Business

16, September 2018

African Development Bank releases new tool to assess resilience and fragility in countries ⁰

The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) has created and refined a new tool to diagnose fragility in countries, taking into account their capacities and pressures they may be under.

Called the Country Resilience and Fragility Assessment (CRFA), the tool offers a completely new method of assessing resilience and fragility using seven key criteria: political inclusiveness, safety and security, justice, the economy, social cohesion, the regional contagion effect, and climate change.

“The creation of the CRFA represents a significant advance in the assessment of fragility, which is a reality that it is not always easy to pin down or discern. By introducing, for the first time, the concepts of ‘capacities’ and ‘pressures’, this new tool brings much more rigour and effectiveness to the assessment of resilience and fragility, especially since it takes greater account of the national context,” explained Sibry Tapsoba, Director of the Transition States Coordination Office (RDTS) .

Simple, reliable and effective

Before its approval by the Bank Board on 11 September, the CRFA, was subjected to a range of checks for reliability and effectiveness, conducted under the supervision of the Transition States Coordination Office, with support from the Bank’s statistics and resource mobilization departments.

In addition to assessing resilience and fragility, the new tool should also be useful for advocacy and communication and improving and strengthening dialogue between the Bank and its regional members. It should also help to anticipate crises, thanks to an early warning system.

“What we have here is an assessment tool of unquestionable rigour. It is easy to use, it is reliable and it is accessible to all. It brings an undeniable added value to existing techniques for the assessment of resilience and fragility,” said Riadh Ben Messaoud, from the Bank’s Resource Mobilization department.

The creation of a new fragility and resilience assessment tool is an important contribution to research efforts for greater effectiveness in the Bank’s work.

The CRFA provides better insight into every dimension of fragility, including the less obvious, making it possible to offer the most appropriate responses in terms of building a country’s capacity and resilience.

16, September 2018

Orange reinforces its connectivity on the West African Coast through a major investment in the MainOne submarine Cable ⁰

Orange and MainOne Cable Company are pleased to announce that they have signed an agreement allowing for a major investment by Orange in the West Africa submarine cable system, MainOne. Through this partnership Orange will acquire additional capacity, thereby reinforcing its position in the African telecommunications ecosystem.

MainOne’s current cable system comprises a 7,000km submarine cable, which was launched in 2010 and has landing stations in Nigeria, Ghana and Portugal. The partnership between Orange and MainOne Company will provide for the construction and installation of two new branches and stations. These will connect the cable to Dakar in Senegal and Abidjan in the Côte d’Ivoire by mid-2019. Orange will be the owner of the cable station in Dakar. Orange’s investment represents a major milestone for this project.

Orange Marine, a 100% subsidiary of the Orange Group, has been chosen to manage the installation of these two new branches.

Connectivity, capacity & growth opportunities

Thanks to this new cable connection, local populations will benefit from better connectivity, lower prices and access to new services. Orange will benefit from multiple Terabits per second of additional bandwidth for the development of fixed and mobile data in Africa. More specifically, this cable extension is an opportunity to improve connectivity and offer a broader range of services for both Orange Côte d’Ivoire & Sonatel. In addition, MainOne offers an alternative route that guarantees the protection of voice and data traffic passing through the other cables in the area – SAT3 WASC SAFE and ACE.

A key asset of the Group’s broadband network in Africa

Through this new partnership, Orange confirms its position as a leading player in the submarine cable market. In this role, the Group aims to develop the quality of service of its worldwide networks and facilitate the use of new digital services for end-users.

Orange has a strong commitment to the African continent, which has been at the heart of the Group’s strategy for the last few decades. The Group is investing heavily in building infrastructure and providing access to communication services over the long-term.

“Orange’s ambition on international networks is both to meet the needs of our affiliates in their interconnection with the Internet world and to increase our leadership on the international data services wholesale market. This partnership with MainOne will allow us to strengthen our presence, with new significant assets in West Africa,” said Jérome Barré, Chief Executive Officer of Wholesale and International Networks.

“The development of new digital services in Africa has fostered huge social and economic developments over the past few years. As barriers to access continue to fall with improved networks and more affordable equipment, Orange, as part of its multi-service strategy, is seeking to position itself as an important partner in the continent’s digital transformation Through this new partnership, Orange is set to secure and improve direct access to high-speed broadband services in two of its most important countries, Senegal and the Côte d’Ivoire,” said Alioune Ndiaye, Chief Executive Officer of Orange Middle East and Africa.

