Africa

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved on Friday, October 18 a US $12.5-million equity investment in the Kibo Fund II.

African payments provider iVeri’s EMV chip-and-PIN mobile payments solution, MPress has been approved by the Visa Ready program. The approval applies for use within Visa Inc. territories.

African countries raised the largest amount of debt from international markets ever this year. The amount has reached a record high of approximately $8 billion.

International Issuance trend expected to continue and here is significant potential in Africa for increasing the use of international capital market finance in the medium to long term, with the first-time entry of six African countries into the international debt markets being anticipated within the next few years, says Moody's Investors Service in a new Special Comment published on 10 October 2013. In 2013 alone, primary issuance by African sovereigns has already reached $8 billion year to date, its highest level ever.