Efforts aimed at rescuing South African Airways got to a head with Ethiopian Airlines offering to supply South African Airways with planes, pilots and maintenance services as part of a new venture with the South African government. This was made known by the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebre Marium who said that they’re looking at providing operational assistance but aren’t interested in “helping with debt repayments or the cost of reducing the workforce”.
CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebre Marium
“We don’t want to deal with the legacy issues — the debt, labour claims and so on because that is very difficult for us not only in terms of financial outlay but also in terms of managing the restructuring,” says Gebre Marium. “We want to make it very easy for them to start the airline by providing aeroplanes, by providing expertise, pilots, technicians, leadership.”
SAA, which has been under bankruptcy protection since the end of 2019, is in need of roughly $600 million to refund tickets and pay severance packages to nearly 4000 former employees. In early March, Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebre Marium told an aviation conference in Addis Ababa that the coronavirus pandemic was “a temporary problem” – comparable to a natural disaster or a spike in oil prices.
Across Africa, airlines stand to lose $6 billion in passenger revenue in 2020 compared to last year because of the coronavirus, the International Air Transport Association has predicted. Ethiopian Airlines has been praised by top Washington and Tokyo officials for repatriating their nationals – including US Peace Corps volunteers based in 12 countries across the continent. With the severity of the crisis becoming clear, Ethiopian executives “reached out to the diplomatic community to offer further cargo services and highlight their ability to offer chartered/special flights”, a State Department official said. At this point the airline has “supported the transport of over 2,100 US citizens and legal permanent residents” to the tune of around $4.7 million, the officials said.
The airline is expecting to be involved in a critical capacity in Africa’s pandemic response. Tewolde said this represented “a continuation of our leadership in Africa” even during periods of conflict or outbreaks of other diseases like Ebola. “All kinds of problems that Africa has suffered, we have always stood with Africa,” he concludes.
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
Nigeria’s march to digital economy has received a major boost with the growth of active phone lines recorded in the first half of the year 2020. According to the country’s telecoms regulatory body, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), mobile phone subscribers’ base rose to 203.16 million in August from 198.96 million in July.
Nigeria communications commission
Further analysis of the data indicated that the country gained a total of 4.2 million new mobile phone subscriptions during the period under review led by the two major telcos, MTN and Airtel. MTN had 83.08 million mobile phone users in July and recorded 80.35 million users by the end of August. Airtel, which had 54.77 million GSM users in July, gained 1.06 million new ones to record 53.71 million in August while Globacom’s mobile phone subscriber base grew to 52.93 million in August from 52.74 million in July. The NCC data showed that 9mobile’s mobile phone subscribers increased from 12.16 million in July to 12.38 million in August, adding 214,282 mobile phone users to its network.
The report equally showed that MTN added 1.6 million new Internet users to its network in August to reach 63.89 million from 62.29 million in July while Airtel came second in terms of Internet customers as it added 738,462 new subscriptions, which brought its customer base to 39.8 million in August from 39.05 million in July. Globacom added 231,341 new Internet subscriptions in the month under review, which brought the telco’s total Internet customers to 38.49 million from 38.26 million in July.9mobile maintained the fourth position as it gained 32,621 new Internet users in August to record a total of 7.17 million, up from 7.14 million in July.
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 Kenya-based music service Mdundo is listing its shares on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Denmark tomorrow following an oversubscribed pre-sale period that raised DKK40 million (US$6.4 million), in a bid to solidify its leading position in the pan-African music market. Launched in 2013, Mdundo provides access to all the continent’s favourite music to over five million monthly active users in 15 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with over 20 million monthly downloads and streams via its website and app.
Martin Nielsen, chief executive officer (CEO) of Mdundo.