In her comments, MainOne’s Chief Executive Officer Funke Opeke reiterated the company’s vision for a connected West Africa: “MainOne continues to lead the digital transformation of our sub-region by investing in affordable connectivity to drive economic development. Our objective is to bridge the digital divide between and within West Africa and the rest of the world. We are committed to deepening broadband penetration across West Africa and believe our investments in technologically advanced subsea infrastructure will continue to liberalize the international bandwidth market, further support Orange and other wholesale customers, and ultimately result in improved digital services in the region”.

Orange is present in 20 countries in Africa and the Middle East and has 119 million customers (at 30 June 2018). With 5 billion euros of revenues in 2017, this zone is a strategic priority for the Group. Orange Money, its flagship mobile-based money transfer and financial services offer is available in 17 countries and has 38 million customers. Orange, a multi-services operator and key partner of the continent’s digital transformation, provides its expertise to support the development of new digital services in Africa and the Middle East.

13, September 2018

African Development Bank’s Board approves Policy on Non-Sovereign Operations ⁰

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has approved the Bank’s Policy on Non-sovereign Operations (NSO). The document provides the framework within which the Bank through its private sector lending window may provide financing or investment without sovereign guarantees to private and public entities that meet specific eligibility requirements on non-concessional terms.

Non-sovereign Operations (NSOs) refers to financing and investment operations that are not guaranteed by a State, covering mostly private sector transactions. They also cover non-sovereign guaranteed financing of eligible public sector enterprises, as well as financing of regional development finance institutions.

The approval of the Policy comes at a critical moment when the Bank is seeking to accelerate inclusive and sustainable economic growth, and crowd in more private sector funding for strong and inclusive growth to drive economic transformation and sustainable development in its Regional Member Countries (RMCs).

The NSO Policy will complement the Bank’s overarching 2013 Private Sector Development policy framework, notably, by defining what the Bank will do in the area of non-sovereign lending. Within this context, the objective of the Bank’s non-sovereign operations is to help accelerate the continent’s transformation through various financial support mechanisms and products including loans, lines of credit, guarantees, blended finance, equity investments and trade finance. This would enable the Bank to contribute to the sustainable economic growth and inclusive social development of its RMCs individually and jointly, in fulfilment of the Bank’s mandate.

More specifically, the Bank’s engagement in its selected non-sovereign operations will aim to maximise the catalytic impact of its limited resources, while seeking to promote inclusive growth and the gradual transition to ‘green growth’ in its RMCs. It will also help scale up financing in the Bank’s High 5 priority areas of intervention.

Under this NSO Policy, the Bank would provide financing to non-sovereign operations subject to four conditions: (i) the borrower is a private enterprise or an eligible public sector enterprise; (ii) the operations are financially sound; (iii) the operations should result in satisfactory development outcomes, including supporting or creating opportunities for private sector development; and (iv) the Bank brings additionally, which could be either financial or non-financial.

The Policy would ensure that NSOs: (i) are well-prepared with clear value added/additionally brought by the Bank; (ii) are technically, economically and financially sound, and diligently managed, adhering to high ethical norms; (iii) are environmentally and socially sustainable; and (iv) have solid prospects of generating significant development results in the RMCs in which they are implemented.

The NSO Policy does not apply to the Bank’s sovereign loans and sovereign-guaranteed loans. Such operations will continue to be governed by the relevant policies that guide the Bank Group’s public sector operations.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

12, September 2018

EU-AU partnership to create 10 million jobs ⁰

The European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday the continent’s regional bloc will propose a new alliance with Africa, that will create up to 10 million jobs. Juncker, who was delivering his annual state of the union speech to the European Parliament said a framework will be set up to attract more investment into Africa.

‘‘Today, we are proposing a new Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs between Europe and Africa, that would help create up to 10 million jobs in Africa in the next 5 years alone,’‘ Juncker said.

While he will be stepping down from his role in a year’s time, Juncker indicated that in the future, the EU would seek to take advantage of Africa’s efforts to forge a free trade area within the continent by offering a continent-to-continent free trade agreement.

‘‘I believe we should develop the numerous EU-African trade agreements into a continent-to-continent free trade agreement, as an economic partnership between equals.”

