Following recent announcements from the government, Mozambique’s BNI (Banco Nacional de Investimentos) is about to launch two credit lines to assist the country’s SMEs to mitigate the effects of the COVID19 pandemic.

Small and medium companies represent the core of the country’s formal/ informal economy and have been heavily affected by the pandemic. The new credit lines are due to be officially announced by BNI this week and will address specifically SMEs, hospitality and education with an expected interest rate below the market rates.

Also Read: Legal pointers for Mozambique SMEs

The credit lines are meant to assist companies affected by COVID-19 in the entire country and are being financed by the government and the INSS. BNI expect the credit lines to address such issues as maintenance, restitution and the increase of jobs and household income as well as to provide some much breathing room cashflow in affected companies.

Although …

The trade agreement will provide business opportunities enhancing industrialization in Africa in line with the AU’s Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.…

There has been a rapid uptake of mobile technologies in the region with strong economic growth in the past 2 decades.…

Availability of liquidity is the main issue to be addressed for airlines to survive and restart their operations…

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has confidently provided directives to his government regarding the reopening of the economy, including tourism, sports, and education.

“The trend shows that coronavirus infections are declining,” said the head of state

President Magufuli who is also the Southern African Development Community (SADC) chairman, gave various directives during a swearing-in event of Tanzania’s ambassadors to Kenya, Algeria and Mozambique and the deputy health minister, at the State House in Dodoma.

Education

Since March, schools, colleagues and universities were shut down as part of the government of Tanzania measures to curb the virus. Hence, due to the less-threatening trend of COVID-19 patients in Tanzania, as argued by Magufuli last Sunday, universities are slated to open by June 1 2020.

“With the fall in Covid-19 cases, we have decided that universities should reopen on June 1, 2020. The relevant ministry should make all necessary arrangements within these nine days …

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 …