The company’s main markets are Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana, with an increasing focus on Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Rwanda, Cameroon, Congo, Malawi, South Africa and Namibia, and it has now decided on an initial public offering in Denmark, where it is headquartered.By listing on Nasdaq First North and opening trading of its shares, which it will do tomorrow (Friday, September 4), Mdundo is aiming to secure additional funds for its ongoing expansion across new African markets and to confirm its brand as the pan-African leader in the music distribution market.
During the two-week tender period leading up to the listing date, Mdundo’s share sale offer was oversubscribed by 110 per cent, receiving subscriptions from almost 3,000 investors and raising DKK40 million (US$6.4 million). “Mdundo currently has five million monthly users, but our potential is more than 30 times greater. With a steep growth curve and a very scalable solution, we plan to invest further in user growth to increase our market coverage to the whole of sub-Saharan Africa, so that within approximately three years we will have well established Mdundo as the leading pan-African music service for consumers and musicians. In this way, we want to achieve in Africa what Spotify has achieved in the West and what Tencent has achieved in Asia,” said Martin Nielsen, chief executive officer (CEO) of Mdundo.
In Africa, 30 percent of mobile phone users listen to music on their mobile phone, however this is done primarily through illegal downloads, similar to the situation in Europe and the US approximately 15 years ago. Much as services like iTunes and Spotify took over that market, Mdundo is positioning itself ahead of the curve in Sub-Saharan Africa, powering the uptake of access to music through its legal music service.The startup says it “works tirelessly” to promote legal music consumption in Africa, and has so far been instrumental in having more than one million links to illegal African music removed from Google.
“It’s one of our key focuses at Mdundo, to get people who are currently accessing music illegally in Africa to move to legal platforms. We believe in a fair and open music industry on the continent, where African artists are remunerated for their great music, and fans can listen to all the music they want at a low/affordable cost,” Nielsen 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
Global leading financial card firm Mastercard has launched a new programme aimed at providing tailor-made solutions that boost market entry and expansion for fintechs in Africa and the Middle East. The project tagged Fintech Express will leverage the power of partnerships and Mastercard’s expertise, technology, and global network to help fintech companies focus on innovation that drives the digital economy.
MasterCard
The programme is designed for all types of fintechs – established companies wanting a direct license from Mastercard, as well as fintech startups with the ambition to innovate through collaborating with ready-to-go Mastercard Engage partners.
From a startup perspective, the “Build” part of the programme enables fintechs as processors and enablers to become Express Partners by building unique tech alliances and benefitting from all the advantages that Mastercard provides.
“Connect”, meanwhile, is aimed at fintech startups that are looking to add payment solutions to their suite of products, and helps them easily connect with qualified Express Partners available on the Mastercard Engage web portal, and go live with Mastercard in a matter of days.
“Startups are forming diverse collaborations with traditional financial institutions, and in the process manage to enhance competitiveness, while also bringing services and products to market that can have a real impact on consumers,” said Gaurang Shah, senior vice president of digital payments and labs in Middle East and Africa at Mastercard.
“Mastercard is playing a central role in making fintech partnerships a reality as a single technology provider. Technological advancement and innovation are steering the digital financial services industry, where fintech players are becoming globally mainstream and an increasing influx of fintech players are competing with large traditional players. With today’s announcement we are taking the next step in further empowering them to fulfil their ambitions of scale and speed.”
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
In 2019, private investment commitments to public-private partnership (PPP) projects within low and middle-income countries amounted to $97 billion across 409 projects in 62 countries. Africa’s share of these private investment commitments—approximately $7 billion—represented a small portion of the total. The World Bank’s data for the first half of 2020 is expected to be released shortly, but early indications from the research team point to an even more precipitous decline.
Maude Vallée, Chief Legal Counsel & Head of Operations, African Legal Support Facility
The data is representative of the fact that Africa’s efforts to mobilize PPP funding have lagged behind that of other regions. In 2019, Sub-Saharan Africa mobilized $6 billion in private investment across 23 PPP projects—accounting for a 19 percent decrease in investment levels compared to 2018. North Africa, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia combined mobilized $752 million.
