Africa

The long-awaited Pan-African passport was launched, on Sunday, at the opening ceremony of the 27th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) signed a 5-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to amplify the impact of their strategically aligned joint efforts to promote resources mobilization to fund Africa’s economic growth. This MoU will provide a collaborative framework for harmonizing and coordinating the efforts of AfDB, the premier international development financial institution for Africa, and ASEA, the premier body of African stock exchanges, towards deepening and connecting African financial markets.

Sovereign credit ratings are on track for a record number of downgrades in 2016, driven by the impact of lower commodity prices in emerging market economies, Fitch Ratings says in its latest bi-annual Sovereign Review and Outlook. There were 15 downgrades in 1H16 compared with the previous annual high of 20 in 2011, and 22 ratings are on Negative Outlook, suggesting this year's final total is likely to exceed that of 2011.

The Commonwealth Development Group (CDC Group) said it will invest $55.5 million in Africa Internet Group (AIG) to improve the group’s current operations and support its expansion across Africa.