Luanda - Angola's debt to China is estimated at USD 20.1 billion, and is the country's largest creditor, said Finance Minister Vera Daves Friday. Of this amount, USD 10 billion was used to capitalize the Angolan oil company Sonangol and the remaining USD 10.1 billion to finance various investment projects....
Author: Geoffrey Akwezi
Facebook to Open Office in Lagos, Nigeria in 2021
In 2016, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg visited Nigeria in what was his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa. While the attraction to the budding tech ecosystem which was already producing some of Africa’s best known startups was obvious, there was also the underlying influence of Facebook’s pool of high-ranking Nigerian-American executives. Four years later,...
World Bank Agrees $150m for Affordable Energy in Rwanda
Rwanda’s quest to avail affordable energy to the population got a boost this week following, the approval by the World Bank Group of $150m (approximately Rwf142bn) to finance energy access for households, enterprises and public institutions in Rwanda. Half of the allocated funds will be disbursed in form of grant...
South Sudan President Sacks Finance Minister As Economic Meltdown Looms
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Wednesday sacked his Finance and Economic Planning minister, as well as top officials in the country’s revenue and oil management offices, in sweeping changes that followed an economic crisis. In a presidential decree read on state-run TV SSBC, Mr Kiir sacked Salvatore Garang...
Zimbabwe U-Turns and Bans Chinese Coal Mining in National Park
Zimbabwe has banned mining in its national parks in response to protests after permits to explore for coal in one of the world’s premier elephant reserves were awarded to Chinese companies. The permits in the Hwange National Park were allegedly awarded without the requisite environmental permissions, according to a court...
West African Bloc Fails to Mediate in Mali
West African mediators failed to persuade leaders of a military coup in Mali to immediately hand over power to a civilian government during talks on Tuesday, the chairman of the regional bloc said. Leaders of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met the heads of a junta...
East Africa’s First Major Oil Pipeline Agreed With $3.5 Billion Deal
Tanzania and Uganda have signed an agreement allowing for the construction of a 1,445 km (898 miles) crude oil pipeline. The $3.5bn (£2.7m) project will connect Uganda's oil fields to Tanzania's port of Tanga. The signing ceremony was attended by the presidents of both countries. Oil reserves were found in...
Actress Lupita Nyong’o Speaks Out About Death of Co-star Chadwick Boseman
Actress Lupita Nyong'o has for the first time spoken about the death of her "Black Panther" co-star Chadwick Boseman who succumbed to colon cancer on August 28, 2020. Nyong'o, 37, shared a picture of her and a cheerful Boseman on Instagram on Tuesday, along with a heartfelt tribute. "I write...
Teen Pregnancies and Stifled Economic Opportunity: the Impact of COVID-19 on Women
Women bear the brunt of Covid-19—not so profound a statement in the Kenyan context, where a spike in teen pregnancies has featured regularly in the media since the government closed schools in March in response to the coronavirus outbreak. But then, Kenya is not alone, hence the attention UN Special...
Nigeria to Regulate Trade in Crypto Assets
Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has said it will begin regulating trade in crypto assets to protect investors and ensure market integrity and transparency. SEC said in statement that digital assets offerings provide alternative investment opportunities for the investing public, noting that it is therefore essential to ensure that...