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<p>Recently, Kigali, Rwanda, hosted the prestigious Africa CEO Forum, drawing leaders from across the globe. The event was a significant platform for discussing various economic and business trends impacting the continent. One of the highlights of the forum was a dedicated session that explored Rwanda&#8217;s investment opportunities, showcasing the country&#8217;s strategic initiatives and favourable business environment.</p>


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Africa CEO Forum 2024: Invest Rwanda

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<p>Step into the heartbeat of African economic prowess at the Africa CEO Forum, where 2,000 global leaders from across public and private space converged for two days of dynamic exchanges, championing the pivotal role of the private sector in Africa&#8217;s vibrant development landscape.</p>


Highlights Special of the Africa CEO Forum 2024

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<p>A recent report by the International Finance Corporation in partnership with the European Commission an data from e-commerce platform Jumia shows that by closing the gender gaps by 2025, Africa’s e-commerce sector could add nearly 15 billion dollars to the total value of the sector in Africa by 2030. Juliet Anammah Chairwoman Jumia Nigeria and Head of Institutional Affairs at the Jumia Group joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Report: Africa’s e-commerce could add $15bn if gender gaps close between 2025-2030

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<p>If women&#8217;s sales could reach parity with men by 2025, the e-commerce sector could add nearly $15 billion to the African Market by 2030. This is according to a recent report by the International Finance Cooperation. CNBC Africa spoke with the Senior vice President of Operations at IFC, Stephanie Von Friedeburg for more.</p>


How to grow women owned businesses on Africa’s e-commerce platforms

IFC on how to grow women owned businesses on Africa’s e-commerce platforms

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<p>International Finance Corporation has done a study on women and ecommerce in Africa. They reckon Women are active participants on e-commerce, but the pandemic has reversed their early successes in the sector. Joining CNBC Africa for more is Alexa Roscoe, Disruptive Technologies Lead for the Gender at the International Finance Corporation.</p>


How to accelerate women participation in Africa’s e-commerce industry

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<p>It&#8217;s been fast paced at Rwanda finance limited over the past 6 months, with the company responsible for Kigali&#8217;s journey into a financial centre going through an array of changes, but is the company on the right track? CNBC Africa spoke to the CEO of Rwanda Finance Limited, Nick Barigye for more.</p>


Rwanda Finance Limited: The journey to an IFC

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<p>The Covid-19 crisis has severely impacted African economies with the continent going through a recession for the first time in 20 years. But how is the financial sector in Africa handling the crisis? CNBC Africa spoke to the Vice President for the Middle East and Africa at the International Finance Corporation, Sérgio Pimenta, for more.</p>


IFC’s Pimenta on the impact COVID-19 on Africa’s financial sector

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<p>Google and the International Finance Corporation estimate that Africa’s internet economy has the potential to reach 5.2per cent of the continent’s GDP by 2025. This would contribute nearly $180 billion to the economy. Driving this growth is a combination of factors; including a vibrant start-up ecosystem, and Africa’s commitment to creating the Africa Continental Free Trade Area. Joining CNBC Africa to unpack the latest report from Google &#038; the IFC is Nitin Gajria, Director at Google Africa.</p>


Africa’s internet economy projected to grow to $180bn by 2025

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<p>In its 2020 Country Private Sector Diagnostics report for Nigeria, the International Finance Corporation argues that Nigeria must focus on a wider private sector-led growth strategy to create millions of quality jobs for its population.</p>


IFC: Nigeria must focus on a wider private sector-led strategy

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<p>The International Finance Corporation is providing FirstRand Bank with Africa’s first climate loan with a blue component to the value of $225 million. Joining CNBC Africa for more is Gokhan Kont, Manager for Eastern and Southern Africa at the International Finance Corporation.</p>


IFC on supporting financial institutions to expand access to green financing

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<p>As the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic continue to rip through businesses across Africa and the globe, to what extent can international and development finance institutions provide support for Africa?</p>


COVID-19: IFC moves to support Nigerian businesses hit by the pandemic

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<p>Never before has the world seen a funding crisis like the one it is experiencing as a result of COVID-19 and lockdowns.  Any new funding available is swallowed up within days. Is this the case with the World Bank and IFC’s $14 billion package? Sérgio Pimenta, IFC’s Vice President for the Middle East and Africa joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


COVID-19: World Bank & IFC’s $14bn – How far does it extend?

