$24 million
First close for South Africa’s Hlayisani Growth Fund to invest into high-growth, high-impact businesses. The round was led by Standard Bank and prominent South African family offices. The fund also revealed it made seven investments last year worth a combined $13.6 million
(Disrupt Africa)
206%
Growth in the value of mobile payment transactions in Rwanda in 2020, hitting $7.3 million, according to statistics from the central bank. The increase is largely driven by government policy to encourage the adoption of digital payment as a measure to curb the spread of COVID-19.
(The New Times)
10 million
People in DRC expected to get connected via solar-powered cell towers in a project led by Canada's NuRAN Wireless and Orange DRC. The partners will construct and operate 2,000 solar-powered communication masts across the country, focusing on rural communities. The network-as-a-service contract is NuRAN's second in Africa, after a similar project with Orange Cameroon.
(ESI Africa)
1st
Woman and African was appointed as Director-General of the World Trade Organisation on Monday; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will be heading the multilateral trade body from March 1, 2021 to August 31, 2025. The decision was taken by consensus at a special meeting of the organisation's General Council. Okonjo-Iweala is the former Finance Minister of Nigeria and World Bank economist.
(The Economic Times)
15 MW
Electricity set to be produced in the first phase of Rwanda's Shema Power Lake Kivu (SPLK) methane gas extraction project by June this year, according to engineers. Once fully finalised at the end of 2022, the $400 million project will add 56 MW to the national grid, significantly increasing the country's power generation capacity.
(The New Times)
47,000 hectares
Area of forest lost to cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire, in 2020 despite pledges to halt deforestation. The figure represents a 20% improvement on annual forest loss recorded in 2015. The West African country is the world’s top cocoa producer but has lost more than 85% of its forest cover since 1960, mainly due to cocoa farming, according to the government.
(Reuters)
7.125%
The coupon on Ecobank Nigeria's $300 million bond issued on the London Stock Exchange. The first non-sovereign bond from Africa this year, the bond is a milestone capital raise for the banking sector in Nigeria, with its coupon rate representing the lowest ever achieved by a Nigerian financial institution for a benchmark bond transaction.
(Africa Global Funds)
$3 billion
Cost of phase one of Egypt's integrated electric train system being implemented by Siemens. The initial phase covers 460 km running between the Red Sea and Mediterranean coast, passing through the New Administrative Capital. Expected to take two years to complete, the works will create 15,000 jobs.
(Egypt Independent)
7,052
Motor vehicles assembled in Kenya in 2020, representing 63.6% of all new vehicle sales that year. The number largely comprises commercial vehicles, a segment which benefits from a ban on imports and tax advantages for knocked down imports to support local manufacturing.
(Business Daily)
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