First Independent Mena Newspaper
African nations must flee from the subtle recolonization tactics being pursued through the “honeyed policy shackles” of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the United Nations dogma, according to Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo. Yet, he has also attributed the continent’s rising poverty and underdevelopment to poor leadership, bad governance, and massive corruption by […]
Tunisia’s Agriculture ministry announced Wednesday August 16 several financing plans for small farmers to the tune of $9 million in view of supporting the sector. The financing will come from State-run Banque Tunisienne de Solidarité (BTS), as result of the agreement with the agriculture department, “Tunisie Numerique” reports. The bank per the deal will provide […]
Gabon has converted $163 million, a third of its debt, into funds to protect its oceans, US-based NGO The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Government of the central African country said Tuesday August 15. The swap operation marks “the start of a 15-year conservation project… to help Gabon finance ocean protection and management for 30 […]
Mastercard has acquired a minority stake in the fintech subsidiary of South African telecommunications giant MTN in a deal valued at a whopping $5.2 billion, whereby the partnership will see Africa’s biggest mobile company to strategically leverage the US giant’s technology for its payments and remittance expansion in the continent. By snapping up the minority […]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slammed African central banks for their misguided currency regulation, especially with regard to the ineffective disposal of their foreign exchange reserves. In particular, the IMF has scrutinized the African central banks’ rigid exchange rate regulations, criticizing them for disposing of their foreign exchange reserves in an ineffective attempt to […]
Fawry, Egypt’s leading E-payment solutions provider, will turn its online payment portal “myFawry” into a digital bank in 2023, the country’s stock exchange market indicated Sunday August 13, in a statement. The future bank will provide a variety of financial services, including payments, consumer lending, savings, and investments, the online payment firm indicated. Downloads of […]
The African venture-capital (VC) market witnessed a 40% drop in funding from the previous year in the first six months of 2023, reflecting cautious investor sentiment and sparking concerns for startups’ future. In the first half of 2023, a mere 263 VC deals were executed, collectively accounting for $2.1 billion, which represents a 40% decline […]
Spiro, a leading electric motorbike manufacturer and clean energy provider in Africa, has landed $63 million loan from GuarantCo, a company in the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), and the French bank Société Générale to be used to expand its fleet of electric motorbikes, alongside the associated batteries and swap stations, in Benin and Togo. […]
The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and Benin have signed on Monday August 7 a $100-million sovereign loan agreement to address climate change, food security and boost the private sector of the West African country. The signing took place on the sidelines of the visit of Sidi Ould Tah, President of BADEA […]
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged as Africa’s largest provider of foreign direct investment (FDI), funnelling $59.4 billion into key high-growth sectors such as infrastructure, energy, transport, logistics, and technology. The UAE has joined the bandwagon of world powers scrambling for commercial dominance in Africa, targeting a share of the continent’s 1.2 billion people […]