Author: Editorial Staff

HOW Africa urbanises will be critical to the continent’s future growth and development, according to the African Economic Outlook 2016 by the African Development Bank (AfDB) early May. Africa’s economic performance held firm in 2015 amid global headwinds and regional shocks. The continent remained the second fastest growing economic region after East Asia. According to the report’s prudent forecast, the continent’s average growth is expected at 3.7 percent in 2016 and pick up to 4.5 percent in 2017, provided the world economy strengthens and commodity prices gradually recover. In 2015, net financial flows to Africa were estimated at $208bn, 1.8…

UBER and Sidian Bank announced have partnered to launch an innovative Uber Vehicle Solutions Programme that will give driver-partners and business investors convenient and affordable access to the quality vehicles they need to start or grow their Uber-based businesses. This comes shortly after Uber celebrated 1 million rides taken in Kenya since its launch just 15 months ago. The ground breaking vehicle access initiative includes a vehicle finance component delivered through Sidian Bank and a vehicle leasing solution made available through Zohari Leasing. The initiative is valued at a total of nearly Ksh10bn ($100 million). According to Nate Anderson, acting…

AFTER an extended period of strong economic growth, sub-Saharan Africa is set to experience a second difficult year as the region is hit by multiple shocks, says the IMF. According to its April 2016 Regional Economic Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa, Time for a Policy Reset, growth in the region as a whole is projected to fall to 3 percent in 2016, the lowest level in some 15 years, albeit with considerable differences across the region. While the outlook remains favorable, growth is well below the 6 percent that was customary over the last decade, and barely above population growth. ‘Africa…

REDUCING a reliance on bulk black tea is a key objective for Kenya as it looks to boost revenue from one of its flagship agricultural sectors. Kenya is the world’s leading exporter of black tea, which accounts for 95 percent of the country’s overall tea production, making it one of its main agricultural exports. Tea exports generated earnings of $1.23bn in 2015, a 23 percent increase from the previous year. The jump in revenue was the result of higher prices due in large part to a weaker harvest, with 2015 crop yields at 399.2m kg, a 10 percent year-on-year decrease,…

NIGERIAN vice-president Yemi Osinbajo has accused the previous administration of stealing about $15bn of public money through fraudulent arms deals. Osinbajo said the huge sum was ‘lost… to fraudulent and corrupt practices in… security equipment spending during the last administration,’ according to a recent statement released by his office. The figure is more than half of Nigeria’s current foreign exchange reserves of $27bn, he said late April in a speech in Ibadan. President Muhammadu Buhari took office in May last year vowing to crack down on endemic corruption and impunity in the government, and has set about bringing offenders to…

PAYPAL and First National Bank (FNB) are to extend the partnership between the companies to offer PayPal Withdraw Service, previously available only in South Africa, in Botswana. This service will allow, for the first time ever, residents in Botswana to withdraw money directly from their PayPal accounts to their qualifying FNB bank account. This service gives local businesses the flexibility they need to not only accept PayPal payments but also settle locally – opening up the opportunity to do business on a global level and have access to  PayPal’s 183 million active customer accounts in 203 countries and markets. Commenting…

MTN Mobile Money has become the fastest growing method of receiving WorldRemit international money transfers in Ghana. The number of transfers received on mobile accounts is growing by 13 percent per month on average, as Ghanaians abroad discover the convenience of sending instantly to MTN Mobile Money. Countries sending the most money to Ghana include the United Kingdom, USA and Australia. WorldRemit is the global leader in international transfers to Mobile Money, with connections to 32 services in 24 countries across Europe, Africa and Asia. The increased use of Mobile Money in remittances is also driving a new phenomenon -…

MTN Ghana has contracted Ericsson to deploy an LTE network in the region around the country’s capital Accra – a move the infrastructure vendor said would cover some 16 million subscribers. The operator is rolling out the new network in the Greater Accra Region as it moves to offer subscribers in the area high-speed mobile broadband access. The Greater Accra Region is the smallest of the country’s 10 administrative regions in terms of area, but it is the second most heavily populated having accounted for 15.4 per cent of Ghana’s total population in 2010, information from the Ghanaian government reveals.…

UPTAKE of device-based mobile money services in sub-Saharan Africa is being hindered by barriers including a lack of awareness of what’s on offer, and a want of understanding of the benefits of mobile money, says global communications giant, Ericsson. While a survey conducted in five of the region’s major markets revealed that high numbers of people in sub-Saharan Africa are unbanked – meaning they have no access to regular bank accounts – and that most of those consumers access mobile money services via an agent, the research showed that less than a quarter regularly access such services on a mobile…

A NEW mobile operator, ntel, commenced 4G LTE services in Lagos and Abuja in early April, increasing competition in the 170 million-person telecoms market. Operating on the 900-MHz and 1800-MHz bands, ntel is looking to challenge the four major telecoms operators in Nigeria – South Africa’s MTN, India’s Bharti Airtel, UAE’s Etisalat and local Globacom – with the promise of internet speeds of up to 230 Mbps. Ntel first announced it would be entering the market in the autumn of 2015, beginning with coverage in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, and eventually spreading out to smaller cities and towns across…