First Independent Mena Newspaper
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 […]
Rabat-based Bayt Mal Al-Quds Asharif Agency will support and empower Al-Quds families through small-scale productive projects under an agreement signed Wednesday with Al-Quds Governorate. The agreement, which was initialed by the Agency’s Coordinator of Programs and Projects in Al-Quds, Ismail Ramli, and the Vice Governor of Al-Quds, Abdellah Sayyam, aims to support and empower families […]
The World Bank’s private sector financing arm, International Finance Corporation (IFC), has provided a credit package of $150 to Olam Palm Gabon, the subsidiary of Singapore-based Olam International, to boost the company’s production of palm oil in the central African country. The loan, Gabon Review reports, will be used in the construction of a biodiesel […]
Morocco’s trade deficit contracted by 6.8% in the first six months this year, thanks to a rise in car exports and a drop in energy imports, the foreign exchange office said. Imports dropped to 358 billion dirhams, while exports rose to 221 billion dirhams leaving a deficit of 138 billion dirhams. Morocco has prepared the […]