Author: Caroline Muriuki

Ethio Telecom through its performance report showed that its revenue this year saw a 105.1 per cent boost over the company’s target for the year, which is an increase of 31.4  per cent compared to 2019.

The company, which is the only telecom company in Ethiopia last week announced that it had earned $ 1.3 billion in total revenue in the 2012 Ethiopian budget year which ran from July 1, 2019, to June 30.

According to the report, international services generated $147.7 million, a 107 per cent jump from the target and a five per cent rise from 2019.

During this fiscal year, the major payments the telecom made were $321 million in taxes and $113 million in dividends paid to the government. The telecom also paid $318.4 million towards projects carried out by Vender Financial Modeling,  payments which were never transferred to the next budget.

Also Read: Vodacom, Safaricom

Egypt’s unemployment rate rose slightly to 9.6 per cent during the second quarter (Q2) of 2020 according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) report.

The latest figures from the report show a  slight increase of 1.9 per cent compared to the 7.7 per cent reported in Q1 of 2020 and an increase of 2.1 per cent from Q2 of 2019.

According to CAPMAS, the number of unemployed reached 2,574 million, which is 9.6 per cent of the total workforce, of which 1,934 million were male and 640,000 were female. his compared to the 2,236 million unemployed in Q1 of 2020, reflecting a 15.1 per cent increase to 338,000.

According to CAPMAS, the rise in Egypt’s unemployment rate is due to the repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic.

As a precautionary measure, the government of Egypt put in measures that saw the international air traffic suspended, closure of schools, …

The CEO Dialogue Forum which hosted more than 500 CEOs from Africa and beyond met virtually to discuss issues affecting Africa’s growth.

Strathmore University Business School partnered with Shared Value Initiative Africa to host the first session of the CEO Dialogue on 6 August 2020, themed ‘The Future of Work and the Impact of the Digital Economy on Africa’s Growth.’

Persistent gaps in education, health and skills have tampered the many opportunities in Africa leading to the continent to only reach forty percent of its estimated potential according to the World Bank. In addition, conflict, food insecurity, population growth and the disruptive forces of climate change threaten to curtail or even reverse the progress made over the past decades.

The discussion was spearheaded by a team of expert panelists drawn from different sectors such as  Vincent Ogutu, Vice-Chancellor Designate Strathmore University,  Cezanne Maherali, Head of Policy, Uber-sub-Saharan Africa,  Alan Stoga, …

The world bank Board of Directors approved $300 million in International Development Association (IDA) credits and grants to support reforms that will help promote electricity trade in West Africa.

Currently, only 50 per cent of the population in West Africa have access to electricity, and those who do, pay among the highest prices in the world which is more than double those of consumers in East Africa. The West Africa Regional Energy Trade Development Policy Financing Program (West Africa Energy PDF) seeks to do away with electricity trade barriers, which will support the competitiveness of firms, lower electricity costs for consumers and improve resilience and reliability of supply.

The West Africa Energy PDF supports a policy reform program being implemented by Burkina Faso, Liberia, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Sierra Leone, to facilitate trade in cleaner low-cost electricity generated from gas, hydropower and renewable energy across borders. This is going …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Egypt’s tourism revenues losses to exceed 2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 due to COVID-19 crisis.

A report by the IMF titled “EXTERNAL SECTOR REPORT: Global Imbalances and the COVID-19 Crisis” noted that a recent study (UN World Tourism Organization 2020) included a scenario involving a gradual lifting of travel restrictions starting in September. The scenario implies tourism receipts 73 per cent below their 2019 levels, with a direct impact on tourism trade balances ranging from –6 per cent of GDP to 2 per cent of GDP.

“During the first four months of 2020 international tourism arrivals were about 50 per cent lower than over the same period in 2019, with deeper declines for related indicators, such as international flight arrivals and hotel reservations,” IMF stated.

It also noted that the projected direct impact on tourism trade balances in 2020 …

The Chanzo Capital has partnered with Africa.com to make virtual the 8th Angel Fair Africa and because the new normal is making everything virtual, the theme of this year’s event is “doing deals in a virtual environment”.

The event which was scheduled to be held in Senegal will be held on 5th November 2020 on the www.virtualconferenceafrica.com platform.

“This year, we are launching the Africa Virtual Accelerator (AVA) to replace the physical bootcamp which prepares the entrepreneurs to be investor ready. Angel Fair Africa chose Senegal for the dynamism of its entrepreneurial ecosystem.” a press statement from the organization read in part.

Angel Fair Africa is an event that brings together accelerators, incubators and emerging businesses from across the African continent and investors to do deals.

According to the statement, the objective of the Africa Virtual Accelerator is to showcase Dakar as the francophone hub for investors, entrepreneurs and Entrepreneur …

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the disbursement of $171.9 million to the Republic of Madagascar under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF).

This is the second emergency disbursement to Madagascar after the IMF approved $ 165.99 million on April 3, 2020, bringing the total IMF COVID-19 support to Madagascar to $337.9 million. This fund will help finance the country’s urgent balance of payments and fiscal needs.

Since the approval of the first Rapid Credit Facility, the economic outlook of Madagascar has worsened due to a further deterioration of the global environment and a deepening of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the 2020 GDP now projected to contract by one per cent.

The financing gap is now estimated at about $580 million due to an increase in urgent balance of payments needs arising from the pandemic. Revenue losses and redirecting budget resources to address critical …

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved $49.1 million disbursements to Lesotho to help meet the urgent balance of payment needs stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the disbursement, about $16.5 million is under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) while about $32.6 million from the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI).

The Pandemic comes at a time when the economy of Lesotho was already facing challenges. For several years, Lesotho’s growth has been subdued reflecting a weak regional environment while its government finances have struggled to cope with the volatility of transfers from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) that account for around half of total revenues.

Despite Madagascar relatively well-developed social assistance framework that partially mitigates the high levels of poverty, unemployment remains high while the population suffers from one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world.

As a measure to cushion the impact on …

The Mastercard Foundation unveiled a Young Africa Works in Uganda that will enable more than three million youths to access dignified job opportunities by 2030.

Under this strategy, the Mastercard Foundation has committed $200 million to ensure young men, women and refugees in Uganda have access to economic opportunities.

Speaking during the launch of the 10- year strategy, Mastercard Foundation President and CEO, Reeta Roy said that the strategy will support agri-food systems and agribusinesses through the commercialisation of agriculture as well as strengthen the growing tourism and hospitality sector.

“We have formed partnerships with a number of organisations and together, if we are successful, they already represent 30 per cent of the goal of having 30 million people in dignified and fulfilling work. What’s special is how our partners have come together to intentionally collaborate and leverage each other’s strengths,” she said.

In Uganda, youth account for nearly 82 …

East African SMEs mainly in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to receive a 4-year senior/ mezzanine debt facility of $1 million given by the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) SME Programme.

The TDB gave the funds as part of its mandate to strengthen the entrepreneurial fabric of the region while the funds will be managed by the Grassroots Business Fund (GBF).

The project will focus on women or youth-led SMEs operating in the agricultural sector with solid managerial foundations and a high potential for social impact.

The African Guarantee Fund (AGF) enhanced the transaction with a partial risk guarantee of 50 per cent with up to 75 per cent in the case of women-led SMEs.

In Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, agriculture contributes approximately 30 per cent of GDP while in employment it contributes between 55 per cent and 70 per cent of all jobs and 77 per …