Investors update: May 18 2023 - Ghana secures $3bn IMF package for economic recovery

Ghana secures $3bn IMF package for economic recovery

Highlights

• The International Monetary Fund has approved Ghana’s request for a $3 billion bailout over three years to support the debt-ridden nation’s recovery.
• The West African economy will receive an immediate disbursement of about $600 million, the IMF said in a statement Wednesday following an Executive Board meeting.
• The new loan is expected to help mobilize additional external financing from development partners and provides a framework for completing Ghana’s debt restructuring.

Source: Bloomberg

Our Takeaway

Ghana faces a debt overhaul after its already strained finances buckled under economic fallout from the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The West African nation is negotiating its international debt rework under the Group of 20’s Common Framework platform and completed a domestic debt exchange this year. According to government data, some $5.4 billion of debt to official creditors has been earmarked for restructuring, as well as $14.6 billion owed to private overseas creditors. Analysts expect Ghana’s process to be faster and smoother than Zambia’s,  the first African country to default in the Covid-19 era.

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Amini raises $2m pre-seed to solve Africa’s climate data scarcity

Highlights

• Amini, a Nairobi-based climate tech startup focused on solving Africa’s environmental data gap through artificial intelligence and satellite technology, has raised $2 million in a pre-seed funding round.
• The startup owns a data aggregation platform that pulls in different sources of data down to a square meter, then unifies and processes this data before providing them via APIs to local and international companies that need them.
• Pale Blue Dot, the European climate-focused VC firm that announced a $100 million fund last week, led the oversubscribed round. Superorganism, RaliCap, W3i, Emurgo Kepple Ventures, and a network of angel investors participated.

Source: TechCrunch

Our Takeaway

Africa is home to abundant land and mineral resources but only accounts for 3% of global GDP while grappling with frequent food and water scarcity. One reason for this is the lack of reliable and trustworthy data, hampering business decisions, capital allocation, and climate change impact measurement. Amini aims to address this and is part of a slew of climate-focused African startups that have attracted VC dollars. African climate tech startups secured over $860 million in 2022, and this year, firms such as Novastar Ventures, Catalyst Fund, and Equator are raising or have raised climate-tech funds for Africa.

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Tizeti inks Microsoft partnership to bring broadband to Côte d’Ivoire

Highlights

• Tizeti, a Nigerian internet service provider, has partnered with Microsoft to bring its broadband solution to Cote d’Ivoire. 
• The partnership, Tizeti’s second international partnership after partnering with Eutelsat, makes Cote d’Ivoire the third country that Tizeti is present in after Ghana and Nigeria. It has plans to expand to Togo. 
• The partnership is expected to bring internet access to almost five million people by addressing the significant broadband gap in Côte d’Ivoire, where the internet penetration rate is estimated at 45%, with ~13 million internet users.

Source: TechCabal

Our Takeaway

For many countries in Africa, there is still a huge digital divide. This boundary between connected and unconnected translates into clear consequences for employment, education, family and social life, and access to information. Partnerships such as this play a significant role in addressing the digital infrastructure deficits in emerging economies, leveraging innovative technology and capabilities, to improve development outcomes for millions of people. Tizeti plans to leverage its low-cost wireless technologies to roll out high-speed internet infrastructure with Microsoft’s Airband Initiative, which is focused on advancing digital equity—access to affordable internet, affordable devices, and digital skills.