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Over the past five years, International Finance Corporation (IFC) in partnership with Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE) have held a ceremonious event where players in the financial sector commit to bridge the gender financial gap. On the side-lines of this year&#8217;s Ring the Bell event CNBC Africa&#8217;s Arnold Kwizera caught up with IFC&#8217;s representative, Linda Kalimba Mulenga for more on the benefits of this event.</p>


How the IFC is empowering women to actively participate in Rwanda’s financial sector


<p><em>By Aliou Maiga, IFC’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa</em></p>



<p>Ten years ago Sia Roberts saw an
opportunity in Burkina Faso. People needed better access to affordable drinking
water. So he had the idea to launch his own business. He started packaging clean
water in plastic bags in the country’s capital. </p>



<p>To grow, he needed the help of Banque
Atlantique, a subsidiary of Morocco’s second biggest bank BCP Group. He started
with two employees and two machines. Today, he employs 200 people with plans to
hire another 60 in the coming months thanks to a XOF 100 million loan
($170,000).</p>



<p>Sub-Saharan Africa currently requires 1.3
million jobs every month to keep pace with a growing and youthful workforce—a
number that will grow larger in the decades to come.</p>



<p>That’s where businesses play a key role.
Creating a market that enables SMEs to thrive supports individuals to achieve
their ambitions, and it generates jobs and economic growth. Small businesses
account for more than half of formal jobs and contribute up to 60 percent of
GDP in countries across Africa. </p>



<p>However, access to affordable finance and
to markets is a major barrier to SME growth. IFC estimates the small business
finance gap in the region’s poorest countries is over $155 billion, equivalent
to more than 15 percent of GDP of those economies. </p>



<p>Africa generally has limited financing
channels for entrepreneurs that can deliver successful businesses and employ
more people. There are few sources of small-scale or venture capital financing
and commercial banks lend mostly to big clients. The risk, they feel, is easier
to manage. </p>



<p>That creates a challenge for development
finance institutions like IFC to change the dynamics. We need new approaches
and financing tools that provide incentives to private financial institutions to
expand lending in a sustainable and affordable way.</p>



<p>We are finding them. Two years ago, the
World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), a fund providing
below-market rate loans to governments in the poorest countries, established
the IFC-MIGA Private Sector Window (PSW). The facility is helping IFC and MIGA
deliver sustainable private-sector investments in eligible IDA countries, with
the hope that these innovative solutions will demonstrate the commercial
viability of these markets over time.</p>



<p>One such new approach is the Small Loan
Guarantee Program. We saw that banks had limited appetite for lending to small
business. &nbsp;So we challenged ourselves to
come up with a new tool to help them. With support from the IDA PSW, the Small
Loan Guarantee Program shares the risk of loans commercial banks make to small
businesses and provides specialized training to help the bank run sustainable
risk management to keep growing their SME lending. </p>



<p>This has helped businesses like Sia
Roberts. </p>



<p>And when we come up with new products,
partnerships like IFC’s investment in Banque Atlantique show how it can work. IFC
provided a €40 million risk sharing facility to the Banque Atlantique network to
extend small business lending across eight countries in West Africa. The
facility will finance a portfolio of €80 million.</p>



<p>Banque Atlantique can now put a priority on
funding entrepreneurs in Western Africa. The Small Loan Guarantee Program provided
a boost to their expansion. And we are already seeing the results.</p>



<p>When we help partners finance small businesses, we invest in economic growth and job creation.</p>


Op-Ed: Africa requires 1.3m jobs a month to keep pace with its workforce. Small Businesses are the answer. Now let’s finance them

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<p>The International Finance Corporation (IFC) regards the Africa Investment Forum as an interesting opportunity to meet and hear from some of Africa’s leaders and some of the key players in the private sector on what they see as the opportunities and challenges on the continent. Sergio Pimenta, Vice President of IFC in Middle East and Africa joins CNBC Africa’s Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor for more.</p>


Africa Investment Forum: IFC’s Pimenta on investment opportunities and challenges on the continent


<p>By: Hafez Ghanem and Sérgio Pimenta*</p>



<p>Togo,
a small country in West Africa known for its glimmering phosphate reserves and
sandy beaches, just earned its place among the world’s top 10 reformers on the
World Bank Group’s <em>Doing Business 2020</em>
report. </p>



<p>The
country jumped an impressive 30 places in the rankings after making it easier
to start a business, obtain construction permits, pay taxes, access credit, and
register property. These and other improvements lifted Togo to 97<sup>th</sup> place
among the 190 countries ranked globally on the ease of doing business. </p>



<p>Togo
isn’t Africa’s only standout, however. </p>



<p>Nigeria,
the continent’s largest economy and with a GDP 100 times bigger than Togo’s,
also cracked the <em>Doing Business</em> top
10 this year. Both countries – large and small – recognize that advancing policies
that make it easier for the private sector to grow and create jobs strengthens
the economy and reduces poverty. This formula may be simple, but it is one in
which we at the World Bank Group firmly believe.</p>



<p>Togo’s
impressive list of reforms included introducing an online application portal
for construction permits, saving developers time and reducing stress. Meanwhile,
Nigeria made it easier to open a business through an improved online platform,
lowered the cost of construction permits, and established a new small claims
court to deal with commercial cases. Nigeria enacted reforms in six of the ten
areas measured by the <em>Doing Business</em>
report. </p>



<p>While
Togo and Nigeria are Africa’s standouts this year, countries across the
continent — Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Rwanda among them—have also been
improving their investment climates to help businesses invest, expand, and create
jobs. IFC and the World Bank have supported these efforts, bringing the public
and private sectors together to agree on priorities, overcome obstacles, and
lay-out long-term reform strategies.</p>



<p>Over
the past decade, sub-Saharan Africa has become the top-reforming region
globally. An entrepreneur can now register a business in 20 days or less in 26
of sub-Saharan Africa’s 48 economies: A decade ago, this was possible in only
three countries.</p>



