Investors update: EU eyes DRC’s infrastructure and minerals with $54m investment - March 21, 2023

EU eyes DRC’s infrastructure, minerals with $54m investment

Highlights

• The European Union (EU) has announced an initial investment of $50m in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s critical minerals sector and infrastructure projects. 
• The funding was announced at the first-ever Kinshasa Economic Forum, which brought together the DRC, the EU, and France. 
• The investment in the DRC’s geological mapping, urban infrastructure, and digital education projects is part of the EU’s Global Gateway initiative. 

Source: North Africa Post

Our Takeaway

Despite holding an estimated $22 trillion worth of untapped raw materials reserves, including almost half of the world’s largest cobalt reserves, the DRC largely remains a raw minerals exporter. But its economy is on an upward trajectory, with 6.1% GDP growth in 2022, and is projected to achieve 6.7% this year, per the IMF. DRC’s strategic minerals—essential for the green energy transition—make it a country with vast investment opportunities. More so, Moody’s upgraded its rating to B3 from Caa1 with a stable outlook as a result of institutional improvements last November.

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Liquid Intelligent Technologies expands into Egypt via acquisition

Highlights

• Liquid Intelligent Technologies has acquired Cysiv MEA, a Cairo-based company that specializes in providing enterprise cloud and cyber security services to major companies, particularly in the financial services sector.
• The acquisition allows the London-based group with operations in Africa, the UK, the US, and Latin America, to enter the Egyptian market. It will rebrand Cysiv MEA to ‘Liquid C2’.
• Liquid plans to significantly grow the Egyptian business by tapping into the wealth of local tech talent, making Egypt a key hub for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Source: Zawya

Our Takeaway

Liquid’s latest acquisition deal, and by extension expansion into Egypt, comes after its Nigeria launch last December. That means it now has a presence in 14 African countries with the foray into Egypt expected to boost its Africa portfolio. These expansion moves follow news of partnerships with major tech companies; Liquid recently bagged a Microsoft deal to expand internet availability in Africa, with an ambitious target of extending access to 20 million underserved people by 2025. The company is also working with Nokia to deploy the latter’s transport network on the new terrestrial fiber route connecting Mombasa to Johannesburg.

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Credable raises $2.5m seed round to expand in Africa

Highlights

• Dubai-based Credable, which helps businesses to provide their customers with digital banking services, has raised $2.5 million to scale its suite of products across several markets. 
• The startup provides digital banking infrastructure services that let businesses embed banking services into their touchpoints with customers. 
• Credable serves emerging markets like Africa and will use the funding to roll out products across Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya while eyeing new markets MENAP and West Africa, with Pakistan and Nigeria at the top of the list.

Source: TechCrunch

Our Takeaway

As platforms look to provide various financial solutions to the unbanked and underserved, embedded finance solutions are becoming more prominent in less developed markets. Traditionally, businesses would have to build banking products from scratch, get regulatory approvals, and examine credit risk, amongst others (a process that reportedly takes an average of $500,000 and 18 months), before piloting their offerings. But with digital banking infrastructure providers like Credable, they can plug into existing infrastructure and launch services faster.