speaking during a recent function in Abuja, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Director-General of the WTO, has advised incoming governors to stop depending on crude oil and diversify the sources of revenue in their domains. […]

Business Egypt Features Finance Headlines

Egypt’s central bank hires Barclays Bank to advise on sale of stakes in United Bank

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has handpicked Barclays Bank as an international sell-side advisor for the sale of its 99% stake in the state-owned United Bank, Egypt Today reports. Barclays will work alongside local financial advisor, CI Capital, the media also notes. United Bank is one of the 32 state-owned companies the Egyptian government […]

Emerging Markets Finance Headlines Morocco

Morocco government to expand its budget by $1 bln

The Moroccan government requested the approval of the parliament to increase its budget by an additional $1 billion or 10 billion dirhams to meet rising expenditures, Moroccan economic media reported. The funds are needed to bolster the budget amid an inflationary context marked particularly by drought and reforms. In this respect, 4 billion dirhams of […]

Columns Emerging Markets Europe Finance Headlines International Morocco

Anti-money laundering: EC removes Morocco from list of high-risk countries

After leaving the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) thanks to its financial transparence, Morocco exits the European Commission’s list of high-risk countries presenting strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). The decision, announced this Wednesday by the European Commission, will help Morocco attract more foreign […]