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- African Heads of State call for tripling of World Bank’s concessional financing
- SpaceX offers Starlink kit at half price for first-time Kenyan customers
- Mobile Banking Reshaping the Gender Gap in Financial Inclusion
- Unleashing ideas: AIM Congress sets the stage for over 450 dialogue sessions
- Abu Dhabi welcomes over 330 partners for AIM Congress 2024
- Kenyan Farmers Receive $2M Boost from Africa Fertiliser Financing Mechanism
- Brace for High Interest Rates for a Longer Period World Bank Warns Kenya
- Kenya-Ethiopia Trade Relations: Legislators Advocate for Policy Alignment to Boost Ties
Africa
- AfDB asks policymakers to put in place an orderly and predictable way of dealing with Africa’s $824Bn debt pile.
- According to AfDB, Africa’s ballooning external debt reached $824 billion in 2021.
- AfDB president says there is urgent need for increased concessional financing, particularly for low-income countries.
Africa’s immense economic potential is being undermined by non-transparent resource-backed loans that complicate debt resolution and compromise countries’ future growth, African Development Bank (AfDB) President Dr Akinwumi Adesina has said.
Adesina at the Semafor Africa Summit taking place on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank 2024 Spring Meetings, highlighted the challenges posed by Africa’s ballooning external debt, which reached $824 billion in 2021, with countries dedicating 65 per cent of their GDP to servicing these obligations.
He said the continent would pay $74 billion in debt service payments this year alone, a sharp increase from $17 billion in 2010. “I …
- Meg Whitman, US Ambassador to Kenya, highlights key investment opportunities in Kenya, particularly in the creative industry and clean energy.
- She noted that Kenya has the potential to become the Singapore of Africa through vertical business integration, job creation, innovation, and foreign direct investment.
- AmCham Business Summit 2024 seeks to strengthen bilateral trade and investment between the US, Kenya, and East Africa.
The fourth edition of the regional American Chamber of Commerce Kenya (AmCham) Business Summit, has officially kicked off in Nairobi, Kenya, under the theme, ‘Catalyzing The Future of US-East Africa Trade and Investment’.
This year’s forum underscores AmCham Business Summit as the premier platform for strengthening bilateral trade and investment between the United States, Kenya, and East Africa.
Hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), the two-day Summit has brought together delegates from the United States of America, East and Sub-Saharan Africa in efforts to deliberate and …
- UN faults UK-Rwanda asylum treaty citing concerns on potentially harmful impact on global responsibility-sharing, human rights, and refugee protection.
- Spearheaded by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the legislation mandates judges to deem Rwanda as a safe third country.
- With deportation flights slated to start in July, the move is sparking weighty debates over the ethical implications of outsourcing asylum responsibilities.
This week’s passage of the “Safety of Rwanda” Bill by the UK Parliament has triggered alarm bells within the United Nations (UN), with two prominent leaders, Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, raising concerns over its potentially harmful impact on global responsibility-sharing, human rights, and refugee protection.
Spearheaded by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the legislation mandates judges to deem Rwanda as a safe third country, paving the way for the deportation of thousands of migrants who have sought refuge …
- Grey’s expansion in the East African Market follows $2 million seed funding of the West African company.
- Grey CEO AIdorenyin Obong says the Kenya office will help the firm navigate its planned operations across East African Community.
- The company has also privately launched Grey Business, a borderless business banking for startups.
Nigerian Fintech startup Grey has picked Kenya as its East African hub as it expands operations into the largest economy in the East African Community. The move follows $2 million seed funding the West African company raised as it eyes Uganda and Rwanda in the near future.
Already, the firm’s platform is live in Tanzania and Kenya with over 300,000 users. Grey CEO AIdorenyin Obong says opening offices in Kenya will help the firm navigate the markets in the East African Community.
“Kenya’s Diaspora remittance is very vibrant as remittance inflows to Kenya have increased tenfold in the last …
- DR Congo’s top government officials woo UAE investors at the Annual Investment Meeting 2023 in Abu Dhabi.
- From mining to agriculture to energy DR Congo is the global centre of billion-dollar focus sectors.
- In February 2022, logistics giant DP World started the construction of Banana Port, near Kinshasa.
DR Congo is inviting investors from the United Arab Emirates to bet big on the country’s vast investment opportunities. From mining to agriculture and fishing, to health, DR Congo is the global centre of billion-dollar focus sectors. DRC is the second-largest country in Africa with vast deposits of natural resources.
Speaking at the ongoing Annual Investment Meeting 2023 in Abu Dhabi, top government officials from DR Congo said the country’s ongoing legal and tax reforms are making the country ready for business.
The Annual Investment Meeting has attracted participants from 170 countries for its 12th edition in Abu Dhabi city, UAE.
At …
- A new $273,716 Growth for Jobs Tourism Challenge Fund seeks to grow South Africa’s tourism numbers by engaging SMEs.
- The fund will support regional and local tourism organisations, industry associations, and district and local authorities
- The target SMEs are expected to grow and expand their tourism product offerings.
South Africa has lined up a $273,716 fund to empower small businesses in the tourism sector to enhance their offerings. The $273,716 Growth for Jobs Tourism Challenge Fund will grow South Africa’s tourism numbers through local small businesses.
Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities Mireille Wenger said the fund will power the sector’s future growth by removing barriers.
“Our tourism and hospitality sector was hit hard by the COVID pandemic. But, it has seen a remarkable recovery with international arrivals reaching 100 percent of their 2019 figures in February this year,” she noted.
Wenger added that this would be achieved by helping …
In the last 20 years, Africa’s external debt has grown fivefold to about $700 billion. According to Chatham House, a policy centre in London, Chinese lenders account for about 12 per cent of that amount. As of November 2022, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank considered 22 low-income African countries to either be in debt distress or facing potential external debt distress.…
- A finance-focused panel at the 2023 Namibia International Energy Conference explored new pathways to financing and developing capital-intensive African energy and infrastructure projects.
- As global financial institutions continue to reduce or eliminate fossil fuel lending, emerging producers such as Namibia are seeking to drive local and regional financial participation in capital-intensive projects and trade infrastructure.
- In addition to leveraging foreign investment as an end within itself, panelists discussed how the sector can leverage foreign support as a means of creating local capacity through regional debt and credit-support instruments.
Namibia is looking to increase local investment in large-scale energy projects moving forward, a panel at the 2023 Namibia International Energy Conference, has concluded.
Under the theme, “Financing Energy & Power Projects: Trends, Outlook & Forecast,” a strategic panel examined how the southern Africa country can finance massive projects and structure deals that benefit regional economies.
As global financial institutions continue to …
- The program, which runs for 18 months, aims to support political stabilization and reconciliation in Somalia, a fragile country in the Horn of Africa.
- In line with the National Stabilization Strategy the financing will go to water infrastructure, security, and reconciliation initiatives.
- The EU is making tangible progress in supporting Somalia’s transition to a peaceful and stable nation. The project also seeks to enhance the legitimacy of Somali authorities in locations recently liberated within Hirshabelle, Galmudug, Southwest, and Jubaland State.
The European Union alongside the Nordic International Support Foundation have launched a $4.9 million Rapid Nationwide Stabilisation project in Somalia aimed at further strengthening the fragile country’s water infrastructure, security and reconcilliation initiatives.
The European Union to the Federal Republic of Somalia together with the Somali authorities and its implementing partner the Nordic International Support Foundation recently launched the new program which will run over an 18-month period.
“We are …