<p>Clearly,
Africa’s strong reform drive is cause for celebration. The sober truth,
however, is that the world’s most difficult places for businesses are still
largely found in Africa. Only two sub-Saharan
African countries rank in the top 50 on the ease of doing business, while many
in the bottom 20 are from the region. </p>



<p>Why
is Africa lagging? Reforms in areas like taxation, and access to electricity
and credit, for example, can be time-consuming and costly for governments,
involving big investments in infrastructure and IT systems. Africa is also home
to the highest concentration of fragile states and countries recovering from
conflict, places where private sector reform can be especially difficult to
implement. Still, economies across Africa should be prepared to make the investments
to catch up with economies in Asia, Europe, and North America. </p>



<p>Africa’s
challenges, though real, are not a cause for alarm. Rather, we have seen that the
region’s commitment to reform and to grow the private sector is now generally
well entrenched. &nbsp;Governments are not only
simplifying regulations for entrepreneurs but also undertaking key policy
reforms so that they can tap into private investment for projects in
infrastructure, agriculture, and other key sectors. All of these are critical
for creating jobs for a young, dynamic, and growing workforce. </p>



<p>At
the World Bank, we are supporting countries as they implement policies and
reforms that make it easier for people, no matter their socioeconomic
background, to get good jobs. At IFC, we are working upstream with governments
to mobilize private investment into the most critical areas, especially in
infrastructure, to improve people’s lives and make doing business easier. </p>



<p>The top African
country on the 2020 <em>Doing Business</em>
list this year is Mauritius, which is ranked 13<sup>th</sup>.&nbsp; It takes about 95 days to build a warehouse
in Mauritius, compared to 213 days in France and 222 days in Austria. In
Kigali, it takes three simple steps and a total of 7 days to transfer a
property, putting Rwanda in third place on this indicator behind New Zealand
and Qatar.&nbsp; It might not be long before
others – in Africa and the rest of the world – catch up. </p>



<p><em>Hafez
Ghanem is the World Bank’s Vice President for Africa</em></p>



<p><em>Sérgio
Pimenta is IFC’s Regional Vice President for the Middle East and Africa</em></p>


Op-Ed: It’s getting easier to do business in Africa—but there’s room to do more

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<p>The Central Bank of Nigeria has issued regulations for the operation of indirect participants within the country&#8217;s Payments System. The Apex Bank says the move is part of efforts to foster the development of an efficient and effective payments system in Nigeria. To unpack these regulations and their implication, Financial Services Consultant at IFC, Chidinma Lawanson joins CNBC Africa.</p>


IFC

Africa CEO Forum 2024: Invest Rwanda

Highlights Special of the Africa CEO Forum 2024

Report: Africa’s e-commerce could add $15bn if gender gaps close between 2025-2030

IFC on how to grow women owned businesses on Africa’s e-commerce platforms

How to accelerate women participation in Africa’s e-commerce industry

Rwanda Finance Limited: The journey to an IFC

IFC’s Pimenta on the impact COVID-19 on Africa’s financial sector

Africa’s internet economy projected to grow to $180bn by 2025

IFC: Nigeria must focus on a wider private sector-led strategy

IFC on supporting financial institutions to expand access to green financing

COVID-19: IFC moves to support Nigerian businesses hit by the pandemic

COVID-19: World Bank & IFC’s $14bn – How far does it extend?

How the IFC is empowering women to actively participate in Rwanda’s financial sector

Op-Ed: Africa requires 1.3m jobs a month to keep pace with its workforce. Small Businesses are the answer. Now let’s finance them

Africa Investment Forum: IFC’s Pimenta on investment opportunities and challenges on the continent

Op-Ed: It’s getting easier to do business in Africa—but there’s room to do more

CBN to regulate indirect participants of payments system: What does this mean for financial institutions?

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IFC

Africa CEO Forum 2024: Invest Rwanda

Highlights Special of the Africa CEO Forum 2024

Report: Africa’s e-commerce could add $15bn if gender gaps close between 2025-2030

IFC on how to grow women owned businesses on Africa’s e-commerce platforms

How to accelerate women participation in Africa’s e-commerce industry

Rwanda Finance Limited: The journey to an IFC

IFC’s Pimenta on the impact COVID-19 on Africa’s financial sector

Africa’s internet economy projected to grow to $180bn by 2025

IFC: Nigeria must focus on a wider private sector-led strategy

IFC on supporting financial institutions to expand access to green financing

COVID-19: IFC moves to support Nigerian businesses hit by the pandemic

COVID-19: World Bank & IFC’s $14bn – How far does it extend?

How the IFC is empowering women to actively participate in Rwanda’s financial sector

Op-Ed: Africa requires 1.3m jobs a month to keep pace with its workforce. Small Businesses are the answer. Now let’s finance them

Africa Investment Forum: IFC’s Pimenta on investment opportunities and challenges on the continent

Op-Ed: It’s getting easier to do business in Africa—but there’s room to do more

CBN to regulate indirect participants of payments system: What does this mean for financial institutions?

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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