News - Afrikan Heroes

Banking App Kidnappings on The Rise in South Africa

November 10, 2023

South Africa is witnessing a rise in the kidnappings of banking app with the aim of gaining unauthorised access to victims’ money under duress. The development has been described as a worrying trend as victims are being kidnapped and coerced, often under the threat of violence, into making transfers from their banking apps, often stripping them of all their savings or completely looting their other accounts.

Incidents involving kidnapping or hijacking of individuals, with the aim of gaining unauthorised access to their banking apps under duress, are on the rise, experts say.

“There are different syndicates operating, and they have their own targets and modus operandi. Attacks on business owners have occurred, but some attacks are more opportunistic in nature,” a spokesman for Standard Bank was quoted as saying.

Victims’ accounts are used to make online purchases both locally and across South Africa’s borders. These “shakedowns” are executed in a number of ways.

Some victims are forced to make payments into bank accounts outside of the country, which makes tracing the funds nearly impossible for law enforcement.

In other cases, victims’ accounts are used to make online purchases both locally and across South Africa’s borders. In yet another example, multiple digital wallet payments or account transfers are made to a local recipient by syndicate members holding the victim hostage while other perpetrators drive around and make withdrawals at ATMs as quickly as they can. In all instances, common banking app protection features including Pins, biometric authentication and facial recognition prove to be ineffective.

“In an app kidnapping – where someone is forced to open their own profile on their own phone – there isn’t much one can do. It’s similar to someone forcing you at gunpoint to withdraw cash using your own card and Pin at an ATM,” said Lezanne Human, an executive director at Bank Zero.

Banking app kidnappings – what to do

For many, the knee-jerk reaction to what is perceived as a helpless situation is to delete all banking apps on personal devices entirely, but this makes transacting and managing funds on a day-to-day basis cumbersome.

Human recommends a workable middle ground: “Keep only enough funds in your transactional account to cover immediate expenses. Place the rest in a seven-day (or longer) notice account. If you then need urgent access to it, you can action an ‘early breakage’, but funds will only be available the next day – long after the criminals have moved on,” she said.

This strategy may work for some people, provided their banking needs do not go beyond the simplicity of a transactional or savings account, but it is not applicable in all cases all the time.

As George Wandsella, head of enterprise risk and fraud strategy at TymeBank, explains, banking app shakedown syndicates are discerning in the way they choose their targets, often honing in on individuals more likely to have a sophisticated account profile with more banking products – and more money in those accounts.

“Kidnapping cases can affect anyone, but generally speaking those higher at risk include children, business owners, high-income individuals, those living alone and newcomers to South Africa,” said Wandsella. Representatives from Standard Bank, TymeBank and Bank Zero all told TechCentral that detecting and stopping a banking app shakedown in progress is difficult to do.

Tracing stolen funds after the fact also often leads nowhere because, although law enforcement may know where the money was withdrawn, finding the perpetrators is difficult because they change their hunting grounds often. For consumers to insulate themselves, they must be aware of how these criminals operate.

“Prevention is key for this type of crime, and customers are urged to educate themselves on the tactics used by criminals and ensure that the necessary precautions to prevent kidnapping are exercised,” said Wandsella.

Although an extra dose of vigilance might help stop some incidents, it is no magic elixir. When the worst that can happen does, Christina Pieterse, head of Nedbank’s digital channels, recommends the following protocol for banking app shakedown victims:

Cooperate: The safety of your life should always be top priority. If someone is threatening you with violence, it’s best to cooperate and do as they say to ensure your well-being.

Stay calm: Try to remain as calm as possible. Panic can escalate the situation, so it’s essential to keep a level head.

Memorise details: If you can, make mental notes about the assailants’ appearance, their accents, or any identifying features. This information may be helpful to law enforcement later.

Stay passive: Avoid any sudden or aggressive actions that could provoke the kidnappers.

Comply with their demands: Comply with their instructions, such as accessing your banking apps. Your personal safety should always come first.

