Browsing: DRC

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Regional carrier Jambojet has commenced operations to North Kivu Province Capital, Goma in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, to become the first low-cost carrier to fly the route, and also the only direct flight between Nairobi and the Eastern DRC city.

In a statement, the airline said it will be flying twice, on Monday and Friday, from its hub at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, to Goma International Airport. This is set to increase to 4 times weekly, as demand grows.

Jambojet Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Karanja Ndegwa, said flying to Goma is one step towards growing Jambojet’s footprint in Africa.

“We are excited about the growth prospects in the region. We have an ambitious plan to grow our network, and we are proud to be the first low-cost airline to venture into this route,” said Karanja.

Jambojet currently flies to 6 destinations including Mombasa, …

climate1

Transport infrastructure is vital to developing countries because efficient and reliable transport networks are critical for local and international trade.

Transportation infrastructure, such as roads and railway systems, is one of the sectors most threatened by climate change. Extreme weather events such as flooding, sea-level rise, and storm surge have repeatedly wreaked Havoc on transport networks.

In Africa, extreme weather is a threat that can cause extensive structural damage. It can also accelerate the aging of infrastructure components which can lead to significant financial losses.

For instance, a recent report on Tanzania uncovered the vulnerability of the country’s transportation systems. Long stretches of road and rail networks are exposed to extreme flooding events, with growing exposure in the future.

The report estimated that worst-case disruptions to Tanzania’s multi-modal transport networks could cause losses of up to US$1.4 million per day. In addition, damage to these networks can disrupt the flow …

MAKO2

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday agreed in principle to a restructuring of Congo’s vast debts, an issue that was blocking negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, a minister said.

Acknowledging this Congolese Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso on moday June 21 said that the financial difficulties his country has faced, delayed servicing of the debt and promised to reduce a debt that has recently increased.

The prime minister says the health crisis brought about by the Covid-19 led to an increase in borrowing that was aimed at cushioning its citizen without the ability to service it and thus it was time to make their debt sustainable going forward.

“Our debt currently stands at nearly $10,892,454,000 as of 31 December 2020, or 98% of GDP. Our objective is to bring it down to below the CEMAC community standard set at 70% of GDP,” Anatole Collinet Makosso said to the National …

tobacco

The Tanzania Cigarette Company (TCC), the country’s main tobacco producer, is looking to expand its sells to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The DRC is already TCC’s largest export destination that has seen the company grow its 2019 gross profit earnings by 56 percent, more than double compared to the previous year.

Nonetheless, the tobacco company enjoyed marginal growth when it came to annual revenue which inched up slightly by 5.2 percent to clock 309.8bn/- up from 294.3bn/- the year before that.

TCC is not the only company eyeing the DRC for business, increasingly, Tanzanian banks are reported to be making venture moves into the DRC. However, until now, it is small businesses that were enjoying the huge market of the central African state.

Many small businesses have been transporting goods to the DRC for years and enjoying lucrative returns. TCC is only the latest of manufacturing titans to …

insure

CRDB Bank, a leading bank in Tanzania, has announced plans to register its own insurance subsidiary firm.

The bank is currently already a broker and enjoying considerable premium back payments which almost double in the span of just 3 years (2016-2019).

In an interview with local media, CRDB’s Broker General Manager, Mr Arthur Mosha said in that short time, their premium levels is up from 44.2bn/- from 25bn/-

Not surprising, Tanzania’s insurance market grew by 8.6 percent in gross premiums over the course of the last financial year. As of 2018, Tanzania’s insurance industry had 31 insurance companies, 109 insurance brokers and 635 insurance agents.

For a country of 56 million people, the sector is hardly sufficiently serviced and there is enormous room for growth.

The bank’s brokage services target mainly their own customers who now represent 70 percent of all their insurance customers. At the moment, the leading products …

African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a grant worth $8 million aimed at supporting the preparation of the Ruzizi IV Hydropower Project.

A statement from the Bank shows that the grant was drawn from the European Union’s Africa Investment Platform (EU-AIP).

According to the bank, the plant will be situated on the Ruzizi River between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is expected to supply electricity to the DRC, Burundi, and Rwanda.

About half of Rwandans have access to electricity, and the project comes to strengthen the fast-growing economy energy sector ambition, set on increasing access, stimulating demand and strengthening transmission network.

The project also stands to improve electricity supply status to one the least electrified nation’s in the world, Burundi with access rate standing at 7 per cent. More importantly, the project will impact one of the largest countries in the region, DRC which also has …