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With peace and stability returning to Somalia, the country is beginning to enjoy international banking and financial services that can link the country to global financial networks for ease of doing business, and also support the growth of local industries.

On Wednesday July 7, The American digital financial payments service Visa announced its partnership with the International Bank of Somalia (IBS Bank), which will see the introduction of Somalia’s first Visa financial card payment service. This partnership opens up Somalia to the cashless payment services for international and local transactions.

Mahat Mohamed Ahmed,the IBS Bank Chief Executive Officer Speaking at the launch of this mega event he said that the introduction of Visa in Somalia was a great Milestone and that Somalia was on track to the right path of growth and progress.

“We’ll continue to make partnerships, and bring convenient and innovative financial solutions to the people.”

The Visa …

In the latest may statistics released by the Meat Board of Namibia, show that the country has exported more live animals than it has slaughtered for value addition and export bearing in mind that Agriculture is one of Namibia’s most important sectors.

The majority of Namibia’s population is dependent directly or indirectly on the agricultural sector for their livelihoods.  Agriculture’s contribution to GDP (excluding fishing) over the last five years has been just over four percent. Livestock farming contributes to approximately two-thirds of agricultural production, with crop farming and forestry making up the remaining third of production.  Meat processing (which the Namibian government accounts for under manufacturing) contributes to another 0.2 – 0.4 percent of GDP.

The export of live animals (mostly cattle and sheep) has historically contributed to about two-thirds of agricultural exports by value.

During the period under review, statistics showed that the country exported 45 623 live …

Over 250 top-level speakers and panelists including a huge range of Africa’s most important investors, dealmakers, and business leaders, have been confirmed ready to attend the Annual AFSIC-Investing in Africa forum that is scheduled for October 11^th and 12th in London, These Key Figures in the Corporate world will unpack the increasing global investment momentum into Africa’s growing public and private sectors as well as highlighting new growth opportunities across the continent.

The agenda of AFSIC 2021, remains investment-focused, with several of the most experienced and successful asset management firms investing in Africa sharing insights into where the smart money is investing, and business leaders running some of Africa’s most exciting growth companies showcasing new investment opportunities, with focused streams in Banking, Building, Healthcare, Agriculture, Fintech, Education and Sustainable Growth.

With ABSA Corporate Investment Bank heading up an impressive group of supporting sponsors, the conference will also feature …

February 14, 2020 was the day that the first case of Covid-19 was reported in the Africa Continent, and this was in Egypt, today almost every country in the continent has registered Covid-19 cases with the WHO. With Africans nations embracing the new normal and reportage indicating declining trend in new cases across much of the region, seven countries, including Benin, Eritrea, Eswatini, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and South Africa are showing
an increase of more than 20% in cases.

A slight increase in deaths was also reported. South Africa has seen an increase in weekly cases for the second consecutive week. Even with a declining trend across the African region, the high number of cases reported globally still pose a risk for the region. Additionally, three countries have very high rates of community transmission and are of serious concern.

Testing in most of the African countries has seen Multidimensional …

It is not yet another good year for the Cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast the world’s biggest producer of the key ingredient for chocolate, as the prices of their commodity went down for the second year running.

This is contrary to M’Brimbo, a village in central Ivory Coast which 11 years ago became a testing ground for organic cocoa farming and today is prospering.

The local farmers’ collective, the Fair Cooperative Society of Bandama (SCEB), sell their high-quality produce at twice the market rate for non-organic cocoa.

“When producers are trained and well-paid, they can make very good cocoa in Ivory Coast,” said Arthur Gautier, an agronomist who works for Ethiquable, a French company that specializes in marketing fair-trade products and buys SCEB’s harvest.

ALSO READ: Harnessing Africa’s Sovereign Wealth

The chocolate made from their cocoa is sold in French supermarkets under the brand “Grand Cru M’Brimbo,” a name that …

Today May 18 2021, African heads of state, European leaders, and representatives of international institutions will gather in Paris for a summit on financing African economies.

The President of the Republic of France Emmanuel Macron hopes that new and ambitious solutions will be found so that Africa can face up to this unprecedented shock and return to growth, like other continents that have been able to implement massive recovery plans.

All the signatories of the April 15, 2020 letter have been invited to the Summit, as well as several other African heads of state, members of the G7 and G20, and leaders of international organizations.

Well someone would ask, Is it not the right time that African nations believes in themselves and drums up a campaign of mobilizing its national resources and using them to attract additional foreign capital? This could be the only way of ensuring our economies’ financial …

According to a data released on Monday by the Central Bank of Egypt, Egypt’s current account deficit climbed to $7.6 billion in the first half (1H) of the current FY2020/2021 from July to December 2020 up from $4.6 in the same half of FY2019/2020.

This Increase in the current account deficit is associated to the decline in service balance surplus and the increase in the non-oil trade balance

ALSO READ: KENYA SEEKS $600M FROM CHINA TO PLUG BUDGET DEFICIT

According to CBE, due to the decline in the investment income balance Service balance surplus contracted by 69.9 percent in the 1H of FY2020/21 posted $1.9 billion, down from $6.3 billion in the 1H of FY2019/20.

The decline in Investment income had a larger effect on the Tourism sector with the CBE showing that tourism revenues dropped by 75.3 percent in the 1H of FY2020/21, reaching $1.8 billion.

In April 13 …

Zimbabwe rabbit farmers have imported 100 more pure breeds to help shore up efforts by the country’s rabbit producers to support and expand further cuniculture production.

With its significant potentiality to generate revenue for the country, its potential export market includes China and the US and farmers are leaving nothing to chance to the lucrative farming business.

Rabbit farming is a very profitable business with its demand for rabbit meat increasing in Zimbabwe. People want to try a different type of meat which is not chicken, beef, or pork.

A lot of people are switching to more healthy meat with less fat. Rabbit meat has become a perfect replacement for chicken since it is also white meat. Rabbits are easy to keep and are very profitable as the feed costs are low due to the fact that they eat a variety of foods.

An increasing number of farmers in Zimbabwe …

The state government of Lagos will launch a five-year Agriculture Development Roadmap in line with its mission development agenda Strategy on Thursday April 22, 2021.

Explaining this to the media Ms. Abisola Olusanya the State Commissioner for Agriculture in Lagos said that the Roadmap will steer their goals and help the State achieve its goal of making Lagos a 21^st Century Economy.

The Roadmap will focus on the development of agricultural value chains where the State has competitive and comparative advantages of ensuring that the State attains its food security goals.

“I am delighted to address you today and avail you of the forthcoming launch of the five-year Agricultural Development Roadmap for the Ministry which is slated for launch by the State Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu next week Thursday.

This bold step which will be taken by the Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu-led Lagos State government to launch a five-year …

Tourism and Hospitality management group, Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG) is upbeat of positive performance going forward offsetting the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in FY2020.

The Rainbow Tourism group which is located in Zimbabwe, has an extensive portfolio of owner-managed or leased hotels and conference facilities in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, as well as a tour operator company.

As countries implement Covid-19 vaccinations to its residents as part of efforts to limit the spread and severity of the pandemic, the group is hopeful of the economic recovery with anticipation healing on the travel and tourism sector across the globe.

“The tourism industry was adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. While the current situation is likely to persist into early 2021, we remain confident that the tourism industry will in time rebound and set the hotel business on a path towards recovery.

“A glimmer of hope has come from the ongoing …