Author: Padili Mikomangwa

Nigeria which has one of the largest and vibrant telecom markets in Africa, is now embarking on a new broadband infrastructure investment project worth $ 732 million to boost its economy which is currently recovering from its 2016 economic contraction, Bloomberg news reveals.

As the pace of the Nigeria economy remained soft in 2019 soon after the general elections, economy outlook of the populous nation in Africa shown by African Development Bank (AfDB) indicates that, the GDP growth is expected to sustain a gradual growth in 2020, anticipated to grow above 2.3 per cent, which is quicker than 2019 and below 3 per cent.

According to Bloomberg, the project will be executed within four years as the Nigeria government trains its focus on enhancing the nationwide coverage.

According to the chief executive officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Umar Danbatta, the government of Nigeria will offer over $ 179 …

South Africa which is currently under serious economic situations has also sustained a rather historic slump in the business confidence index in 34 years according to last year’s data.

According to a report by Bloomberg, the statistics compiled by the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI), showed that the business confidence declined to an average of 92.6 from a two-year high record of 95.5 in 2018, that being the lowest record since 1985.

Delays in policy implementation, deteriorating public finances and power cuts which escalated in December 2019 have been associated are crucial factors that define the fate of investment in South Africa and why the index matters.

South Africa’s treasury 2019 budget review shows that real GDP growth in 2019 was expected to grow slowly to 1.5 per cent, and expected to improve moderately to 2.1 per cent in 2021.

On the other mark, Bloomberg highlighted that …

The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) released its monthly economic report for the November edition, which encompasses the export and import sector performance, of which the report indicates a decent growth and a substantial fall in cashew nuts exports.

Export

Per the report, the value of goods and services exports grew by 10.3 per cent which is over $9.4 billion in the year ending October 2019, this is higher compared to the previous report which showed a 5.2 per cent rise.

The rise is attributed to the performance of the services receipts and non-traditional goods exports. The exports of the non-traditional goods amounted to over $4.1 billion from $3 billion in the corresponding period of 2018.

Just like in the performance of the year ending September 2019, the report argues that all major categories of non-traditional goods exports grew except re-exports and fish products,

Following that period, the value of gold …

Climate change is affecting Africa greatly and it is only contributing 4 per cent of the greenhouses emissions, hence United Nations Economic Commission Agency for Africa (UNECA) highlights that just by early 2030 Africa will start experiencing macroeconomics losses.

On the same mark, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is in assisting the continent’s efforts towards mitigating and adapting climate risks, particularly extreme weather events, and gaining resilience on drought via mobilization of crucial funding for such adaptation and mitigation projects.

AfDB (which is accredited by the international implementing agency since March 2016 by Green Climate Fund- GCF) together with GCF have successfully mobilized over $12 billion of climate finance to support climate resilience and low-carbon emission in the continent.

Despite the efforts are taken by Africa in that manner have not yielded significant results compared to other regions, still—AfDB eyes another opportunity to fuel more resources to African countries via …

Bank of Tanzania (BoT) monthly (November 2019) economic report has analyzed the economic development of Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous region of Tanzania, (an archipelago in the Indian oceans composed of several islands), highlighting various keys issues and developments particularly in managing inflation.

READ: Sector review: a glance at Zanzibar’s agricultural sector

Inflation

The report indicated that the headline inflation remained below the medium target of 5 per cent, same as the previous month of October, while Annual headline inflation was 2.4 percent in October 2019 compared with 3.7 percent recorded in October 2018 largely due to easing in non-food inflation.

On the same mark, the report indicated that twelve-month non-food inflation eased to 2.7 percent in October 2019 from 4.5 percent in the corresponding month of 2018 mainly due to a decline in prices of kerosene, diesel and petrol, while in October the inflation was moderated by prices of fish, rice, …

The United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference COP 25, has levitated the climate action landscape in Africa

This has led to the African Development Bank (AfDB) to join forces with 11 other international organizations to assist developing countries to build resilience against the impact of natural disasters caused by extreme weather.

The initiative comes at a rather perfect moment, especially when the region is faced with unprecedented catastrophic weather events affecting the continent’s economy.

According to AfDB, the institutions came together at the COP 25 climate change conference in Madrid on Tuesday to launch the Alliance for Hydromet Development.

Alliance for Hydromet Development

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Alliance for Hydromet (hydrological and climate services) Development brings together major international development, humanitarian and climate finance institutions, collectively committed to scale up and unite efforts to close the hydromet capacity gap by 2030. It aims to increase …

South Africa is projected to experience a long haul of power cuts, which have taking new stages over the past 14 years due to several operational failures under the nation’s electricity public utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.

Eskom is a state-owned company, designated for generating, transmitting, and distributing electricity.

According to a Bloomberg report, South Africa’s economy hangs in the balance not only as country but as the beacon of the continent manufacturing industrial complex and diversified economy.  Eskom projects that there would be power outages expected to take away 6,000 megawatts from the grid, beginning this Monday.

This means that the current power cut off has doubled from the earlier announcement aired on 6 December 2019, which cited the deficit of 2,000 megawatts from its generating capacity.

As highlighted by Bloomberg, this is a result of the company losing its hold on additional generating units at its power stations.…

Rwanda—East Africa’s fastest-growing economy has paved the way for Qatar Airways—world’s best airline in 2019, to get 60 per cent stake in the new $1.3 billion international airports in Rwanda.

This is according to a Reuters report which says that the information was revealed by state-run development board on Monday 10 December 2019.

The international news outlet says the development board highlighted that the first phase of construction would provide facilities for 7 million passengers a year in the Bugesera district, about 25 km southeast of the nation’s capital Kigali.

Further, the second phase, which is expected to be completed by 2032, would double capacity to 14 million passengers a year.

Rwanda has been an active economic performer in the region, whereby—the African Development Bank report shows that the real GDP growth in Rwanda reached 6.1 per cent in 2017 and was estimated at 7.2 per cent in 2018 …

The African Development Fund (ADF) the concessional window of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has just got a boost from donor amounting to $7.6 billion which is a 32 per cent raise from the previous replenishment, AfDB press release reads.

The boost which came to fruition on Thursday 5 December 2019, comes as a good sign to the funding landscape in the bank, showing how AfDB commands trust and further the development funding sphere in Africa.

About the ADF

According to AfDB, the ADF which was established 1972 and became operation in 1974, contributes to poverty reduction and economic and social development in the least developed African countries by providing concessional funding for projects and programs, as well as technical assistance for studies and capacity-building activities. The Fund has cumulatively invested up to $45 billion over its 44 years of operationalization on the African continent.

On the same note, the …

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has just breathed life into Burkina Faso—the lease electrified country in the continent and globally, with € 48.42 million ($53 million) fund for the government of the country to implement the Yeleen Solar energy Plant, which is anticipated to boost national power supply, AfDB press release reads.

According to AfDB, the current project is part of Burkina Faso’s broader 2025 Solar Programme, known as “Yeleen” with three components: Development of photovoltaic plants (PV) connected to the interconnected national grid, Increase in the electricity distribution network, and Rural electrification by mini-grids (isolated) and individual solar systems.

Further, the rural electrification “ Yeleen rural electrification project” which aims to increase electricity access in Burkina Faso by connecting 150,000 households to solar mini-grids (50,000 household) and through stand-alone solar kits systems (100,000 households) was approved by AfDB in December 2018 with joint financing with European Union (EU) …