Verve, UBA partner to support Zambia’s subsidy disbursement programme

Businessam StaffMarch 31, 2018

Verve International has signed a partnership agreement with the United Bank for Africa to deliver cost-effective prepaid cards to farmers under the Zambian Ministry of Agriculture’s FISP programme. It was gathered that as part of the partnership deal, UBA will issue Verve prepaid cards in the next season of the Farmers Input Support Programme, an […]

IDB to finance Iraqi infrastructure with $500m – president

Businessam StaffFebruary 14, 2018

Ahmed Mohamed Ali al-Madani, the president of Islamic Development Bank (IDB), said the bank is ready to finance Iraq infrastructure with $500 million, The president said this in Kuwait on Wednesday, according to Reuters. Donors and investors have gathered in Kuwait to discuss efforts to rebuild Iraq’s economy and infrastructure as it emerges from a devastating conflict […]

Namibia GDP growth seen accelerating to 2.2% this year- finance minister

Businessam StaffFebruary 9, 2018

Calle Schlettwein, Namibia’s finance minister said on Friday that the country’s economic growth is expected to accelerate to 2.2 percent this year from an estimated 1.6 percent growth in 2016, supported by higher commodity prices. “We expect improvement due to rising commodity prices although some of the revenue increases might be offset by an (unfavourable) exchange […]

EU aims 2025 Balkans expansion to check Russia, China rising influence

BusinessamFebruary 7, 2018

The European Union has indicated that it hopes to add some of the continent’s poorest countries to its bloc in order to check the influence of Russia, China and Turkey in the Balkans. The EU’s executive branch on Tuesday set a target date of 2025 for some of the Balkan countries to join. Membership would […]

China unveils plan for world’s biggest carbon-trading market

Businessam StaffDecember 19, 2017

China unveiled its plan for a national carbon market, creating the world’s biggest trading system for the climate-warming emissions. The market will initially involve only the power sector, National Development and Reform Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Yong said Tuesday at a briefing in Beijing. While that’s a pullback from a previous plan to include eight […]

South African rand, bank stocks rally on hopes of Ramaphosa victory

Businessam StaffDecember 18, 2017

South African assets rallied early Monday as investor hopes grew that pro-reform candidate Cyril Ramaphosa was likely to have secured a victory in the ruling ANC’s knife-edge leadership contest. According to Financial Times (FT) report, the rand suffered a bumpy start to the day as it became clear that the vote would go down to […]

South Korea building a $35bn city designed to eliminate the need for cars

Businessam StaffDecember 15, 2017

When residents of the International Business District (IBD) in Songdo, South Korea go to work, pick up their kids from school, or shop for groceries, driving is optional, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) report. That’s because the $35 billion district — currently a work-in-progress about the size of downtown Boston — was designed […]

Bitcoin boom presents higher risk to Japanese FX brokers – Deutsche Bank

Businessam StaffDecember 15, 2017

Swelling cryptocurrencies interest among retail investors in Japan means that foreign exchange brokers in the Asian country face a “higher risk of failure”, an analyst at Deutsche Bank has warned. Retail investors are “shifting from leveraged FX trading to leveraged cryptocurrency trading,” reckons Masao Muraki, global financial strategist at the German bank, in a note […]