A statement posted by Equity Bank on its website indicated the plan hopes to revive the economy in the continent following the COVID-19 pandemic that halted operations in different sectors leading to the loss of jobs.

In this, AfCFTA and Equity will work on the private sector economic recovery and resilience stimulus plan where the lender has seeded with a $ 6 billion (Sh 678 billion) fund focusing on food and agriculture, extractives, manufacturing and logistics, trade and investments, social impact, health and environmental investments.

Equity plans to finance over five million micro, small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) and 25 million vulnerable households by 2025 to support the creation of 50 million jobs.…

The EAC Trade & Investment Report (2020) shows EAC exports globally stood at US$16.2 billion in 2020 while imports at US$35.6 billion, registering a negative trade balance of US$19.4 billion.

Agayo Ogambi from the Shippers Council of Eastern Africa said Mombasa port throughput declined by 0.9 per cent in 2020. A total of 34.13 million tonnes of cargo were handled in 2020, which is 1.8 million tonnes shy of the target of 35.90 million tonnes in 2019.

Containerized cargo declined by 4 per cent from 1.4 tonnes (2019) to 1.35 million tonnes (2020).

Ogambi called upon government agencies to render services that are commensurate to the fees charged, as outlined in Article 6 of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.…

And now, it is possible that Africa and Russia will have a new way of doing business if proposals to have a new Russian bank for Africa are implemented. This came to the fore after Rossiya Segodnya, which owns Sputnik, held a virtual round table discussion on Tuesday with diplomats, analysts and officials from Russia and Africa to talk about “Global Challenges to Food Security.”

Specialists talked about a wide range of issues related to the current food security crisis that is threatening both Africa and the rest of the world, such as how it started and how Western restrictions on Russia have made the situation worse. The experts also talked about ways to solve the problem.

Oleg Ozerov, the Russian ambassador-at-large and head of the secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership, said that the international community had come to agree that the current emergency started long before the crisis between …

• DRC formally joined the EAC by depositing its instruments of ratification on the EAC Treaty’s accession with the bloc’s secretariat
• DRC will eliminate constraints on the free movement of individuals and goods, as well as increase intra-EAC exports which presently total USUS$7.4 billion
• The enlarged membership makes the community larger, with a nearly 50% rise in population, a 22% increase in GDP, and a 79% increase in the territorial area ranging from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean

On Monday, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) accomplished the final and most significant step to joining the East African Community (EAC).

At a ceremony conducted at the EAC headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, the DRC formally joined the EAC by depositing its instruments of ratification on the EAC Treaty’s accession with the bloc’s secretariat.

DRC now has the same rights and benefits as all EAC members to engage in EAC programmes …

• Platinum mining is where Loucas Pouroulis, the chairman of mining outfit Tharisa PLC made and then lost money and then made it again in South Africa. He is looking to make another fortune digging for platinum on the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe
• A look at the rise, fall and rise again of storied platinum mining entrepreneur Loucas Pouroulis.
• Tharisa PLC and Karo Mining Holdings, both Loucas Pourolis backed vehicles are the latest companies to venture into Zimbabwe’s rich Great Dyke platinum field
• Platinum mining is where Loucas Pouroulis and his family have made their wealth however the same mining sector nearly ruined his career 35 years ago
• Tharisa PLC through Karo Mining Holdings is developing a 150,000 platinum ounces a year project in Zimbabwe on the Great Dyke