Nigeria, Eritrea and Guinea Bissau are the only three African countries that are yet to make any commitment to the African Union’s Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), signed in March this year.

Among various proposals for EU action to bolster prosperity in the world’s poorest continent and Europe’s close neighbour, the Commission chief would call for a more equal partnership and investment rather than aid, as Europeans look for ways to stem an economic divide driving Africans to try to migrate northward.

‘‘Africa does not need charity, it needs true and fair partnership. And we, Europeans need this partnership just as much,’‘ Juncker said.

The EU has previously said they will be shifting from an aid-centered approach to a real partnership with Africa, as a means to manage migration and prevent radicalisation of Africa’s young people.

Africa News

11, September 2018

Bilateral deals, corporate investment to the fore as China trims state funding to Africa ⁰

China has for the first time reduced the amount of money pledged to support the promises of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, as elements of the event suggest a maturing of Sino-African relations.

Chinese trade with Africa has dropped significantly in recent years, down to $170 billion in 2017 from a peak of $220 billion peak in 2014. As scrutiny of China’s influence in Africa – the debts owed, political involvement via training programmes, military presence – intensifies and Beijing’s own attention is diverted by the emerging trade war with the US, the $10 billion reduction in funding announced at the 2018 FOCAC forum in Beijing this month should perhaps not be seen as a surprise.

At $60 billion, the headline figure for the mix of aid, loans and credit lines promised seems at first glance to match the amount pledged at the previous summit in Johannesburg in 2015. Up until then, the figure had grown dramatically since the triennial summits of the FOCAC programme began in 2006.

This year’s $60 billion pledge comes as more of a mixed bag for African nations, as it actually includes a $5 billion reduction in the overall amount of pledges, loans and export credits at $35 billion, down from $40 billion three years ago. However, the level of concessional assistance to Africa is now $5 billion, the highest rate ever, according to analysis by Johns Hopkins University.

Most noticeably, the figures for the various amounts of government funding add up to $50 billion, and Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived at $60 billion again by including $10 billion in extra investment that Chinese companies would be encouraged to make on the continent. No further details of this were available and Chinese companies here in Ivory Coast are not yet prepared to comment on what the announcement means for them.

Around the prearranged announcements of the forum itself were side events and bilateral meetings as the Chinese hosts sought to integrate their Belt and Road trade initiative more concretely with individual nations. Details are yet to emerge, but some African leaders entered the meetings with clear requests. For example, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta sought help for an extension for the country’s troubled railway project that has previously been financed by China.

At the continental level, President Xi outlined eight areas of initiative and cooperation including industrialisation and agriculture hailed by the FAO; healthcare, hailed by the WHO; aligning with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 development plan; security and green development, an area in which China is the global leader.

China’s ‘five-no’ pledge

While some African nationals took to social media to criticise their leaders for what they believed was the blind acceptance of Beijing’s will, the mood at the events in the Chinese capital was of genuine cooperation. According to sources at the event, the announcements most welcomed by African delegates were the “five-no” promises, the clarification of five things that China will not do in Africa.

In the Chinese president’s own words there will be “no interference in African countries’ pursuit of development paths that fit their national conditions; no interference in African countries’ internal affairs; no imposition of our will on African countries; no attachment of political strings to assistance to Africa; and no seeking of selfish political gains in investment and financing cooperation with Africa”.

These declarations are a direct response to the growing criticism, predominantly by the West, of what is being called Chinese neo-colonialism across the continent – the notion of saddling countries with debt for useless projects as a way to secure resources. For example, over 90% of Djibouti’s external debt is held by China.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who co-chaired the event with China’s Xi, said at the forum, “In the values that it promotes, in the manner that it operates, and the impact it has on African countries, FOCAC refutes the view that a new colonialism is taking hold in Africa, as our detractors would have us believe”.

Ramaphosa went on to state that: “We are working [together] to build an Africa that is defined by good governance, democracy, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law,” listing all the areas in which China is most criticised by the West.

The forum’s announcements were immediately accompanied by supportive editorials from China’s state media. The People’s Daily, the publication seen as the most direct link to the Communist Party, pushed out fact sheets on social media defending China’s involvement in Africa.

Back in China, the announcements of funding led to criticism online by Chinese citizens complaining about the amount of money being sent overseas when parts of their own country are extremely poor. Such comments were promptly removed by censors.