Seek help later: Once the situation is resolved, immediately contact the authorities and your bank to report the incident.

The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) tracks banking-related criminal activity, providing information on the various types of banking crimes. In its Annual Crime Stats 2022 report released last month Sabric noted that other types of mobile banking crimes were in decline while banking app fraud cases increased by 36%, suggesting that criminals are now migrating to banking app shakedowns and other methods since the previously popular Sim-swap method is proving to be less effective than in the past.

“Encouragingly, the number of reported mobile banking fraud incidents saw a 9% reduction in 2022. Additionally, incidents involving Sim swaps declined from 87% in 2021 to 76% in 2022, indicating a waning efficacy of this fraudulent tactic,” it said.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) Supports Egyptian Government as Re-Guarantor on Samurai Bond Issue

November 9, 2023

Banji Fehintola, Senior Director and Treasurer of AFC

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) (www.AfricaFC.org), the continent’s leading infrastructure financier and solutions provider, today announced its support to the Arab Republic of Egypt as a Re-Guarantor on a private placement offering of JPY 75 billion, 5-year, Samurai bonds. This landmark financing was guaranteed by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation with a full re-guarantee provided by AFC and SMBC Nikko acting as the Sole Lead Arranger on the transaction.

The Arab Republic of Egypt, a shareholder and member country of AFC, leveraged the Corporation’s A3 investment grade rating to access international capital markets at a time when borrowing costs are significantly elevated and market access is effectively shut for many emerging market issuers. The guaranteed Samurai bond issue allows Egypt to deepen its access to the Japanese bond market, while significantly lowering the country’s all-in cost of the funding, when compared to an equivalent new US Dollar benchmark Eurobond issue. This transaction demonstrates AFC’s commitment to providing counter-cyclical support to its member countries and African sovereigns in general, as they implement structural reforms and strategic investments aimed at delivering sustainable economic growth and development.

This bond offering is Egypt’s second foray into the Samurai bond market, coming on the back of an issuance of JPY 60 billion, 5-year Samurai Bonds in March 2022 that was guaranteed by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation with insurance provided by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI). Proceeds of this bond issue will be used to finance the electricity supply infrastructure under the Government of Egypt’s largest agricultural projects being constructed on more than one million acres of land on the northwest coast of Egypt and is expected to contribute to Egypt’s food security and increase agricultural output by 15%.

Commenting on the bond issue, Samaila Zubairu, President and CEO of Africa Finance Corporation, said, “This transaction demonstrates the very essence of AFC, an institution that provides innovative financing solutions to unleash Africa’s immense potential. We are proud to have acted as a reliable bridge connecting Egypt to global capital markets, proceeds of which will finance rapid industrialization and move the country away from exporting agricultural raw materials towards value addition and import substitution. With the right investment in infrastructure, Africa can become instrumental to the global solution to food insecurity.”

Egypt’s Minister of Finance, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Maait also commented on the issuance saying, “Egypt has succeeded in returning to the Japanese markets, as it closed its second Samurai bonds issuance offering of JPY 75 billion, equivalent to about US$500 million, at a pricing of 1.5% per annum and a term of 5 years. The pricing was made possible by the guarantee provided by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and full re-guarantee by Africa Finance Corporation. The bond issuance helps us to prolong the average life of the public debt portfolio, reduce the cost of external debt, diversify sources and financing instruments and expand the international investor base. Egypt continues to successfully access the international debt capital markets despite the harsh global economic climate driven by severe inflationary pressures and geopolitical tensions”.

AFC has enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with Egypt for many years, with the Arab Republic acceding to membership in 2021 and last year, becoming a shareholder of the Corporation. This successful bond issuance is testament to the significant benefits enjoyed by AFC member countries, as they are able to leverage the Corporation’s investment grade rating, network of partners and preferred creditor status in tapping new funding sources. Member countries also enjoy increased investment allocation, preferred access to AFC’s structuring and lending solutions for sovereign states, reduced debt costs for projects, and access to the Corporation’s Public Sector Advisory and Project Development facilities.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Africa Needs Bold Innovative Initiatives to Unleash the Full Potential of the Continent—King Mohammed VI of Morocco

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI opened the 2023 Africa Investment Forum Market Days on Wednesday with a call for Africans to work together to attract the levels of private investment needed to drive the continent’s inclusive development. The Market Days, an initiative of the African Development Bank and seven other co-founding partners, is taking place in Marrakech, Morocco over the next three days.

