Month: August 2020

Across the continent to West Africa where we find one of Africa’s largest economies, Nigeria. Here we find another railway deal gone bad, the $500 million Lagos – Ibadan railway.

In a similar manner to Kenya’s SGR debacle with China, which resulted in Kenya sinking heavily into debt that it simply cannot afford to pay and restructure, Nigeria is now finding a similar fate.

According to the country’s Director General for Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) Patience Oniha, when making a deal with China, ‘…the Chinese determine the cost of projects, give us loans tied to the projects and the projects must be executed by Chinese firms alone.’

It is alleged that not only does China force importation of even the smallest of laborers but also all the equipment and guess where they are imported from? Yes, China.

It is further argued that by so doing, China is using these …

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) provided Egypt and the other four countries with $200 million in loans to strengthen agribusinesses.

According to a statement from Egypt’s Ministry of International Cooperation, the funding also aims at helping local farmers adopt climate-smart agriculture practices as well as strengthening farmers’ agribusinesses and improving their financial wellbeing through financing purchases of various agricultural commodities such as hazelnuts, dry dairy products, grain and onions in the selected countries of operation.

Also Read: East African Agribusiness SMEs to receive $1m

“As one of the only five economies across the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region to receive the loan, the EBRD will help transform Egypt’s agriculture value chain into “smart farming” through new methodologies that include climate-related risk management and stress testing” the Ministry noted in a statement.

This comes at a time when COVID-19 has multiplied the threats to …

The volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Canada currently totals $1.7 billion, according to Hala El-Said, Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development.

She added that the figure is expected to continue increasing due to the mutual interdependence and cooperation between Egypt and Canada and the strength of the Egyptian economy.

She also noted that there’s an excellent relation between the two countries and increased cooperation is needed in various fields, such as artificial intelligence( AI) information exchange.

El-Said added that Canada’s private sector plays a pivotal role in the country, noting that a Canadian company has been awarded the electric monorail project contract in Egypt’s New Administrative Capital (NAC).

El-Said remarks came during her participation in a recent discussion held by the Canada-Arab Business Council via video conference, which discussed the economic and investment relations between the two countries.

Among those present for the virtual discussion were …

Egypt’s imports of non-durable consumer goods declined by 19.7 per cent during the first five months of 2020, to record $5.056 billion compare to the $6.299 billion in the same period of 2019, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

CAPMAS added that in May 2020, imports of non-durable goods in Egypt decreased by 26 per cent to $820.574 million down from $1.514 billion in May last year.

CAPMAS also said that medicines and pharmaceuticals imports decreased by 12.7 per cent during the same period, recording a total of $924.965 million compared to $1.059 billion during the same period in 2019.

Sugar imports declined by 76.6 per cent to $15.489 million during the first five months of 2020, compared to $66.161 million during the same period last year.

Soap and cleaning products dropped by 31.2 per cent, registering $64 million in the first five months of …

The French Development Agency (AFD) signed a partnership with the Trade and Development Bank (TDB) of Eastern and Southern Africa to open a $150 million line of credit to finance sustainable infrastructure in East Africa.

Trade and Development Bank (TDB) is a commercial bank owned by the member states of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the World Bank and China.

The agreement was initiated by TDB’s chairman and CEO  Admassu Tadesse and Ghislain de Valon, Director of AFD in Kenya. According to the  French Development Agency, the aim of the credit line is to support Trade Development Bank in its role as a leading regional bank for climate finance in the region it serves (East Africa).

The funding will also increase the Trade and Development Bank’s supply of climate finance, directly contributing to the achievement of the objectives set out in the National Climate Change (NCC) …

The African Development Bank climate finance continuous to gain ground as the bank in 2019, committed 3.5 billion across the continent to finance climate change mitigation and adaptation projects.

This is according to the Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) Climate Finance Report 2020, which noted that AFDB’s climate financing mostly targeted renewable energy and resilient agriculture sectors.

According to the report, the climate financing represents 35 per cent of the total the 2019 approvals of projects worth US$ 10.2 billion, representing an increase of 0.3 per cent over 2018 and 26 per cent over 2016.

“As African economies face the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, relaxing action or redirecting financial resources away from climate change will further exacerbate these impacts in diverse and complex ways,” said Anthony Nyong, AfDB Director for Climate Change and Green Growth.

The pan-African financial institution in its report on climate finance published in 2019 pledged …

While its Standard Gauge Railway project is commencing at the speed of light to give Tanzania its first electric powered train, the country is also making efforts to revive its once closed internal railway line for locomotives.

Last year, Tanzanians joy rode the reopened passenger and cargo train from the commercial port city of Dar es Salaam to Moshi, home of Africa’s highest mountain, the Kilimanjaro.

New locomotives were bought and engines imported, the train quickly became a national hit and immediately eased the pressure that was on road transport. Government officials led the excited public in trying out the train that has first, second and third class levels offering all te amenities that a traveler would need.

The revival of freight operations on the 438 km rail stretch was marked by a ceremony that was attended by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa at the destination of the train in Moshi.…

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Uganda Bankers Association (UBA) partnered to train financial institutions and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Uganda.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) noted that the training for 32 financial institutions will equip them with knowledge, tools, and techniques to help them meet the current economic challenges.

About 500 SMEs will receive the six weeks online training which will help them navigate the challenges of lockdowns and reduced trade.

Also Read: Kenyan headquartered DPO Group to be acquired by Dubai based Network International for $288 Million

To help banks assess the impact of COVID-19 on their portfolio and support their risk mitigation, the webinar training for financial institutions include stress testing topics.

The SME webinars will cover topics such as accessing finance during crises, communicating with stakeholders, adjusting business plans, digital sales, marketing and promotion.

Early this year in March, IFC launched an $8 …

The Green Cluster of SMEs in Côte d’Ivoire awarded the African Development Bank (AfDB) a prize for the best technical and financial partner committed to promoting the green economy and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) toward a low-carbon transition.

AFDB was awarded at the Green Awards, which was launched in 2019 under the sponsorship of the Ivorian Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development Prof. Joseph Seka Seka, with support from Félix Miézan Anoblé, Côte d’Ivoire’s minister of trade, industry and promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Green Cluster organised a follow-up event, despite the pandemic to recognize the continuing importance of sustainable development, the green economy and other measures to fight climate change.

The award acknowledges the actors that have made a significant contribution to the development of green SMEs and the emergence of a sustainable low-carbon green economy resilient to climate change.

“As an innovative approach …

The Ghananian government officially handed over the headquarters of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat to the African Union.

The ceremony which was held in Accra, Ghana was attended by Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, Moussa Faki Mahamat, African Union Commission Chairman and AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene.

Ghana was selected as the venue for the headquarters by African leaders during a Summit of AU heads of states in July 2019, to launch the implementation phase of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

“The economic integration of Africa will lay strong foundations for an Africa beyond aid. Africa’s new sense of urgency and aspiration of true self-reliance will be amply demonstrated by today’s ceremony,” Akufo-Addo said.

He also appealed to 28 member states that have not ratified to do so before the next AU summit in December so as to pave the way for the smooth commencement of trading from …