Recent months have led to a period of examination about what is critically needed for countries to work their way through a crisis. This has included taking stock of PPP projects and their capacity for public service delivery during a pandemic.
What the pandemic has particularly highlighted is the need to rethink the way Africa approaches PPPs. Above all, it has emphasized the importance of prioritizing projects with clear and tangible sustainable development outcomes, which implies promoting a higher level of social inclusiveness and minimizing negative impacts on the most vulnerable populations. Indeed, this moment increases the value of initiatives such as people-first PPPs, developed under the aegis of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Yet, one crucial unknown remains the present ability of PPPs to attract foreign direct investment in the first place. The decline—if not the near-eradication—of foreign investment during the pandemic has highlighted the need to rely on a mix of domestic private sector players, along with government and other foreign parties, to achieve financing objectives.
To date, most private funding had come from foreign investors and partners. For example, across Sub-Saharan Africa, 83 percent of total funding in 2019 was from development finance institutions (that is, multilateral and bilateral donors) and the remaining 17 percent was from other international sources.
There is a very practical reason for increasing the role of the domestic private sector: when African (or other) economies lack sufficient foreign exchange for foreign investors to repatriate earnings from their investments, those investors easily lose interest. With that kind of vulnerability, future projects will face a shrinking pool of qualified and interested foreign investors ex ante.
This reduced pool will, by extension, raise the risk that the quality of output (goods or services) may not meet required standards specified in PPP contracts. It could also mean that disputes over quality and delivery will trigger protracted and costly disputes. Furthermore, such a pattern will add to the risk premium, making the PPP more costly in the first place and raising the bar for financial sustainability. Therefore, we need a more prominent role for domestic private investors, creditors, contractors, and professionals to offset these risks.
Deepening the involvement of the domestic private sector entails an important development dimension that transcends immediate PPPs. It means a focus on developing domestic financial markets and integrating them across the continent to provide cross-listings and to enrich investment options for African institutional investors seeking yield and long-term cash flows to meet matching financial obligations.
By extension, expanding the role of the domestic private sector as active investors will reduce the foreign exchange challenge for national governments, allowing profit “repatriation” to actually flow using local currency units. After all, the importation of critically needed supplies comes in through a multitude of entry points, much like the exports that are needed to generate the foreign exchange to pay for the supplies in the first place.
PPPs are typically focused on several key objectives: sound design that benefits from a balanced regulatory environment; good governance and transparency; financially sustainable structures; and ultimately, better and more efficient delivery of public services and infrastructure. Therefore, it is expected that the increased prominence of domestic parties will enhance prospects for successful design and implementation of people-first PPPs.
While the PPP concept is predicated on “value for money” and adequate returns for private sources of capital to take on—and mitigate—risk, the end objective of “value for people” projects is increased capacity to render higher quality services that are needed by the entire public. Therefore, the approach is a blend in incentives that seeks to optimize returns in an economic, financial, and social sense simultaneously.
As we look ahead to Africa’s needs, PPP projects will continue to be necessary for public services, modernized infrastructure, connected financial markets, and regional integration to achieve the critical mass and scale needed for continent-wide resilience in the face of exogenous shocks.
However, legitimate questions remain in terms of how to prioritize investments so that they can boost growth and resilience while achieving the quality of life and social objectives that are at the heart of sustainable economic development. To do so, revision of PPP legal and institutional frameworks that favor People-First PPPs combined with a more prominent role of the domestic private sector will improve prospects for achieving these objectives.
Maude Vallée is the Chief Legal Counsel & Head of Operations, African Legal Support Facility
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 African Development Bank was selected in a poll of bond market players as the best issuer in 2020 of a COVID-19 bond for its $3 billion dollar-denominated Fight COVID-19 social bond issued on March 27, 2020. The winners of the GobalCapital Bond Awards 2020 were announced on 30 September at a ceremony held virtually for the first time in 12 years. GlobalCapital is a leading source of information on global capital markets with coverage of all market segments.
