Africa
African Development Bank celebrates historic capital increase
The African Development Bank celebrated a historic USD115-billion increase from its shareholders, the largest in the bank’s 55-year history. “Today is a day of joy for Africa…because the shareholders of the African Development Bank trust the…Bank and have provided this financing,” Bank President Akinwumi Adesina told journalists later at a press conference. Adesina said the capital increase showed that the shareholders had “tremendous faith” in Africa and the Bank. At an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting held in Abidjan on 31 October 2019, Governors of the African Development Bank, representing shareholders from 80 member countries, approved the landmark capital increase. The Bank’s capital base now stands at USD208-billion. Adesina said the shareholders had endorsed the Bank’s climate change strategy. “We as a Bank had said we are going to double our financing for climate change…so the shareholders strongly supported that direction…They are asking that we do a lot more on climate,” Adesina said. He also cited the recently launched Desert to Power initiative, which will help supply electricity to 250 million people in 11 countries across the Sahel by tapping into the region’s abundant solar resources.
Source: African Development Bank Group
Africa/Ethiopia
Addis Ababa to host 2019 Africa Fintech Summit
The 4th edition of the Africa Fintech Summit (AFTS) will be held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on 21 November 2019. The summit will bring leading innovators, investors, and policy makers from around the world who represent over USD4.5-billion in private equity and venture capital funding. It will focus on the future of banking, mobile money growth and integration, policy and regulation, block chain, digital identity, remittances, and financial inclusion. Strategic partners for the Summit include the Corporate Council on Africa, the United States (US) State Department, the US-Nigeria Council, the Congo Business Network, and PeaceTech Lab. AFTS is the premier global initiative dedicated to financial technology in Africa, according to the press statement of the organisers.
Source: Fana Broadcasting Corporate
Angola
Angola has a new diamond cutting company
KGK Angola, a diamond-cutting company with a capacity to process 100,000 gross carats of diamonds per year, was inaugurated on Monday in Luanda, bringing the number of these units in the country to a total of four, the Angolan media reported. The company is the result of a partnership between Hong Kong-based Indian-funded group KGK with a 65% […]