MTN and MasterCard's Collabo, Egypt’s Pasabahce funding round.

Feb 21, 2021

Good Day,

Another interesting week, with your 4-minute round-up of the most important business, finance, and markets news dominating Africa. Tell a friend or colleague who needs to be well informed by signing up here.

Economic Updates:

Ghana’s inflation rates drop to a much better than expected level of 9.9%, bringing it within the Central Bank’s target of 6-10%. This opens the door for a rate cut to further boost the economy.
Kenya and the IMF have agreed to a $2.4 billion facility according to the Kenya Central Bank. The extended fund and credit facility to help stabilise its debt position due to the impact of COVID-19.
Nigeria has slipped out of its second recession with a positive GDP growth rate of 0.11% in the 4th quarter of 2020 according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, with growth in key areas of the economy like Agriculture, Services, and Industries.

Payments:

MasterCard and MTN have announced a collaboration aimed at allowing Africans to make payments on global online platforms using MTN’s MoMo digital wallet. The MTN/MasterCard collaboration is coming as Africa’s payment space shows all indications of growth with an increase in money payment transactions, funding for payment start-ups, and acquisition of PayStack by Stripe.
Uganda’s mobile money transaction reached an all-time high by growing by 28.2 % compared to 25% during the same period. Data from the Central Bank Uganda shows 2.8 billion transactions were recorded between January and Dec 2019 compared to 3.5 billion during the same period in 2020. This shows the growth of cashless payments in both the formal and informal sectors of the economy.
Airtel Tanzania and Dar es Salaam stock exchange have entered into an agreement to provide mobile trading through its Airtel Mobile Wallet. Consumers will be able to buy, sell and receive payments as demand for stock trading grows.

Private Equity Deals :

South Africa’s Moshesh Partners, a mid-market, black majority-owned private equity firm, has appointed Prescient Fund Services to administer its first private fund. The Fund aims to invest in renewable energy and clean infrastructure.
Egypt’s Pasabahce a leading Glass Manufacturer has received a financing package of $30 million from the IFC a member of the World Bank Group used to increase its production, boost export and increase efficiency.
Kasha Global Inc an eCommerce women's health and personal product company focused on the Rwanda and Kenya markets has received a $1 million equity funding from the US International Development Finance (DFC).

Fund Raising :

The Japan International Cooperation Agency( JICA) and the Africa Development Fund (ADF) have signed a 73.6 billion yen loan. The funding will be used to support projects in the continent.

Venture Capital Deals:

Japan Uncovered has launched a $15 million fund to invest in early-stage Africa start-ups.
Ghanian start-up Stars From All Nation( SFAN) has raised $250,000 for the launch of its career accelerator platform RadyForWork.
VeggieVictory a Nigerian Plant-based food startup, has received a pre-seed funding round led by Sustainable Food Ventures and Thrive Worldwide.

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