Ms. Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala, African Development Bank‘s Senior Vice President and Chief Finance Officer
“We are grateful for the market’s recognition of the Bank’s effort in responding quickly to the needs of the continent with its Fight COVID-19 Social Bond which is an important instrument in alleviating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on African economies and lives. Thanks to the very strong support received by investors, we were able to provide an efficient response at a very challenging time while also catering to the needs of socially responsible investors looking for impactful investments,” said Ms. Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala, the Bank’s Senior Vice President and Chief Finance Officer.
The Fight COVID-19 bond, floated on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and significantly oversubscribed, was the world’s largest social bond at time of issuance. The Bank has since listed the bond on both the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. Bond proceeds, with a three-year maturity, will go to alleviate the impact of the pandemic on livelihoods and Africa’s economies.
“The primary debt capital markets’ response to the coronavirus crisis has been resilient and robust. Institutions all over the world from governments and multilateral development banks, to domestic lenders, to companies have raised vital financing to see them through this extraordinary period,” GlobalCapital noted in its winners’ announcement release.
The bond issue is part of a suite of interventions the Bank has rolled out to strengthen African countries’ responses to the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes a COVID-19 Response Facility of up to $10 billion to provide flexible and emergency assistance to the Bank’s members to shore up their national budget, economies and livelihoods of their citizens.
“The African Development Bank is proud of the success of its landmark “Fight COVID-19 Social Bond”, launched to help alleviate the impact of the pandemic on people’s lives and livelihood. This transaction, the largest social bond at the time of issuance, reflects investors’ confidence in the Bank’s Social Bond framework, and its capacity to deliver. We were among the pioneers in the Social Bond market, and would like to thank all our partners, including the arrangers and investors, for their continued trust and support and share this award and success with them,” said Hassatou N’Sele, Treasurer of the Bank.
The Bank is a recognized pioneer in the social bond sphere. In March 2020, it received the Environmental Finance’s 2020 bond of the year award—SSA category— for a successful one billion Norwegian krone (NOK) social bond issued in 2019. It was the first social bond ever launched in the Norwegian market, and the Bank’s first transaction in Norwegian Krone.
In 2018, the Bank was recognized as “Second most impressive social or sustainability bond issuer” at the Global Capital Socially Responsible Investments Awards. Since 2017, the Bank has launched nearly $5 billion worth of such instruments denominated in US dollars, euros and Norwegian krone.
The Bank is rated AAA by all the major rating agencies. In late 2019, the Board of Governors of the Bank Group approved a 125% increase in the General Capital of the Bank, raising its capital from $93 billion to $208 billion, the largest increase in the institution’s history.
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 accounts for about 12% of the world’s coffee production and the high-quality and taste of coffee from the continent are loved by coffee connoisseurs worldwide. If African governments help farmers boost production, the continent can raise the stake in production by working with private sector organizations focusing on improving yield and expanding production says analysts. One of such examples is the Nestlé’s Nescafé Plan.
Nestlé CEO, Mark Schneider
Under the plan, farmers work hard with Nestlé agronomists to learn better farming practices and how to grow coffee sustainably. In Cote d’Ivoire, this project has helped many farmers improve yield. To grow properly, coffee crops require specific temperature, light and humidity levels. However, rising temperatures will reduce the area suitable for growing coffee by up to 50% by 2050. Water shortages have also left some coffee farms abandoned or converted for other uses. In Côte d’Ivoire, coffee production usually peaks at about 100 000 metric tons a year, but recently took a severe hit when the seasonal rain pattern reduced supply by 15%.
Africa accounts for about 12% of the world’s coffee production and the high-quality and taste of coffee from the continent are loved by coffee connoisseurs worldwide. Côte d’Ivoire alone is the largest coffee producer in West Africa and the third largest in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, scientists warn that without conservation, monitoring and seed preservation measures, millions of coffee farmers on the continent could lose their livelihoods, impacting the quality of their lives and their families.
