Finance Archives - Inside Business Africa

Nov172021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Mozambique: African Development Bank Ups Financial Contribution for Local Content and Job Creation in Mozambique to $2.5 Million

Business, Finance

The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has approved a grant of $1.5 million to Mozambique to boost the development of local content. The grant is earmarked for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) targeting local content and women-owned business in the natural resources sector of the nation. The new approval brings the Bank’s total commitment to SME Development to $2.5 million, following an announcement of a previous financial package of $1 million in June 2021 to the Instituto para a Promoção das Pequenas e Médias Empresas (IPEME) under the Local Content Development Project for Youth-Led and Women in Business MSMEs (MOZYWEB). IPME is funded by the Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund (YEI MDTF) (bit.ly/3wPvrCj). The new financial contrib...

Nov172021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Standard Chartered appoints Bongiwe Gangeni to lead Consumer, Private and Business Banking for Africa, Middle East, Europe region

Business, Corporate Stories, Finance

Standard Chartered (SC.com) has appointed Bongiwe Gangeni as Head, Consumer, Private & Business Banking (CPBB), Africa & Middle East, and Europe (AME/E), subject to regulatory approval. Bongiwe will be based in Dubai when she joins the Bank in March 2022. Bongiwe’s appointment will be pertinent in our ability to provide further excellence in these areas and strengthen relationships with existing and potential clients Bongiwe is joining Standard Chartered from Absa, where she spent the last 14 years, most recently as a member of the Group Executive Committee, with the dual roles of Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Retail and Business Banking, and Head of Relationship Banking. Bongiwe’s successful career at Absa comprises roles across businesses including ...

Nov92021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Standarteredard Ch takes a stance on menopause in the workplace to further strengthen Bank’s inclusive culture

Business, Corporate Stories, Finance, Innovation

To create a more inclusive working environment, Standard Chartered (SC.com) announced the launch of its first-ever dedicated menopause guidance for the Bank’s employees, coinciding with World Menopause Day. The Bank announced it is taking a number of actions to make sure support and guidance around menopause is provided to all colleagues. This approach is designed to enhance the company’s existing health and wellbeing policy for its 85,000-strong workforce in over 59 markets globally. Supporting employees across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, key changes include: A specialist guide for all employees, including dedicated advice for People Leaders, to help educate and increase awareness of the menopause.Flexible working options that h...

Oct262021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Alternate Careers in Finance Worth Considering

Business, Corporate Stories, Finance

Careers in the finance sector are sought-after because they’re generally rewarding and lucrative. Some positions tend to be more popular than others, but there are a few which deserve more attention than they usually receive. Dany Mawas, Regional Director at INFINOX Capital, shares some insights into these positions, which professionals and students could do well to consider. Accounting, insurance, and banking are among the most popular career avenues in finance; however, there are other career choices that are fulfilling, high-paying (in excess of R400 000 per annum), and well worth investigating. Public market investor: This is a role that manages investments of both stocks and bonds. The investor needs to ensure that their portfolios, or those they’re being paid to manage, ar...

Oct202021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) Signs a Euro 100 million Murabaha Financing Agreement with SENELEC, Dedicated to Support Senegal’s Energy Sector

Corporate Stories, Finance

The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) (ITFC-idb.org) approved a Euro 100 million Murabaha financing to SENELEC (Senegal National Power Company). The company’s strategic mandate is to ensure the production, transmission, and distribution of electricity in Senegal. This approval reflects ITFC’s commitment to supporting the availability and affordability of electricity in member countries. ITFC subscribes to the sustainable development goals and avails itself to support Member-Countries achieve them The facility is purposed to cover almost 20% of SENELEC’s financing needs to purchase refined petroleum products, directly impacting the production, transmission, and distribution of electrical energy throughout the country. The operation comes to support the Seneg...

Sep242021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

UN General Assembly 2021: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres applauds African Development Bank’s global leadership on climate adaptation

Business, Corporate Stories, Finance

Six weeks ahead of this year’s global climate summit (COP26), African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) President Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina on Thursday spoke out on the urgent need to finance climate adaptation. He called on the developed world to deliver on its promise of $100 billion per year for climate change. The African Development Bank chief was commenting a day after United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres made his keynote address to the United Nations General Assembly – a speech in which the UN chief spoke of a planet “sleepwalking to disaster.” Guterres sounded alarm bells for a world buffeted by climate change, conflicts, and the global pandemic of Covid-19. He called for “coalitions of solidarity” to address inequality, instability, climate change and what he said ...

Sep222021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

How solid states beat hard choices – and why the financial sector is implementing all-flash storage (By Sphumelele Ndlovu)

Business, Finance

We are living through a fourth industrial revolution, led by a mix of emerging technologies. This shift means that financial services providers will have to rethink the way they operate to deliver new value for all stakeholders. Business leaders and ICT experts from Eastern Africa and the globe will convene Sep 23 for the Eastern Africa BFSI Summit 2021 (https://bit.ly/3hT0Iy1), an offline event to unpack the opportunities of digital transformation for African financial industry. The event will highlight the changes, challenges and opportunities in the post-epidemic era and ways to accelerate financial digital transformation by leveraging the latest ICT solutions. Within this revolution, data is one of the major pillars and an ever-growing strategic resource ...

Sep172021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

African Development Bank’s SEFA provides $1 million to kick off modernization of Africa’s Hydropower Fleet

Economy, Finance, Innovation

The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) (https://bit.ly/3tZp0eB) has approved a $1 million grant for modernization of Africa’s aging hydropower fleet. We are delighted to support the African Development Bank in this important and urgent project to modernize Africa’s hydropower fleet The grant will fund the mapping and evaluation of African hydropower facilities’ rehabilitation needs. It will also support the preparation of modernization works for two pilot facilities to a bankable stage, a move expected to add 200 MW in generation capacity, create 150 jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 300 kilotons of CO2 annually. The modernization of hydropower stations is an opportunity to increase generation capacity at low-cost, and with relatively short lead-times and...

Sep22021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Government Cuts Mobile Money Transaction Charges by 30pc

Business, Economy, Finance

Tanzania's Government has reduced mobile money transaction levy by 30 percent. A press statement issued by the Ministry of Finance and Planning Tuesday stated that Minister Mwigulu Nchemba has already signed the review of the charges. Also, the Government held a meeting with mobile service providers, who have unanimously agreed to cut down mobile money interoperability rates by 10 percent Following concerns and views from the public, claiming that the deductions were too high, President Samia Suluhu Hassan directed two Ministers (Finance and Planning Minister and Minister for Communications and Information Technology) to sit down and work on the matter. The statement added that newly reduced rates will be officially announced in the Government Gazette tomorrow, (1st Sept, 20...

Aug262021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

African Development Bank’s Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund provides more than $7.3 million for youth jobs and skills

Business, Finance, Innovation

In June and July of this year, an African Development Bank (AfDB.org) technical review committee approved eight project proposals to receive funding in an important milestone for its Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy. Approved proposals will receive grant funding of more than $7.3 million to operationalize their activities, creating several new enterprises and an estimated 20,000 jobs for youth across the continent. Several of the approved proposals were submitted in response to a call from the Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development Department (AHHD) through the Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund (bit.ly/3gw7LvF) late last year. Bank offices, complexes and departments from across regional member countries submitted nearly 24 proposals...