The platform advances projects to bankability, raises capital, and accelerates deals toward financial closure.

“Africa needs now more than ever bold, innovative initiatives to encourage private entrepreneurship and unleash the full potential of our continent,” King Mohammed VI said in a keynote speech read on his behalf by his advisor Omar Kabbaj, a President Emeritus of the African Development Bank.

The King said Morocco could serve as a model for other African countries’ efforts to overcome their infrastructure gaps. “Over the past two decades, Morocco has made infrastructure development a priority in all economic sectors,” he said. He also informed the gathering that the country was pushing toward its goal of deriving over 52% of its national electricity mix from renewable energy by 2030.

The King also stressed that African countries should enhance “coordination and cooperation mechanisms to drive regional integration.” As an example of the country’s push to partner with neighbors, he cited the Morocco-Nigeria Gas Pipeline Project. The project will “enable all countries along the pipeline route to have access to reliable energy supplies and to be more resilient to exogenous energy price shocks.”

Several heads of state and over 1000 participants including CEOs, heads of multilateral and regional financial institutions, business leaders and project developers and government ministers are attending the 2023 Market Days. Heads of state and government took the opportunity to make the case for investment in their countries by participating in deal-focused boardrooms and thematic plenaries. They include Azali Assoumani, President of the Union of Comoros and current chairperson of the African Union, Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio, Rwanda’s Prime Minister Eduardo Girente and the Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley.

A platform for smooth investments into Africa

In his keynote address, Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, highlighted Africa’s prospects as a prime investment destination. The continent is not as risky as perceived and is growing and showing resilience despite global challenges, he said, offering reasons for global investors to pursue high-risk-adjusted returns in Africa. “As investors, put your monies where the future is—The future is Africa,” said Adesina.

Heads of state took part in a conversation on Accelerating Africa’s Economic Transformation following opening statements.

The President of Comoros, Azali Assoumani, pointed out that manufactured African exports account for just 1% of world exports. “We export them to developed countries and these countries re-export them to us processed and sell them back to us at ten times the price. Despite the obstacles, there are enormous opportunities for the development of value chains in Africa.”

President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania said technological and aviation “connectivity is a problem in Africa. We need to invest in the continent’s connectivity.” She noted that she recently had to travel via Paris from her country in East Africa to her destination in Dakar, West Africa.

President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone said, “Obstacles are opportunities and how we turn obstacles into opportunities is the most important thing. Our economies are not sufficiently diversified and as soon as there is a shock, we suffer the consequences. And we are at the mercy of fluctuations in commodities like oil.”

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley thanked the government of Morocco and the African Development Bank for inviting her, allowing Africans and Caribbeans to reclaim our Atlantic destiny. “We are finding more and more that opportunities for synergies and solidarities are clear,” she said. Mottley has been a forceful voice on behalf of the global south. In 2022, ahead of COP27, she announced the Bridgetown Initiative, an agenda for the reform of the global financial architecture and development finance in the context of three intersecting global crises: debt, climate, and inflation.

“Don’t ask us to choose people over planet or planet over people,” Mottley said, recommending a unified approach to the creation of a level playing field. She said there was scope for African and Caribbean people to partner in a range of spheres including pharmaceutical development and tourism, particularly the cruise ship industry.

Rwanda’s Prime Minister Édouard Ngirente commended the Africa Investment Forum. “I like events where we are discussing action rather than potential. We need action now,” he said. He urged the removal of barriers to the free movement of people.