To help revitalize coffee production on the continent, much work is currently underway to boost production, which will improve the incomes of coffee farmers and encourage young people to pursue a career in coffee farming, eventually improving economic development across the region.
For Nestlé in Central and West Africa, sustainable coffee farming is attainable, and the company is joining forces to do this by rejuvenating, rehabilitating and replanting sustainable coffee now, and in the future.
Agricultural techniques, such as adapting the coffee tree crop formation including the structure, number of branches and canopy shapes, have been introduced to enhance growth. Group training, individual farmer coaching and farming tools have also been provided to Ivorian coffee farmers to encourage the advantages of the correct pruning and maintenance of plantlets and trees.
As a result, about 6 750 hectares of coffee trees have been planted and more than 2 000 hectares of coffee farms have been rejuvenated across Côte d’Ivoire, producing over 2 000 metric tons of additional coffee supply and increasing farmer income by 25%.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nespresso also recently announced a long-term commitment to revive the country’s coffee industry, support Congolese farmers and restore production in regions that are under threat.Encouraging such behavioral changes in agricultural supply and enhancing economic development cannot be done alone.
Last year, the Inter African Coffee Organisation (IACO) teamed up with the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI) and the International Coffee Organization (ICO) to launch a multimillion fund to support Africa’s coffee industry.
In 2018, the Ministry of Agriculture in Côte d’Ivoire introduced a pruning campaign to provide support to coffee farmers and set a target to achieve 350 000 metric tons of coffee production. Although this goal was not met and coffee supply volumes continued to decrease, this kind of action to kick-start production is welcomed, as without collective action, the future of high-quality coffee looks bleak.
“The coffee industry including exporters and producers, together with governments in Africa, and worldwide, must all work swiftly as one to tackle climate change. It is highly important to Nestlé, which is why our CEO, Mark Schneider has signed on to the UNs ‘Business Ambition for 1.5°C’ pledge to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We commit to such sustainability goals to advance the health of our planet, drive societal progress and support a sustainable, healthy food system”, said Fatih Ermis, Head of Agricultural Services for Nestlé in Central and West Africa.
Scott Coles, the Business Executive Officer for Coffee at Nestlé Central and West Africa, continued saying, “Working together, we will be able to empower and provide long-term support to local farmers and their communities to rebuild their coffee industries and local economies, while meeting growing demand for coffee in Sub Saharan Africa. All of these steps will go a long way to help fulfill our purpose of unlocking the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone, today and for generations to come.”
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 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is boosting the resilience of the financial sector in Egypt and supporting equity financing to small and medium-sized businesses by investing up to US$ 50 million in LCP Fund II. Equity fundraising is facing extremely challenging times in the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region due to the COVID-19 pandemic and small companies are facing a decrease in their activity and liquidity shortages. The EBRD’s commitment to LCP Fund II helps to bring a SEMED fund to fruition during the crisis.
Anne Fossemalle, EBRD Director and Head of the Equity Funds team
Anne Fossemalle, EBRD Director and Head of the Equity Funds team, commented: “We are thrilled to support a local and independent team such as Lorax. The EBRD’s investment in LCP Fund II helps to contribute to the development of private equity in Egypt and will help to provide long-term capital growth to small and medium-sized companies in the region.”
This investment marks the EBRD’s second investment into an Egypt-focused private equity fund, with the first being Ezdehar Egypt Mid-Cap Fund in 2016. Lorax Capital Partners is an experienced and independent team based in Cairo. With the support of the EBRD, the fund held a first closing of US$ 142 million in September 2020, launching its first traditional private equity fund. The Fund is targeting total commitments of US$ 250 million.
Egypt is a founding member of the EBRD. Since the start of its operations there in 2012, the EBRD has invested over €6.8 billion in 123 projects in the country.
