Ethiopia
DPM & FM Demeke Confers with Rwanda’s Foreign Minister, Vincent Biruta
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Demeke Mekonnen has conferred with his Rwandan counterpart, Vincent Biruta, at his office. Read More

Ethiopian Completes Conversion of Africa’s First B767 Passenger Aircraft into Freighter
Ethiopian Airlines has Completed Conversion of Africa’s First B767 Passenger Aircraft into Freighter. Ethiopian partnered with Israel Aerospace Industries and launched a B767-300ER freighter conversion line at Ethiopian MRO facilities in Addis Ababa. Read More

Ethiopia Extends Local Market Access for Industrial Park Producers
Following the closures of the United States tariff-free African Growth and Opportunity Act market, the government of Ethiopia has decided to extend the provision of access to the local market for industrial park producers by 6 months. Read More

Nation Launches 20.5 Mil USD Renewable Energy-Agriculture Project
Ethiopia has launched Distributed Renewable Energy-Agriculture Modalities project that will be implemented as pilot with USD 20.5 million in four regions. Read More

Kenya
China Fines Kenya KES 1.31 Billion for Defaulting on SGR Loans
Kenya defaulted on repayment of the Chinese loans provided to build the standard gauge railway, highlighting the country’s struggles with the mounting public debt. Read More

Kenya Buys Half of August Sugar from Uganda
Kenya bought half of its imported sugar from Uganda in August, making Nairobi a leading destination for Kampala’s exports during the month. Read More

Climbing Iron, Steel Prices Cut Kenyan Imports by 20 Percent
Iron and steel imports shrank by 20 percent in the second quarter of the year amid a slowdown in the construction sector. Read More

Drugs Giant GSK to Shut Kenyan Plant in 2023, Turns Trader
Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is the latest multinational firm to exit Kenya amid below-budget sales and global overhaul of the firm. Read More

Rwanda
Kagame Meets Afghan Girls' Leadership School Founder
President Paul Kagame, hosted board members of SOLA - Afghanistan’s only girls’ boarding school - which relocated temporarily to Rwanda late last year. Read More

Busingye Reiterates Rwanda’s Commitment to Global Peace, Security
Johnston Busingye, Rwanda's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, has emphasised Rwanda’s commitment to contribute to global peace and security drawing from lessons in history. Read More

Thousands in Kigali for Youth Connekt Summit
Thousands of young people from across the continent and beyond are in Kigali for this year’s Youth Connekt Africa summit, which opens at the BK Arena. Read More

Proposed Legislation Set to Expand Judicial Discretion
Rwanda’s criminal procedure is being amended to give more powers of discretion to judges when issuing penalties to convicts. Read More

Tanzania
Government Reaffirms Commitment to Increase Users of Internet
The government has reiterated its ambitious plan to increase internet users to about 80 percent of the population by 2025 after taking measures that will expand the network coverage. Read More

Samia, Ruto Resolve Earns Plaudit
The private sector in the East African Community has commended the resolve by Tanzania and Kenya to fast-track addressing remaining non-tariff barriers between the two countries by the end of this year, towards bolstering regional integration. Read More

Meta Unveils Multiple Partnerships in Bid to Advance Metaverse Usability
American tech giant Meta announced several partnerships with other companies from different sectors in a bid to improve the use cases of the novel metaverse technology and to better user experience in the space. Read More

Tanzania Slashes Park Fees to Woo East African Tourists
Tanzanian authorities have lowered park fees for East African citizens to attract more tourists from neighbouring countries. Read More

Uganda
Gold Export Resumes    
Gold exports returned for the first time in over 12 months, according to Bank of Uganda. In its October report detailing composition and the value of exports, Bank of Uganda indicated that gold exports resumed during August, returning a 32 percent growth in export receipts, which had declined for more than a year. Read More

CMA Makes Recommendations to Improve Investor Protection 
Investor education and protection, sustainable financing and product diversification in the equity market are among the key issues that emerged during the events to mark the World Investor Week organized by the Uganda Securities Exchange together with other partners from 3 – 9 October. Read More

MTN Uganda’s New CEO Sylvia Mulinge to Focus on Digital Solutions 
Sylvia Mulinge took over as Chief Executive Officer at MTN Uganda, succeeding Wim Vanhelleputte, who assumed a new role in the West African market, a move that makes her the first female to run the biggest telco. Read More

European Union 25 million Euro Kitty Expected to Boost Trade
Countries in Africa and the Caribbean will soon be able to access a grant worth 25 million Euros to improve their horticultural export infrastructure for export to the EU. Read More

Egypt
Egypt's Economy More Capable of Green Recovery: Finance Minister
Egypt's economy has become more capable of green recovery despite the daunting global challenges, affirmed Finance Minister Mohamed Maait. Read More

Egypt’s Irrigation Minister, Director of Water Department at the African Development Bank Discuss Cooperation
Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sweilam met with Osiard Chanda, Director of the Water Department at the African Development Bank (AfDB), and his accompanying delegation to discuss areas of cooperation between the ministry and the bank. Read More