Adesina, the chairperson of the Africa Investment Forum, also praised the platform. He said, what makes the Africa Investment Forum unique and remarkable is that it is highly innovative, and 100% transactional. “We develop and curate projects, reduce transaction costs and risks and accelerate the closure of deals,” Adesina said. “Our goal is simple: make investments to land in Africa smoothly.”

He urged attendees to seize opportunities presented during the Market Days: “Let us be concrete, bold, and decisive. The boardrooms have been well prepared. The clock is ticking. The project developers are here. The investors are here. The heads of state and governments are here. And the financial institutions are here. So, let the deals begin.”

The theme of the 2023 Market Days is Unlocking Africa’s value chains. The forum helps connect investors with bankable deals in several sectors including renewable energy, agribusiness and the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.

Adesina also conveyed the solidarity of Africa Investment Forum partners for Morocco following the devastating earthquake that struck the country in early September. The African Development Bank will commit €782 million to help finance various projects in Morocco in 2023.

The 2023 Market Days runs from 8 to 10 November. Previous iterations of Market Days have drawn more than 16,500 participants and generated cumulative investment interest of nearly $143 billion.

The Africa Investment Forum’s eight founding partners are the African Development Bank Group, Africa50, Africa Finance Corporation, Afreximbank, Development Bank of Southern Africa, European Investment Bank, Islamic Development Bank, and Trade and Development Bank.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Africa Lobbies for Lengthy Term for New Agoa Deal

Africa wants the US to renew its flagship trade programme for the continent for at least 10 years, the African Union’s top trade official said, adding that any modifications to the initiative should only be considered later.

Speaking at the start of three days of meetings of African trade ministers and US officials, AU trade commissioner Albert Muchanga also said the US will not be granted tariff-free access to a new African free-trade area.

First launched in 2000, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) grants exports from qualifying African countries duty free access to the US — the world’s largest consumer market. It is due to expire in September 2025, and discussions are currently under way for its possible renewal.

The African ministers are due to meet with US officials, including US trade representative Katherine Tai

“[An extension of] 10-20 years is very critical to the investment community. Anything lower than that would generate uncertainty,” Muchanga told the ministers, who gathered in Johannesburg to form a common position on the future of the programme.

The African ministers are due to meet with US officials, including US trade representative Katherine Tai, on Friday and Saturday.

US lawmakers and the Biden administration have voiced support for renewing Agoa, which saw more than US$10-billion worth of African exports enter the US duty free last year.

However, there is debate in Washington over whether the initiative needs updating. Constance Hamilton, the Biden administration’s top trade official for Africa, said last week that the US congress should consider changes that would “make the programme more impactful”.

African governments and some US industry groups warn that attempting to modify Agoa as part of the renewal process could delay its reauthorisation.

One-sided

“If there are any enhancements to be made, those should be done after the extension,” Muchanga said. Agoa’s duty-free provisions are currently one-sided. US exports to African markets remain subject to national tariffs. Some US lawmakers have in the past suggested the programme should be made more reciprocal. Africa is in the process of setting up a new continent-wide free-trade area, known as the AfCFTA that aims to bring together 1.3 billion people in a $3.4-trillion economic bloc. Once fully implemented, it will be the largest free-trade area since the establishment of the World Trade Organisation.

Muchanga told the ministers that many of the US officials and lawmakers he had met to discuss Agoa’s renewal had assumed US exports would be granted duty-free entrance to the AfCFTA.

“I’ve told them very, very frankly that that is not possible,” he said. “If they try to export goods from the United States of America into Africa, they are going to meet national tariffs.”

The Biden administration said on 30 October it intended to end the participation of Gabon, Niger, Uganda and the Central African Republic in Agoa over governance and rights failings.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Musk to Integrate xAI With Social Media Platform X

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence start-up, xAI, will be integrated into his social media platform X and also be available as a standalone app, he said on Sunday in a post. The billionaire also said xAI released its first AI model, a bot named Grok, after making it available to all X Premium+ subscribers on Friday. The start-up aims to create AI tools that “assist humanity in its quest for understanding and knowledge” and Grok has been designed to answer questions with a bit of wit.