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
Three years ago, brothers James and Hugo Hill identified a growing demand for complex insurance products required by energy companies and other ‘Special Risk’ businesses in Africa, a continent historically underserved by international insurers located thousands of miles from the projects they were underwriting.
James Hill, Chief Operating Officer, TRM
TRM Risk Management (TRM) is a pan-African risk advisory business that specializes in advising energy clients and placing insurance policies for the largest and most complex risks on the continent. The Hills’ 25 years of combined insurance Broking & Underwriting experience in London, Singapore and South Africa brings a uniquely broad range of solutions to even the most complex of risks.
Since its inception in 2017, the company has specialized in advising on operational and energy construction risks for state-owned utilities, private power producers and independent E&P companies in over 15 African countries, with the energy sector comprising 70% of its business (the other 30% comes from other ‘special risk’ lines, including marine and aviation).
“TRM is an independent, client-first organization and we are simplifying the Insurance buying process for customers in Africa. Our values are aligned to our clients’ values and we use our deep-rooted knowledge of Africa and the international broking community, along with our own relationships with underwriters, to make sure our clients get the best possible access to the market. Our risk advisory model is tried and tested over the last three years, and this is why we have grown so quickly as an organization, as clients are viewing us as Africa’s premier risk advisor. The more we grow as an organization, the more we can leverage our portfolio for our customers,” says James Hill, Chief Operating Officer, speaking to a portfolio that now exceeds $100 million in insurance premiums.
“We have a growing portfolio of oil, gas and power business. From our experience of mitigating clients’ exposures across the entire energy value chain, we are able to identify the right broking partner for any given risk, to the benefit of our customers” adds Hugo Hill, Managing Director.
While TRM maintains its focus on West African markets – Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Cameroon, to name a few – the Central, East and Southern African regions have become a growing priority for the firm in the last 18 months.
Earlier this year, emerging natural gas producer Renergen (www.Renergen.co.za) approached TRM to handle insurances for its Virginia gas project – the first project of its kind in South Africa to produce helium and liquefied natural gas locally for domestic use. While the existing domestic insurance market was not familiar with exposures typically generated by upstream oil and gas risk, TRM was able to provide bespoke Marine Cargo, Delay in Start-Up, Construction and Professional Indemnity insurance solutions, utilizing its prior experience handling insurances in African oil and gas-producing countries.
“TRM has a wealth of experience in providing energy construction insurance in Africa, as well as operational insurance,” says Nick Mitchell, Renergen’s Chief Operating Officer.
In the midst of an international brokering community that is seeing increasingly frequent mergers and acquisitions, TRM stands apart from the crowd with a fiercely independent, client-focused approach – analyzing broker performance across each business line and handpicking brokers for each specific risk.
“We have witnessed increased levels of M&A activity amongst the insurance brokers and we expect to see further consolidation. What has become apparent during periods of merger activity is that the brokers become more focused on the reshuffling of their own organizations as opposed to spending time concentrating on clients,” says James Hill. “This has worked out well for us as we remain totally independent, sitting firmly on the side of the client at all times, with our attention firmly fixed on the client’s needs.”
In Nigeria, leading independent Atlas Petroleum solicited the help of TRM to assess whether its current African Insurance program was fit for purpose given the company’s exposure. Atlas/Oranto is Nigeria’s largest privately held, Africa-focused exploration and production group. Atlas International and its sister company Oranto Petroleum have an extensive footprint across the African continent, holding 22 oil and gas licenses in 23 jurisdictions.
“TRM assisted in providing a more cost effective and bespoke energy package solution for our Nigerian client, which fully complied with Nigerian local content regulation – broader cover at lower cost,” said Sebastian Wagner, Chief Executive Officer of DMWA Resources.
