World
G7 Nations to Invest $80b in Africa’s Private Sector
By Adedapo Adesanya
The G7 Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), the International Financial Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the African Development Bank (AfDB), EBRD and the European Investment Bank (EIB.org) have promised to invest $80 billion in Africa’s private sector over the next five years to support sustainable economic recovery and growth of the continent.
According to the institutions, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a severe global economic and health crisis and this proposed investment is to support the long-term development objectives of African economies that have been negatively impacted by the crisis.
This will be the first time the G7 DFIs have come together to make a collective partnership commitment to the African continent.
The IMF estimates that sub-Saharan Africa needs additional financing of around $425 billion between now and 2025 to help strengthen the pandemic response spending and reduce poverty in the region.
Speaking on this, the United Kingdom Minister for Africa, Mr James Duddridge, said: “The UK is proud to back this commitment by world leaders at the G7 Summit to invest more than $80 billion in Africa’s private sector over the next 5 years.
“This investment will create jobs, boost economic growth, help tackle climate change and fight poverty. It comes at a crucial time as the continent rebuilds its economies, severely impacted by COVID-19.”
On his part, Mr Nick O’Donohoe, the CEO of CDC Group, said: “The patient, high-quality capital that DFIs provide is urgently needed if African economies are to start to rebuild quickly from the impact of the pandemic. CDC is committed to building long term investment partnerships in Africa that fuel sustainable private sector growth in support of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.”
Mr Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank, said: “The EIB welcomes G7 leadership to enhance support for high-impact investment across Africa during and after the pandemic.
“Last year the EU Bank’s engagement in Africa, as part of Team Europe, represented the largest ever support for climate action and investment in fragile states in 55 years of EIB operations on the continent. We stand ready to cooperate further with African and multilateral partners to tackle both COVID-19 and accelerate the green transition in Africa.”
Adding his input, Mr Makhtar Diop, IFC’s Managing Director, said: “Ensuring an inclusive and sustainable recovery for people, businesses and economies across Africa in coordination with our development partners, is at the core of IFC’s development mandate today.
“We know that the private sector will play a major role in financing Africa’s future by creating millions of jobs that are essential to ensuring sustained economic growth and poverty reduction.
“We, therefore, welcome this important partnership and are proud to provide financing and to work with partners to help create the right conditions to bring more private investment to Africa.”
Then Mr David Marchick, Chief Operating Officer of US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), said: “Under President Biden’s leadership, investing more in Africa is a top priority for DFC in fulfilling our development mandate.
“DFC is proud to be doubling down on our commitment to Africa alongside our G7 and multilateral partners and will continue to prioritize investments in vaccine manufacturing, COVID-19 response, climate mitigation and adaptation, and gender equity on the African continent.”
Mr Dario Scannapieco, Chief Executive Officer of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), said: “Closer collaboration among Development Finance Institutions and multilateral partners is an essential factor in fostering sustainable economic recovery and growth in Africa.
“CDP looks forward to contributing to this strategic partnership, supporting the African continent in developing its entrepreneurial and financial private sector, to unlock its vast, untapped potential.”
Mr Solomon Quaynor, AfDB VP, Private Sector, Infrastructure & Industrialization said: “We welcome this global partnership and the opportunity to provide the African voice, as Africa builds back better and boldly. The opportunity to create jobs particularly for youth and women, from a focus on industrializing Africa underpinned by the African Continental Free Trade Area, will be our priority.
“Given the gap between the IMF estimates and what this partnership is committing to, we will seek to crowd-in African development partners, as well as African savings from SWFs, pensions, and insurance pools, estimated to have US$1.8 trillion AUM.”
Mr Heike Harmgart, EBRD Managing Director, Southern & Eastern Mediterranean, said: “Harnessing the potential of the private sector is essential to supporting prosperity in Africa and meeting the continent’s development needs. In the North African countries where we work – Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia – we have invested over €11.5 billion in only 9 years, focused on boosting the private sector, developing green sustainable infrastructure and promoting youth and women participation in the economy.
“We will pursue our efforts to expand private sector investment opportunities at scale in the region in close cooperation with other development actors.”
Ms Monika Beck, a member of the DEG-Management Board, said: “Many of our African partner countries have been hit hard by the pandemic. We quickly developed new services to support private sector SME and to help protect jobs and livelihoods. In Africa, DEG has always been specifically committed to creating prospects for the young, growing population.
“In addition to the continuing massive impact of COVID-19, we expect a further acceleration of the challenges connected to developments such as digitization and climate change. Therefore DEG welcomes and is proud to be part of the G7 DFI Africa initiative”.
Each DFI has its own investment criteria which are aligned to an assessment of the need to achieve development impact across a range of sectors. DFIs play an important role in helping to build markets, mitigate risk and pave the way for other investors to enter new markets.
The G7 DFI group consists of CDC, Proparco (France) JICA and JBIC (Japan), DFC (US), FinDev Canada (Canada), DEG (Germany) and CDP (Italy). This commitment is also supported by the IFC, the Africa Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the European Investment Bank.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
For transforming cross-border payments through its deployment with Global Money Exchange, Comviva has been named Best In-Class Cross Border Payments.
The global leader in digital transformation solutions clinched this latest accolade at the IBS Intelligence Global FinTech Innovation Award 2025.
The recognition highlights how Comviva’s mobiquity Pay is helping shape a modern cross-border payment ecosystem that stretches far beyond conventional remittance services.
Deployed as a white label Wallet Platform and launched as Global Pay Oman App, it fulfils GMEC’s dual vision—positioning itself as an innovative payment service provider while digitally extending its core money transfer business.
The solution allows GMEC to offer international money transfers alongside seamless forex ordering and other services. These capabilities sit alongside a broad suite of everyday financial services, including bill and utility payments, merchant transactions, education-related payments, and other digital conveniences — all delivered through one unified experience.