Grok has real-time access to info via the X platform, which is a massive advantage over other models

Musk who has criticised Big Tech’s AI efforts as ridden with censorship, in July launched xAI, calling it a “maximum truth-seeking AI” that tries to understand the nature of the universe to rival Google’s Bard and Microsoft’s Bing AI.

“Grok has real-time access to info via the X platform, which is a massive advantage over other models,” Musk added.

X, the social media firm formerly known as Twitter which Musk owns, is separate from xAI, but the companies work closely together. xAI also works with his electric car maker Tesla and other companies.

Last week, Musk told British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak he thought AI was “the most disruptive force in history”. The technology will be able to “do everything” and make employment as we know it today a thing of the past, Musk speculated at the first global AI Safety Summit, in Bletchley Park, England.

In 2015, Musk co-founded OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, which has created a frenzy for generative AI technology around the world, but stepped down from the board in 2018.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

The Africa Tech Fund Gets Supports from Skype and Flutterwave

Norrsken22, an Africa-focused venture capital firm, received the backing of more than 30 unicorn founders and institutions to raise US$205-million (R3.8-billion) for new tech investments on the continent. The fund — which counts the likes of Skype’s Niklas Zennström, Delivery Hero’s Niklas Östberg and Flutterwave’s Olugbenga Agboola among its investors — is seeking the next generation of “tech giants” on the continent in sectors such as fintech, edtech and meditech, said Norrsken22 managing partner Natalie Kolbe in an interview.

Investments will largely be focused on start-ups in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Egypt, she said. We would like to build out a portfolio of about 20 investments in the beacon economies of Africa

“We have made five investments to date, including in TymeBank in South Africa,” said Kolbe. “We would like to build out a portfolio of about 20 investments in the beacon economies of Africa.”

Africa is home to the fastest-growing and most youthful population in the world, with tech-savvy youngsters increasingly tapping their smartphones for services from entertainment to banking.

Norrsken22 said it’s seeking to invest in the growth in tech businesses expected in Africa, that is fuelled by investment in digital infrastructure and smartphone adoption on the continent, said Kolbe. In addition, urbanisation and the growing need for financial and health services bring an opportunity for tech start-ups to scale, she said.

Investors

Other investors in the fund include Standard Bank Group, Norfund, British International Investment, the International Finance Corporation and the US International Development Finance Corporation.

Funding for start-ups in Africa has dwindled this year, in line with a slowdown globally. The continent attracted about $2.5-billion during the first half of the year, according to Briter Bridges. Another venture capital fund, Partech, raised more than $260-million to deploy on the continent.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Egypt’s Domty and Fawry FMCG Ink Major Deal for Digital Financial Solutions

In a significant development, Fawry FMCG, a leading financial technology solutions provider for consumer goods companies, has announced a collaboration with the Arabian Food Industries Company, also known as “Domty,” a prominent food and beverage company in Egypt. The partnership aims to enhance electronic collection systems, drive digital transformation in the food and beverage sector, and promote financial inclusion across various sectors within the Egyptian market.

Under this agreement, representatives from Domty will be able to deposit daily collected funds from merchants at Fawry branches, covering all Egyptian governorates. This initiative aligns with Fawry’s ongoing commitment to provide advanced financial technology solutions, particularly focusing on the food and beverage industry, with the ultimate goal of transitioning towards a cashless society.

Fawry FMCG, as the largest electronic financial platform in Egypt, serves both consumers and companies through a vast network of service points across the country. With a reach of over 320,000 merchants and connections with more than 100 consumer goods companies, Fawry FMCG is dedicated to digitizing supply and demand processes. The objective is to create a seamless, fully digital, and cashless ecosystem for interactions between retailers, sales representatives, and consumer goods companies.

Hossam Ezz, CEO of Fawry FMCG, expressed his satisfaction with the collaboration, stating, “We are pleased to cooperate with the Arabian Food Industries Company, Domty.” Ezz reiterated Fawry’s commitment to entering into agreements that promote digital transformation and streamline electronic collection processes. Moreover, he emphasized Fawry’s intent to offer state-of-the-art financial technology solutions to simplify cash management for sales representatives.

