FinDev Canada, Canada’s development finance institution, has annoucned its first transaction, a $10m investment in M-KOPA, a ‘pay-as-you-go’ energy provider to off-grid homes in Kenya. M-KOPA has connected 600,000 homes across Africa, providing 75 million hours of kerosene-free lighting each month. Its battery-powered systems come with lights, phone-charging, and a solar powered radio; with daily…
Sub-Saharan African countries could increase tax revenue by an average of 5 percent of gross domestic product — much more than what they receive in international aid — if they reform their tax policies, the International Monetary Fund said. Key steps would be to strengthen value-added tax systems, streamline exemptions and expand coverage of income taxes, the…
Sub-Saharan African nations affected by increasing public-debt levels and non-performing loans must take action to address rising vulnerability, the International Monetary Fund said. About 40 percent of low-income countries in the region are now assessed as being in debt distress or at high risk of this, the IMF said Tuesday. The median level of public…
The African Development Bank is leading talks with Zimbabwe and its creditors to make plans for the nation to pay off some of its arrears so it can restore relations with lenders, said Akinwumi Adesina, the bank’s president. During almost two decades of economic mismanagement the southern African nation’s debt surged to more than 70…
Nigeria plans to issue identity numbers to 70 million citizens by the end of next year, a first step to bringing them into the country’s payments system. The West African nation, which currently holds centralized data for less than 15 percent of its almost 200 million population, will integrate various identity-capturing and verification systems run…
Bharti Airtel Ltd. is looking to pare $4.6 billion from its net borrowings over the next three years by listing its African unit and potentially selling some stake in its tower business, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, in a bid to safeguard its investment grade ratings. India’s top wireless operator plans to…
MTN Group Ltd. plans to borrow as much as 400 billion naira ($1.1 billion) in Nigeria this year as Africa’s largest wireless carrier by sales seeks to fund local investment and replace existing debt in the continent’s most populous country. MTN plans to sell bonds and take out long-term loans as Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer,…
Nigeria will probably maintain its system of multiple exchange rates, which the International Monetary Fund has long-urged it to scrap, until at least early 2020, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Merging the naira’s various rates any sooner might force the government to weaken the currency and raise fuel prices, which would accelerate inflation, the ratings company…
Demand for Ghana’s $2 billion of Eurobonds exceeded supply four times as the West African country convinced investors about its economic turnaround story, the Ministry of Finance said. Ghana got more than $8 billion of bids after marketing the debt in the U.S. and London, the ministry said in emailed statement Friday. President Nana Akufo-Addo,…
The lender sees risks to its 2.4 percent estimate for 2018 “as being tilted to the upside,” Goldman economist Andrew Matheny said in an emailed note. Goldman increased its prediction from 1.5 percent after Cyril Ramaphosa was elected as leader of the ruling party in December. Business confidence reached a more than two-year high in…