“This award is a testament to Oman’s accelerating digital transformation and our commitment to reshaping how cross-border payments serve people and businesses across the Sultanate.
“By partnering with Comviva and bringing the Global Pay Oman Super App, we have moved beyond traditional remittance services to create a truly inclusive and future-ready financial ecosystem.
“This innovation is not only enhancing convenience and transparency for our customers but is also supporting Oman’s broader vision of building a digitally empowered economy,” the Managing Director at Global Money Exchange, Subromoniyan K.S, said.
Also commenting, the chief executive of Comviva, Mr Rajesh Chandiramani, said, “Cross-border payments are becoming a daily necessity, not a niche service, particularly for migrant and trade-linked economies.
“This recognition from IBS Intelligence validates our focus on building payment platforms that combine global reach with local relevance, operational resilience and a strong user experience. The deployment with Global Money Exchange Co. demonstrates how mobiquity® Pay enables financial institutions to move beyond remittances and deliver integrated digital services at scale.”
“The deployment of mobiquity Pay for GMEC showcases how scalable, API-driven digital wallet platforms can transform cross-border payments into seamless, value-rich experiences.
“By integrating remittances, bill payments, forex services, and AI-powered engagement into a unified Super App, Comviva has reimagined customer journeys and operational agility.
“This Best-in-Class Cross-border Payments award win stands as a testament to Comviva’s excellence in enabling financial institutions to compete and grow in a digitally convergent world,” the Director for Research and Digital Properties at IBS Intelligence, Nikhil Gokhale, said.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
At the end of an extensive consultation with African foreign ministers, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, has emphasized that Moscow would advance its economic engagement across Africa, admittedly outlining obstacles delaying the prompt implementation of several initiatives set forth in Strategic Action Plan (2023-2026) approved in St. Petersburg during the Russia-Africa Summit.
The second Ministerial Conference, by the Russian Foreign Ministry with support from Roscongress Foundation and the Arab Republic of Egypt, marked an important milestone towards raising bilateral investment and economic cooperation.
In Cairo, the capital city of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Lavrov read out the final resolution script, in a full-packed conference hall, and voiced strong confidence that Moscow would achieve its strategic economic goals with Africa, with support from the African Union (AU) and other Regional Economic blocs in the subsequent years. Despite the complexities posed by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, combined with geopolitical conditions inside the African continent, Moscow however reiterated its position to take serious steps in finding pragmatic prospects for mutual cooperation and improve multifaceted relations with Africa, distinctively in the different sectors: in trade, economic and investment spheres, education and culture, humanitarian and other promising areas.
The main event was the plenary session co-chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration, and Egyptians Abroad Bashar Abdelathi. Welcome messages from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdelhak Sisi were read.
And broadly, the meeting participants compared notes on the most pressing issues on the international and Russian-African agendas, with a focus on the full implementation of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan for 2023-2026, approved at the second Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg in 2023.
In addition, on the sidelines of the conference, Lavrov held talks with his African counterparts, and a number of bilateral documents were signed. A thematic event was held with the participation of Russian and African relevant agencies and organizations, aimed at unlocking the potential of trilateral Russia-Egypt-Africa cooperation in trade, economic, and educational spheres.
With changing times, Africa is rapidly becoming one of the key centers of a multipolar world order. It is experiencing a second awakening. Following their long-ago political independence, African countries are increasingly insisting on respect for their sovereignty and their right to independently manage their resources and destiny. Based on these conditions, it was concluded that Moscow begins an effective and comprehensive work on preparing a new three-year Cooperation and Joint Action Plan between Russia and Africa.
Moreover, these important areas of joint practical work are already detailed in the Joint Statement, which was unanimously approved and will serve as an important guideline for future work. According to reports, the Joint Statement reflects the progress of discussions on international and regional issues, as well as matters of global significance.
Following the conference, the Joint Statement adopted reflects shared approaches to addressing challenges and a mutual commitment to strengthening multifaceted cooperation with a view to ensuring high-quality preparation for the third Russia-Africa Summit in 2026.
On December 19-20, the Second Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum was held in Cairo, Egypt. It was held for the first time on the African continent, attended by heads and representatives of the foreign policy ministries of 52 African states and the executive bodies of eight regional integration associations.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Social media platform, TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance has signed binding agreements with United States and global investors to operate its business in America.
Half of the joint venture will be owned by a group of investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX, according to a memo sent by chief executive, Mr Shou Zi Chew.
The deal, which is set to close on January 22, 2026 would end years of efforts by the US government to force ByteDance to sell its US operations over national security concerns.
It is in line with a deal unveiled in September, when US President Donald Trump delayed the enforcement of a law that would ban the app unless it was sold.
In the memo, TikTok said the deal will enable “over 170 million Americans to continue discovering a world of endless possibilities as part of a vital global community”.
Under the agreement, ByteDance will retain 19.9 per cent of the business, while Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX will hold 15 per cent each.
Another 30.1 per cent will be held by affiliates of existing ByteDance investors, according to the memo.
The White House previously said that Oracle, which was co-founded by President Trump’s supporter Larry Ellison, will license TikTok’s recommendation algorithm as part of the deal.
The deal comes after a series of delays.
Business Post reported in April 2024 that the administration of President Joe Biden passed a law to ban the app over national security concerns, unless it was sold.
The law was set to go into effect on January 20, 2025 but was pushed back multiple times by President Trump, while his administration worked out a deal to transfer ownership.
President Trump said in September that he had spoken on the phone to China’s President Xi Jinping, who he said had given the deal the go ahead.
The platform’s future remained unclear after the leaders met face to face in October.
The app’s fate was clouded by ongoing tensions between the two nations on trade and other matters.
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