It will take some time for the details of the 2018 event to emerge, but the China International Import Expo later this month in Shanghai is now the next China-Africa date on the calendar after Xi announced reduced or free participation for African nations and pledged to create a specific China-Africa trade expo.

The FOCAC events started at the request of African leaders 18 years ago to make bilateral relations more transparent. The triennial summits alternate between China and an African nation playing host. The 2021 FOCAC gathering will take place in Senegal.

Source: France 24

7, September 2018

British Airways website suffers data breach; 380,000 payments affected ⁰

Financial data has been stolen from potentially hundreds of thousands of British Airways customers who made online bookings in recent weeks, extending a run of embarrassing technological mishaps suffered by the UK flag carrier.

The thefts occurred during a data breach that affected bookings made on the airline’s website between Aug. 21 and Sept. 5, parent International Airlines Group said on Thursday.

Around 380,000 card payments were “compromised”, it said. In May 2017, the carrier suffered a massive computer system failure caused by a power supply issue near London’s Heathrow, which stranded 75,000 customers at Europe’s busiest airport over
a holiday weekend.

Its chief executive said at the time it would take steps to ensure such an incident never happened again, but in July it was forced to cancel and delay flights out of the same airport due to problems with a supplier’s IT systems.

IAG said the data breach had been resolved and the website was working normally, and that no travel or passport details were stolen.

It was communicating with affected customers but advised any others who believed they might have been affected to contact their banks or credit card providers.

The airline had launched an investigation and notified police and other relevant authorities.

(Source: Reuters)

7, September 2018

Africa Oil Week 2018 announces partnership with SuperReturn Africa ⁰

Africa Oil Week (AOW) has announced their partnership with SuperReturn. This new partnership offers delegates attending SuperReturn Africa, the continent’s biggest investor conference, access to Africa Oil Week on Thursday 8 November 2018.

For operators across the continent, raising capital remains one of the biggest challenges; whether it is funding exploration and production, or financing key infrastructure projects that will secure asset monetization for the long term. Africa Oil Week, in partnership with SuperReturn Africa, will now be able to offer an enhanced environment for operators to meet prospective financial partners, as well as ministers, senior government officials, national and independent oil company executives to exchange ideas and network.

In celebration of this exciting partnership, Africa Oil Week will be welcoming SuperReturn delegates to attend AOW on Thursday 8 November. The day will kick off with a live panel debate on ‘Global Funding Strategies and M&A for the African Upstream’ broadcast on CNBC Africa. Speakers confirmed for this important panel include Samaila Zubairu, President & CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Solomon Asamoah, CEO of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund and Paul McDade, CEO of Tullow Oil.

Following the live broadcast, AOW will host two breakout finance sessions addressing some of the key issues raised in the CNBC panel in greater detail, these include: the role of global finance in the African upstream and how to drive transactions in African infrastructure.

Through this partnership, AOW looks forward to welcoming the continent’s most active energy investors who will gain unrivalled access to the opportunities spread across Africa’s upstream oil and gas markets.

“We are really excited to announce this partnership with SuperReturn Africa. This partnership will allow us to continue to provide a business and intelligence transaction platform and meeting place for Africa’s upstream oil and gas markets.“ – Paul Sinclair, Conference Director, Africa Oil Week.

Africa Oil Week will take place at the CTICC in Cape Town, South Africa on the 5 – 9 November 2018.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Oil Week.

5, September 2018

Now is the time for local investors to step up and electrify Africa ⁰

For years, the African renewable energy development market has been dominated by foreign investors and financial institutions. Now is the time for African investors to step up to the plate and join the continent’s solar energy transition.

Africa is now even preparing to feed Europe’s growing energy needs through various projects, such as the TuNur CSP project. The project is currently in the early phases of development and will comprise a 2.3 GW concentrated solar power plant situated in the Sahara desert and a 2-G high-voltage DC submarine cable from Tunisia all the way to central Italy. Additional plans of building other export routes to Malta and France are on the table. The project is being financed mostly by European investors and will be constructed using the most modern technology. Europe will soon enjoy of the benefits of green energy coming straight from African soil. But while Europe seeks to power more coffee shops, chain stores and crypto mining server-farms, 50% of Africans are not electrified at all, and the other 50% are often connected to unreliable energy sources.