US dollar Exchange Rate Stable at Beginning of Transactions
The US dollar exchange was stable at the beginning of Wednesday's transactions at Egypt's major banks. At the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and Banque Misr, the dollar rate registered EGP 19.63 for buying and EGP 19.69 for selling. Read More

Egyptian Economy to Continue Achieving High Growth Rates
The Cabinet media center said despite piling pressures on international economy and expected recession in growth rate, the Egyptian state adopted multilateral approaches in parallel to deal with these pressures and maintain stability of the economic situation. Read More

Morocco
Africa Fertilizer Financing Forum Calls For Future-Proof Agriculture
As Africa is facing growing agricultural threats, Morocco’s city of Casablanca is hosting the third edition of the Africa Fertilizer Financing Forum to explore escalating fertilizer costs and their implications on the continent’s food security. Read More

Morocco’s Casablanca Ranked MENA’s 7th Best City for Startups
The Moroccan city of Casablanca has ranked as the seventh best city for the opening of new startups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, according to Belgium-based internet marketing service Sortlist. Read More

Mostafa Terrab: Africa Could Be the Solution to Global Food Crisis
Home to 60 percent of unused arable land in the world, Africa is going to be part of the solution to the global food crisis, according to OCP CEO Mostafa Terrab. Read More

Morocco Participates in 7th World Congress And Leader Summit In Daejeon
Morocco participated in the 7th edition of the World Congress and Summit of Local and Regional Leaders on Monday in Daejeon, South Korea. Read More

MITC Tips Exporters on Certification
The Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC) has challenged exporters in the country to get affiliated with the World Fair Trade Organisation to boost their market network in Scotland and other markets in Europe. Read More

Kwacha Performance Attracts Mixed Views
Financial market experts have cast doubt on the footing of the local trading unit, the Kwacha, against major trading currencies, saying the current fundamentals do not support its stability. Read More

Pension Fund Withdrawals Up
Early withdrawals of pension funds have grown by MWK 3.9 billion (approx. USD 3.7 million) within two years from MWK 9.5 billion (approx. USD 9.3 million) in 2020 to MWK 13.4 billion (approx. USD 13 million) in June 2022, figures from the Reserve Bank of Malawi show. Read More

New Tobacco Law to Fuel Hunger—Tama
Tobacco Association of Malawi (Tama) Farmers Trust has said it sees the proposed new tobacco law fuelling hunger among tobacco growers. Read More

Denel’s Fate in Hands of Treasury as it Seeks ZAR 3.4 Billion for Restructuring
The department of public enterprises has asked the Treasury to fund ZAR 3.4 billion (approx. USD 185 million) of Denel’s turnaround plan, which is estimated to cost ZAR 5.2 billion (approx. USD 283 million), public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan said. Read More

Business Confidence Lifts but Interest Rates Take Toll, Sacci Shows
SA’s investment environment will continue to improve because its monetary and fiscal authorities have moved firmly back into a trajectory focused on sustainable fiscal policy, and a monetary policy that is capable and willing to reduce inflation, SA Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago says. Read More

How Capitec’s Offer of ZAR 45 Per Gigabyte Compares
Connectivity is becoming more affordable, as Capitec’s new flat-rate data offering to its clients proves. The outstanding feature of Capitec Connect is not only that everyone will pay the same rate whether they buy 100 gigabytes or 100 megabytes, but that the offering is basic and simple. Read More

Ghana
Ghana Hosts Clean Cooking Forum 2022 to Help Meet SDG17
The Clean Cooking Alliance and the Government of Ghana have hosted the Clean Cooking Forum 2022 in Accra from 11-13 October. Read More

Interest Rate Increases, Volatile Markets Signal Rising Financial Stability Risks
Global financial conditions have tightened as central banks accelerate monetary policy normalisation to keep rapid inflation from becoming entrenched. Read More

Prudential Bank Partners FinTechs to Support SMEs Under AfCFTA
Panellists on cross border payments have lauded the implementation of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) as a cutting-edge technology that connects African banks and other financial market. Read More

Inflation increases to 37.2 Percent in September 2022
Inflation in Ghana increased to 37.2 percent in September from 33.9 percent in August, the Ghana Statistical Service said. Read More

Nigeria
OPEC: Angola, Libya Lead Nigeria in Oil Production
Angola and Libya have for the second consecutive month maintained their lead over Nigeria as Africa’s highest crude oil producers, a report by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has shown. Read More

5G: Smartphone Cost Poses Access Barrier, Says MTN
Nigeria’s fifth generation (5G) telecom service provider MTN has identified the high cost of 5G smartphones as a major entry barrier to customers. Read More

House Halts Sale of Polaris Bank by CBN
The House of Representatives has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend the planned sale of Polaris Bank pending the conclusion of processes for an open, transparent, and competitive bid in line with best practice and procedure for divestment of this nature. Read More

DMO Offers NGN 225 Billion Bonds for Subscription
The Nigerian Debt Management Office, DMO has offered three Federal Government Bonds, which are valued at NGN 225 billion (approx. USD 518 million) for subscription. Read More