Browsing: Covid-19 coronavirus

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 …

Trade among East African Community (EAC) member has suffered a catastrophic blow losing USD380 million in the span of just a single week.

There is not an economy that has not taken a hit from the coronavirus pandemic and the EAC trade bloc is no exception. While no official order has been issued to close their borders, each of the EAC member countries has limited all manner of movement, goods included.

Trucks are still going through to deliver goods but as Tanzania and Burundi agreed last week, the truck drivers would stay quarantined for 14 days. While for Kenya on the other hand, the country has chosen to escort the drivers and their tracks to their points of drop off and back, no detours allowed.

While cargo on transit has been forced to slow down to almost a snail pace, movement of people has come to a complete stop, if …

Benin has transitioned its business registration processes to 100% digital, setting up an efficient new online single window housing all regulatory processes needed to open a business in record time.

With this new step, Benin joins an elite group of six countries including Denmark, Kenya, New Zealand, Oman and Switzerland which offer their entrepreneurs 100% online business registration.

Also, with this new single window, Benin gets a top score on the Global Enterprise Registration, an index of countries’ business registrations systems.

Benin’s critical move comes ahead of the spike in global infections from the new coronavirus, covid-19, means that businesspeople – in Benin or abroad – can now start a business in two hours and from the comfort and safety of the office or home.

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The Government of Benin’s new online platform, MonEntreprise.bj, will help businesses launch efficiently and …

In 2017, 11 of the 43 major infrastructure projects in East Africa were in Kenya and while these numbers may have shifted, the dynamics have not changed much for the region.

For the past 20 years, East Africa has experienced an unprecedented real estate boom which has transformed the skylines changing the building landscape and inventory.

While the demand continues, especially for affordable housing targeting the low-income bracket, the shopping malls and office spaces are outpacing demand leading to declining returns in the sector for some.

The East African region still has a high and unmet demand for warehouses, hotels and student hostels as more and more students continue seeking education far from home.

Read: Intra-regional trade could create 2 million new jobs for East Africa

Over the course of time, construction has primarily focused on high-end assets due to the belief that they delivered higher margins and higher returns …