Mohamed El-Damaty, CEO and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Domty, viewed the partnership as a significant step towards digitalizing financial transactions with their extensive network of merchants and distributors throughout Egypt. El-Damaty highlighted the potential to enhance the distribution network’s efficiency and improve the performance of their sales team. He concluded by expressing their mutual aim to expand the use of cash management technology and advance financial inclusion solutions. This collaboration is poised to bring substantial changes to Egypt’s financial landscape, benefitting a wide range of stakeholders.

Togolese Startup Gozem Acquires Benin’s Moneex, Eyes Fintech Expansion

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard

Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund and Ninety One Commits US$31 Million to Paratus to Boost Connectivity in the Continent

November 8, 2023

Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), a Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) company, and its fund manager, Ninety One, have committed a US$31 million debt facility to Paratus Group Holdings Limited (Paratus) to finance the expansion of its fibre and data centre business over the next three years.

Ninety One acted as the mandated lead arranger of the transaction, mobilising capital from two of its funds, EAIF and Ninety One Africa Credit Opportunities, to enhance last mile connectivity and introduce more reliable internet services across three sub-regions and six countries in Africa; Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Republic of Congo, South Africa and Zambia.

The transaction contributes to strengthening the continent’s core digital infrastructure, fundamental to building more advanced economies. The expansion of Paratus’s fibre business will include three new fibre routes connecting Walvis Bay-Johannesburg-Maputo, Brazzaville-Johannesburg-Maputo, and Luanda-Lusaka-Dar Es Salaam, adding to a fibre network of over 10,000km. The projects, linking the west and east African coasts, will enhance connectivity, data transmission and access to digital services.

EAIF’s investment will also help finance the construction of Angola’s first Tier IV data centre, Paratus’s fifth carrier neutral data centre in southern Africa, adding to its two other Tier III data centres in the Angolan capital, Luanda. The 10MW facility will position Paratus’s network in Angola as a key regional hub and capture opportunities created by the Equiano subsea internet cable, connecting Europe to Africa’s west coast.

Entrenching its presence in key markets builds on Paratus’s commitment to growing African businesses through reliable data connections and PIDG’s contribution to Sustainable Development Goal 9, to build resilient infrastructure, creating digitally-enabled economic opportunities.

Facilitating this growth is critical to unlocking the potential across Africa, where 1.1 billion new unique users must be connected to achieve universal broadband access by 2030. Building world class digital infrastructure will encourage the continent’s entrepreneurs to expand services through disruptive and high-growth businesses.

Commenting on the transaction, Sine Zulu, Investment Specialist at Ninety One, fund manager of the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, said, “This financing is a key demonstration of the growing demand for connectivity and data on the continent. EAIF’s structuring expertise and ability to mobilise private capital into digital infrastructure in emerging economies has enabled finance to flow where it is needed most. The collaboration of Ninety One’s Africa Credit Opportunities and EAIF is a progressive partnership designed to deliver high-impact infrastructure projects.”

Schalk Erasmus, Chief Executive Officer at Paratus, noted, “Widening access to fibre and data centres in key African markets will progress development and inclusive growth – maximising opportunities in countries where entrepreneurial spirit abounds. EAIF and Ninety One’s commitment sends the right signal to the rest of the market and reinforces our mission to support a more connected and technologically advanced Africa.”

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Ethiopian University Partners With China on Scholarship Cooperation

November 7, 2023

The Addis Ababa University (AAU), Ethiopia’s largest institution of higher learning has signed a scholarship cooperation agreement with China to boost education quality. The Chinese government will offer some 120 scholarship opportunities for graduate and postgraduate students from the AAU during the course of a year, according to the agreement signed between representatives of the university and the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia.