There are vast opportunities for local African investors present in the solar sector. The continent has an abundance of land available for project development and is home to some of the sunniest places on earth, which makes it an ideal location for solar energy development. Lydia van Os, Africa Lead at Solarplaza, believes that this is the right time for local investors to take action and get involved in Africa’s rapidly growing solar industry. She is convinced that this can only succeed if the movement of people committed to providing clean, reliable and affordable energy is inclusive, from Wall Street investors to Congolese rural households.

To fulfill its mission of accelerating the global sustainable energy transition and create the platform for international and local solar stakeholders to meet and share knowledge, Solarplaza is hosting Unlocking Solar Capital (“USC”) Africa. The third edition of this leading conference will take place on 7 to 8 November 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda. The two-day event is being organized in partnership with the Global Off-grid and Lighting Association (GOGLA), and is wholly focused on unlocking capital for new solar project development in Africa.

For those who can’t wait for the conference to get an in-depth look into the African solar landscape: Solarplaza has published an exhaustive 128-page regional report on Africa’s solar energy situation. The report offers an overview of the key facts & figures related to the most relevant solar PV markets in Africa. The detailed country profiles provide overviews of a range of issues related to solar PV project development and include summaries of key demographic info; insights into legislation and policy; electricity generation capacity; and assessments of the current status of the solar industries in: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia and South Africa.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Solarplaza

25, August 2018

UK chancellor at odds with government Brexit strategy ⁰

The UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, has been accused by critics of pouring cold water on the government’s Brexit strategy, after he suggested the UK economy was likely to take a significant hit if the UK was forced into a hard Brexit in the event of a no-deal scenario.

The comments by Hammond came just hours after a speech by Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, in which Raab tried to reassure EU leaders, politicians and political analysts that the UK would be able to cope with a no-deal Brexit divorce from the EU.

Raab, who replaced former Brexit Secretary David Davis earlier this year, unveiled a series of measures the government was preparing in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The measures aim to deal with a hard Brexit’s potential impact on credit card payments, access to pensions and the availability of medicine.

Raab’s speech was interpreted by critics, however, as an admission that the government is failing to secure a deal favorable to hard-line Brexit supporters in Westminster, while also being viewed as an acknowledgment from Downing Street that a no-deal Brexit was now much likelier outcome than previously thought, something which British Prime Minister Theresa May had, in the past, suggested was unlikely.

The comments by Hammond seemed intentionally to undermine the government’s position, given that they were made in the immediate aftermath of Raab’s speech, suggesting that there was more division in May’s cabinet than previously thought.

Hammond suggested that a hard Brexit would severely impact Britain’s GDP over the course of the next few years, contradicting assurances made by Raab. In addition, Alexander Winterstein, EU Commission Spokesperson, off the back of a recent round of negotiations, had already suggested that, whichever Brexit deal was eventually tabled, Britain should prepare for a negative economic impact.

“As we have said many times, we are working constructively to reach a deal. And whilst we’re continuously working to this effect, it is also clear that the withdrawal of the UK is going to lead disruption regardless with a deal or without a deal,” Winterstein said.

A recent poll conducted in the North of England by YouGov indicated that voters supported a new referendum on the terms of the final Brexit deal.

Source: Presstv

24, August 2018

Cameroon’s cocoa production decreases ⁰

Cameroon has been experiencing a significant decline in its cocoa production for several months now. The decline according to cocoa farmers is due to the impact of climate change and the use of bad agro chemicals.

The ongoing Anglophone crisis has also hampered cocoa production in Manyu, a cocoa growing area located in the southwest of the country.

“Because of the crisis, some buyers are now afraid to come here, during this period for example, big buyers prefer to give money to small retailers so they come to buy for them, John Ebot said.

The government which plans to increase cocoa production to 600,000 tons by 2020 has encouraged the planting of cocoa seedlings on 400,000 hectares of land.

Cameroon’s inter professional cocoa-coffee council predicts a slight improvement in production around 230 000 tons.

‘’ You see the quantity I have removed at this time; yes this is not our real cocoa season. The season is almost over. This is just the finishing, cocoa farmer, John Ebot said.

According to the latest estimates of the Interprofessional Cocoa and Coffee Council, the average price of cocoa beans per kilogram for farmers has reduced from a little over $ 2 at the beginning of the last season to $ 1.58 cents or less at the moment.

Source: Africa News