With the Nigerian economy hard hit by the coronavirus, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has signed a loan agreement to help businesses in the country survive the fallout. The US$100mn loan, signed with Zenith Bank, is the first investment the IFC has made in Africa as part of its global

Retailers, and particularly small informal shopkeepers, are the lifeblood of Africa’s economies.  Ghana-based startup Sumundi provides easy-to-use point-of-sale and inventory management software for small shops. The company was founded in 2018. Co-founder Awura Abena Amponsah (23) answers our questions. 1. Give us your elevator pitch. Sumundi exists to help retailers

With Senegal’s economy rocked by the impact of coronavirus, the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) has inked a murabaha financing deal with a domestic bank. The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group member has agreed to provide €8mn in financing to Banque Islamique du Sénégal (BIS) to support the bank’s

The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) has signed a US$50mn unfunded risk-sharing agreement with the Opec Fund for International Development (OFID) as part of plans to improve access to trade finance in Eastern and Southern Africa. Under the terms of the deal, OFID will guarantee trade

Sudan remains a difficult place to do business, with a groundbreaking new study uncovering signs of widespread trade misinvoicing across its oil and gold exports. However, despite its precarious economic and political situation, hopes are growing that the country could soon be in a position to open its doors to

There’s a top-line statistic on tomato farming in Nigeria which captures the state of the sector: around 45% of harvested tomatoes go to waste in Africa’s most populous country. That reality is down to a mix of fundamental infrastructural gaps including inefficient cross-country transport systems and a lack of storage facilities which