“A very significant number of students will benefit from this particular agreement. It is an extraordinary program with a multitude of benefits to Addis Ababa University,” Samson Mekonnen, vice president for Strategic Communication and Internationalization of AAU said.

The agreement is expected to contribute to AAU’s recent endeavor as the East African country’s first-ever autonomous public university.

Attending the signing ceremony of the agreement, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Zhao Zhiyuan noted that the Confucius Institute has been a presence at the AAU since 2013, providing quality Chinese language teaching services to local communities.

Besides, the Chinese embassy last year set up special scholarship opportunities at the AAU to support the students’ academic and research projects, Zhao said, adding it has also encouraged student and staff exchange programs, joint research between AAU and Chinese higher education institutions, as well as cooperation between Chinese enterprises and the AAU on graduate recruitment.

“The Chinese embassy highly values cooperation with the AAU. We will support the AAU and Chinese universities in building sister relationships. We welcome teachers and students from the university to visit and study in China to accelerate communication in development and civilization,” he said.

Noting the university’s collaboration with the Chinese embassy and China’s higher education institutions, AAU’s Interim President Samuel Kifle said “the past success stories that we have had as strategic collaboration between China and Ethiopia are expanding into education and human resource development.”

“Today’s agreement marks a special relationship between AAU and the Chinese embassy,” he said.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

MultiChoice Encourages African Applications for 2024 Earthshot Prize of £1 million

Global environment-saving initiative, The Earthshot Prize, is calling innovators, entrepreneurs, community leaders and activists who are working to find cutting-edge solutions to climate change to submit their entries to the 2024 edition of the competition. The Earthshot Prize, a global environmental prize to discover, accelerate, and scale ground-breaking solutions to repair and regenerate the planet, is awarded annually to five winners, each receiving a R20 million (£1 million) prize grant to scale their projects.

MultiChoice, the official African broadcast partner and member of The Earthshot Prize Global Alliance, is issuing a call for entries from African organisations who are doing scalable and impactful work aimed at repairing and regenerating the planet to enter into any of the five categories of the Earthshot Prize: Protect and Restore Nature, Clean our Air, Revive our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World and Fix our Climate.

As an official nominator, MultiChoice has established an entry portal (https://apo-opa.info/49sNl0G) and asks that all submissions be submitted by 30 November 2023. Representatives from MultiChoice will then review these entries and officially nominate selections directly to The Earthshot Prize.

Last year, a total of 108 entries from Africa were received and two have made it to the final stage of the 2023 leg. These include ABALOBI and Freetown the Treetown who were chosen from over 1,300 nominees.

Since its inception, five African organisations have been selected as finalists namely, Reeddi Capsules (from Nigeria), Pole Pole Foundation (from the Democratic Republic of Congo), ROAM , Sanergy and Mukuru Clean Stoves (from Kenya). In 2022 Mukuru Clean Stoves won the Clean Our Air Earthshot. Mukuru Clean Stoves is a start-up providing cleaner-burning stoves to women in Kenya to reduce unhealthy indoor pollution and provide a safer way to cook.

In addition to the R20 million (£1 million) prize, winners also benefit from a global network of professional and technical support to scale their work. This includes access to resources across numerous professions and sectors including manufacturing, retail, supply chains, legal advice, digital technology, business strategy and government relations via The Earthshot Prize Global Alliance.

Each year, The Earthshot Prize launches a global search for breakthrough solutions, with a worldwide network of more than 350 nominating individuals and organisations from 66 countries tasked with ushering the process through.

At MultiChoice, we are driven by our purpose to Enrich Lives, therefore the future of the African continent, its natural resources, and our communities require that we work together with our partners to create a world where everyone thrives for generations to come. It is for this reason that we are not only urging African innovators to enter the environmental prize, but we have also partnered with The Earthshot Prize to help accelerate and spotlight the ingenuity and ambition of innovators, activists and scientists across Africa who are working to address the climate crisis on the African continent and around the world.

Enter at https://apo-opa.info/49sNl0G by 30 November 2023. For more information please visit https://apo-opa.info/3Mz6ELU.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry