First Independent Mena Newspaper
Nigeria’s federal government generated 625.39 billion nairas ($1.4 billion) in value-added tax (VAT) in the third quarter of 2022, reports say. The figure accounts for 25.95% increase from the previous year. The tax payments collected rose by 4.21% from 600.15 billion nairas in the second quarter of the year per data gathered by National Bureau […]
The West and China should seek deeper cooperation over Africa’s debt conundrum in 2023, without which many countries on the continent will face debt distress and defaults, a new research paper by Chatham House warns. The report warns that although China’s lending to Africa did not cause the current African debt distress in most cases […]
Morocco’s central bank has decided to raise its key rate by 50 basis points to 2.5pc due to inflation upward trends and external pressures that spread to non-tradable goods and services and to the implementation of the subsidy system reform starting 2024. During last quarterly meeting held Tuesday in Rabat, the Board of Bank Al-Maghrib […]
Visa Inc has announced plans to invest $1 billion over the next 5 years in Africa in a bid to capitalize on the emerging economy’s rapid growth in digital payments. “Visa has been investing in Africa for several decades to grow a truly local business,” chief executive officer Alfred Kelly Jr said in a statement. […]
US President Joe Biden capped the three-day summit of 49 African leaders by stressing his administration’s deep commitment to Africa, urging the continent’s leaders to respect the will of their people, and saying he may come visit. Africa could see more US investment as the Biden administration wants to reduce the dominance of China and […]
With record-breaking drought in the Horn of Africa affecting half the population of Somalia, the United Nations has warned if more aid does not arrive soon, the Horn of Africa will suffer its worst famine in half a century. Famine has been narrowly averted in Somalia, but the situation remains “catastrophic,” the United Nations has […]
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo cannot call on African leaders to stop begging from the West while he is doing the same, said former Nigerian senator, Shehu Sani, in response to Akufo-Addo’s recent advice to African leaders against “begging” from the West. “If we stop being beggars and spend African money inside the continent, Africa will […]
The US Development agency USAID has donated to Côte d’Ivoire more than 2 million doses of Pfizer to help the West African country to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. The US embassy in capital Abidjan said in a statement that the vaccines will support the efforts of authorities to vaccinate 52 per cent of the population, […]
UK-based finance institution British International Investment (BII) and the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) have signed a $75 million re-guarantee agreement for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across Africa, Zawya reports. The fund, according to BII, will provide credit guarantees to partner financial institutions for up to 75% of the risk on SME loans, thus increasing […]
Strategies are needed to avoid debt crises that developing nations are currently facing, including the urgent need to find as much as $2.5-trillion over five years to meet external debt-service costs as interest rates rise and poorer countries struggle to refinance borrowings, according to a recent study. The findings published by the Bill & Melinda […]