Ivory Coast’s Prime Minister Patrick Achi says that his country is on track to becoming a regional medical hub thanks to a $300 million financing agreement signed with the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC). The agreement helps medical clinics in the world’s largest cocoa producer procure equipment from manufacturing giants General Electric and Philips,…
(This is a transcript of the podcast posted on Monday, July 19th 2021. You can listen to the podcast by clicking on this link https://mansamedia.africa/the-weekly-beat-july-19-2021/) Welcome to The Weekly Beat by Mansa with your hosts, Arnold Segawa, Maggie Mutesi, and Dumi Jere. Giving you all the info on Africa’s big finance and economic stories, The…
Senegal’s President Macky Sall will inaugurate the country’s first sovereign data center on Tuesday, June 22, as part of his government’s efforts to make the West African nation a leader in digital technologies. The Diamniadio Data Center will enable the government spread out high speed internet access throughout the country’s territory but also to meet,…
Kenyan 2021-2022 national budget has increased allocation to the security sector by Sh6 billion ($60 million), bucking a trend that has endured over the last decade. According to the Sh3.63 trillion budgetary estimates presented to Parliament by the Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani, the government is planning to spend a huge Sh340 billion on internal…
In a historic first in the continent, Senegal’s government has announced that it will allocate $836 million in proceeds from a 16-year Eurobond to a new fund created to solve youth related issues raised in protests that engulfed the West African nation earlier this year. The fund aims to address youth unemployment by supporting the…
Uganda will receive a $1 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund as the East African country grapples with economic difficulties due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and political instability that has rocked the country since last year. The loan provided to Uganda comes just four days after the Washington-based lender agreed to provide $1.5…
Despite being promised an IMF bailout over a year ago, Equatorial Guinea is still waiting for the funds it hoped would revive its struggling economy. Africa’s only Spanish speaking country has been hit by a slump in oil prices since 2014 that further escalated when the pandemic began last year. The economy has shrank in…
Last week, Statistics South Africa (SSA) gave out a breath of fresh air by announcing that the economy sprang back in the fourth quarter of 2020 driven by expansion in manufacturing, construction and trade. But that announcement did not end there. It was a precursor to the statement that the economy recorded its biggest annual…
As economies across the continent slipped into recession in 2020, Tanzania reaped from its policy of not imposing COVID-19 related restrictions and nationwide curfews, recording the fastest economic growth in Africa. According to the World Bank, Tanzania’s economy grew by 2% in 2020 and Mara Warwick, World Bank country director for Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and…
Selisu Mborantsuo locks his room and goes off to work. Since the start of the pandemic, he, like many others across the globe, have not had a normal life. His main hassle of selling ground nuts in bars and entertainment joints has stuttered and with it, the livelihoods of his four children. Lemina narrates how…
As a duck is to water, the word “diamond” is synonymous with this southern African nation. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Botswana’s diamonds have topped the world’s ornament market bringing huge revenues to the government and transforming the country into an upper middle income economy. But as with any reliance lies the risk…
When Joseph Gitile started his soap manufacturing business in 2017; he was exuberant and very optimistic that within a few months he would be Kenya’s next millionaire. In January, reality dawned, and he had to painfully shut down his business after accumulating millions of shillings, not in profits – but debts and unpaid bills. Joseph…
Kenya will raise more money from foreign than domestic sources, as it restructures its debt portfolio to take advantage of growing appetite for high-yielding debt. The National Treasury said it is seeking to raise $1.13 billion in sovereign bonds in the next four months and an additional $1.14 billion during the financial year starting July…
Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari has approved the creation of a new entity that will focus on infrastructure development, with a seed capital of $2.63 billion, the office of the president said in a statement. The company, named Infra-Co, will be a public-private partnership, and the initial capital will come from the central bank, the Nigerian…
Uganda’s Ministry of Finance expects public debt will surge to 50% of its annual economic output by June this year, driven by fresh borrowing to fund financial stimulus packages as the country suffers economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. That marks an increase of about 9% in the debt-to-GDP ratio, from 41% in the financial…
Central African Republic will receive $34.4 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the Washington-based lender completed the first and second reviews of its $115 million loan program. The funds are much needed as the country is battling the coronavirus pandemic effects on its economy as well as increased violence launched in opposition to…
Zambia’s government has put itself between the proverbial “rock and a hard place” after it announced that it will further subsidize fuel prices risking the ire of the International Monetary Fund with whom they have been discussing a financial bailout before the upcoming August’s elections. The finance ministry removed a 16% value-added tax on gasoline…
Democratic Republic of Congo has received debt relief from China to aid it overcome growing economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the foreign ministry announced. Under the terms of the agreement, Congo will no longer be mandated to repay its interest-free loans from China that matured at the end of 2020. At a joint press…
The Republic of Congo’s government has terminated its contract with Australian miner Sundance Resources to develop the huge Mbalam-Nabeba iron-ore deposit, subsequently awarding three new permits to a relatively unknown Chinese-backed company. In a November 30 decree jointly signed by President Denis Sassou Nguesso and four cabinet ministers, the government cited several reasons such as…
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed Zambia formally requested assistance to navigate a debt crisis. Zambia became the first pandemic-era sovereign debt default in the continent last month, after it failed to pay a $42.5 million coupon on one of its Eurobonds. The government had earlier indicated it would seek help from the IMF…