Mobile network operators are banking on financial solutions to diversify their revenue sources

The U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance (ACEF) initiative has reached a key milestone in deploying millions of dollars for renewable energy in Africa. In December, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), which links U.S. businesses to global infrastructure opportunities, and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government's development finance institution, reached commitment of 100% of the initial project funds administered under ACEF. ACEF is an ambitious and innovative program to support early-stage projects to catalyze private-sector investment in the renewable energy sector in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Video Surveillance Market in Africa is expected to grow at a CAGR of 27.23 percent from 2014-2018, says research firm TechNavio.

Revenue sources have expanded as mobile phones grow from being mere communication tools to become service delivery platforms

The 4th edition of the New York Forum AFRICA, the only pan-African economic forum to be held in Africa in 2015, will bring together more than 1500 business and political leaders on May 29-31 2015 in Libreville, Gabon.

On Monday, December 15, 2014, the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group unanimously approved a financial package of US $500 million to support the establishment of the Development Bank of Nigeria PLC (DBN). The financial package consists of loans of US $450 million and an equity investment in the DBN of US $50 million. The funds from the AfDB Group will be used to support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) operating in various sectors of the Nigerian economy.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND OVERALL ASSESSMENT

South Africa's financial sector operates in a challenging economic environment. Despite remarkable progress since the end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa still has one of the world's highest unemployment and income inequality rates.

Support for Tunisian business leaders and micro-entrepreneurs was one of the key aspects of the visit to Tunisia of Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), and Philippe de Fontaine Vive, EIB Vice-President. Two new finance contracts totalling EUR 21m (TND 48m) were signed with the microfinance institution Taysir and Banque Tuniso-Koweitienne (BTK) in the framework of a partnership agreement with Réseau Entreprendre.

Frost & Sullivan expects the market to consolidate as large multinationals venture into new product segments

Africa has seen tremendous growth in technology-driven entrepreneurship over the last decade with numerous projects and initiatives celebrated for their potential to grow and spur economic growth. Yet, according to Dayo Ogunyemi, CEO, 234 Media, "Brilliant ideas without the ecosystem to upscale and monetize them is hampering transformation."

The exponential rise in the number of internet users and overall broadband services is paving the way for the public Wi-Fi market in Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite investments in 3G and 4G networks, service providers are expected to rely on Wi-Fi to offload some of the data, especially in megacities where networks face heavymobile traffic congestion.

Innovation and technology can serve as a springboard for economic transformation provided they are driven by people. This was the message put forward by partners and participants at the closing of the 9th Annual African Economic Conference (AEC), which ran from November 1-3 in Addis Ababa.