“Insurance commentators are suggesting that the COVID-19 impact will be a $100 billion event for the insurance industry,” says James Hill. “What we have, in effect, is the perfect storm, where the market was already bottoming out on rates and starting to enter a hardening state with rates increasing. COVID-19 has caused an acceleration and amplification of the rate corrections and we are seeing significant rate increases across the entire market. Some customers are being hit worse than others depending on in which sector the risk falls. For example, upstream rates are not as severe (yet), but the market may only require one more big loss before that market follows the downstream market, which is seeing significant rate increases of over 20%.”
“We, in conjunction with our broking partners, access insurers globally – whether it is Lloyd’s of London, the Middle East or Asia, as long as there is an appetite for African energy risks,” says Hugo Hill. “We believe now more than ever it is vital for any customer in Africa to ensure that they are accessing the global market to trigger as much competition amongst insurers as possible.”
“Wherever we can involve and support local African or regional insurers, we do,” says James Hill. “Sometimes it’s the international underwriters who will have larger capacities, but those underwriters on the ground in Africa have a better understanding of the risk – we blend local and international expertise to deliver optimum solutions for our clients.”
‘’Local content development has an important role to play in Africa, especially with regards to capacity building. The best example of this is Nigeria, where the Nigerians have fought hard to develop a strong and robust local insurance market, particularly in the oil and gas arena,” says Hugo Hill. “Insurance companies in-territory are closer to their clients than international insurers and often have a better understanding of the associated risks. It will be great if the new and emerging oil and gas markets in Africa can follow suit.”
While the global insurance market continues to correct, TRM remains optimistic in its long-term outlook for the African insurance sector – an industry closely linked with economic growth, operating on a continent home to the fastest-growing economies globally.
Grace Goodrich, is Field Editor at TRM Risk Management.
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
After achieving considerable consolidation in Senegal, PayDunya, a leading fintechstartup has started international expansion to Ivory Coast and Benin, with plans to venture into Mali, Burkina Faso and other Francophone African countries by the end of the year. Launched in November 2015, PayDunya is an easy-to-use universal multi-channel payment gateway and solutions provider, offering a single API for e-businesses anywhere in the world to process payments from and to African customers via mobile money, money transfer and credit cards.
PayDunya Co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Aziz Yérima
Having started life in Senegal, PayDunya now has more than 600 active business clients in its home market as well as in Ivory Coast and Benin, across sectors such as insurance, e-commerce, education and hospitality. Co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Aziz Yérima said the startup was focused on a strategy of geographic expansion at this point in time. “We first want to settle in Francophone Africa. Our first scope is the French-speaking area, with a presence in 10 countries at the end of 2020,” he said.
“We look forward to being a leader in the online payment market in French-speaking countries in Africa in the next five years.” PayDunya’s aspirations go further, however, with Yérima saying it hoped to one day be active in 30 African countries, both Francophone and Anglophone.
“Our main goal today is truly accelerating the emergence of Africa through the power of digital,” he said.
PayDunya has added a host of products to its suite over the last few years, and now allows customers to do things like generate receipts, receive payments via mobile application, send invoices via SMS or email, set up recurring and automated payment collection, and pay thousands of people with one click.
“We recently developed a new solution for social media sellers. The solution can help sellers that have a page on social media to create their own landing page for their shop,” Yérima said.
Though its expansion plans are progressing well, PayDunya has still been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Nobody saw this crisis coming, and we were not prepared for such economic damage. We were far from imagining at the very beginning the economic impact that this was going to have. Many of our customers were in the tourism industry – one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic – and no longer needed web and mobile payment solutions when the pandemic hit.
We therefore had to find strategies to help them and accompany them in facing the crisis that hit them head on,” said Yérima. “That led us to revisit our goals. The challenge for us is really to help West African companies to limit financial losses resulting from the crisis and promote financial inclusion in areas where more people have mobile money accounts than bank accounts. Honestly, the crisis creates many challenges, but also opportunities for those who can work digitally.”
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
