Author: Caroline Muriuki

The construction of the $400 million Berbera corridor is set to boost trade links between Somaliland and Ethiopia.

The project once complete will link Ethiopia’s border town of Togochale to Berbera Port in Somaliland. The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development is funding the roads projects.

Muse Bihi Somaliland president opened the first completed 12-kilometre phase of the project which is the second major infrastructural project Somaliland is building after the expansion of the Port of Berbera by the Dubai Ports World (DP World).

Somaliland imports to Ethiopia is estimated to be worth over $800 million annually and the Berbera-Togochale corridor will be instrumental in facilitating import-export trade for Ethiopia’s economy.

“We are here to open part of the Berbera Corridor, which is a 12 KM stretch that has been completed. I would like to point out that this road is different from the earlier road which was built to handle …

Global finance named Ecobank as the most innovative bank in Africa during the eighth Global Finance annual awards, the Innovators 2020.

The awards honour banks and financial institutions that identify new paths and design tools in finance.

The classes of award comprised of Most Innovative Banks in Africa, Central & Eastern Europe,  Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, North America and Western Europe.

At the virtual awards announcements, the European Editor at Global Finance and Lead, Global Finance Awards evaluation team, Anita Hawser noted that the companies that were recognized at the innovate awards stood apart and that the innovations looked in the context of product or process innovation. She said that the review panel was ultimately concerned with the effect of innovation in terms of addressing a specific need or creating value for customers such as speeding up credit review or lending process for small businesses, enabling companies to remotely …

Ugandans could lose jobs if the pandemic persists for the next six months according to the business climate index published by the Economic Policy Research Centre.

According to the Economic Policy Research Centre study, 3.8 million workers would lose their jobs temporarily while 625,957 would lose their employment permanently if the pandemic persists for the next six months. 80 per cent of the workers in Kampala predicted to lose their jobs permanently while in other regions in the country the layoffs might not be permanent.

According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics 2018, a national estimate of employment stands at 9 million. In the event of the layoff, temporary employment will reduce by 42 per cent while permanent employment will reduce by 7 per cent.

“Over 75 per cent of employees projected to lose their jobs permanently are from the service sector. This is highly expected since most of …

The African aviation is at a standstill according to a report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

According to IATA’S report, on May, 12^th African flights were operating at just six per cent of the level of January 2020. The report also states that African airlines total loss of revenue is at around $6 billion so far which means a GDP loss of about $28 billion and three million job loss in the industry.

Many African airlines have gone into administrations including  South African Airways, South African Express, Air Mauritius and South Africa’s Comair with others also expected to follow suit. Air Mauritius noted that the objective of going into voluntary administration is to safeguard the interests of the company and re-engineer its activities so it can take off again once this crisis is over.

Some of the airlines in African had already been struggling before the COVID-19 …

Air tickets prices could rise up to 54% depending on the region if social-distancing measures in the aviation sector are to be introduced warns the International Air Transport Association.

According to International Air Transport Association Director General and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac , when people return to travelling by air,  airlines support a temporarily biosecurity layered approach of passengers wearing face masks as well a masks while on board. Despite accepting the wearing of masks the airlines do not support the social distancing measures that will leave the middle seats empty.

“Airlines are fighting for their survival. Eliminating the middle seat will raise costs. If that can be offset with higher fares, the era of affordable travel will come to an end. On the other hand, if airlines can’t recoup the costs in higher fares, airlines will go bust. Neither is a good option when the world will need strong …

The Government of Denmark yesterday signed a grant worth $2 million to support the COVID-19 response in Uganda.

The $ 2 million grant will be used to acquire masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for health workers and will also support the improvement of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services in Uganda’s selected districts. The Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) will be used to channel the grant.

Nicolaj Petersen, the Danish Ambassador to Uganda, extended his government’s appreciation to the Government of Uganda for implementing strategic and effective measures to prevent and manage the COVID-19 pandemic at the signing ceremony.

“Uganda has managed to control the spread of the Coronavirus so far. Only 81 cases have been confirmed, most of which were detected at entry”, he said.

Also Read: IMF boosts Kenya, Uganda war on COVID-19 with $1.23 billion

Despite Uganda’s success so far, Ambassador …

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) convened a meeting to seek solutions that will ensure African economies enjoy continued market access and meet their private sector debt service obligations.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) meeting was between the Africa Private Sector Working Group, African Finance Ministers and the African Union (AU) Special Envoy on COVID-19 which aimed at finding new financing solutions to provide additional resources for countries to reduce the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also aimed at finding ways to improve the profile and terms of Africa’s commercial debt obligations so that Africa can better confront the health crisis.

The Africa Private Sector Working Group is a recently formed group which represents leading private creditors to African countries.

Also Read: African Presidents exert pressure on loan waivers, debt relief

ECA’s Executive Secretary, Ms. Vera Songwe stressed that “African countries are committed to …

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, at least 195 million people around the world will be jobless in the next 90 days (3 months) said a report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

International Labour Organisation estimates that almost 38 per cent of the global workforce which represents 1.25 billion workers are employed in sectors such as accommodation, food services, manufacturing and retail trade that are facing a severe decline in output and a high risk of unemployment.

Wholesale and retail segments have the biggest share of workers with 482 million workers who are lowly paid and unprotected while the most affected sector accommodation and food services account for 144 million workers.

According to the ILO report, the food and accommodation sector is suffering from almost full closure in some countries.

The manufacturing sector employs 463 million workers has also been greatly affected by the pandemic with factories closed, workers asked …

Beyond the COVID-19, the food and agriculture landscape in Africa will change because of the pandemic in terms of processing and value addition, agri-food e-commerce among others according to a report by Selina Wamucii

The report titled “Impact of COVID–19 on Africa’s Agriculture: What the Coronavirus (COVID–19) Means for African Family Farmers and Fishermen”, shows how the food and agricultural landscape across Africa will be shaped by new developments in the future.

   1. Processing and Value Addition

According to the report, due to the COVID-19 pandemic most countries supply chain got interrupted with boarders closing among others, therefore, to ensure this does not happen again in case of another pandemic, countries will seek to reduce reliance on cross-border imports mostly on food and have control of their food own production.

With the closed borders, African countries that export raw and unprocessed fresh produce to other markets have been affected greatly …

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board approved the disbursement of $1 billion to Ghana to address the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Ghana has already been affected by the pandemic with the country’s growth slows down, exchange rates under pressure and tightening of financial conditions.

The fund to be drawn under the Rapid Credit Facility will help meet the pressing fiscal and balance of payments needs that the country is facing and speed support from other development partners.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is closely monitoring ghana’s situation and is ready to provide policy advice and further support if needed.

Also Read: World Bank, IMF grant Somalia debt relief

“The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting Ghana severely. The budget deficit is projected to widen this year given expected lower government revenues and higher spending needs related to the pandemic. The Fund’s emergency financial assistance under the Rapid Credit Facility will help address the country’s …