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East Africa is the hub of entrepreneurship, at least going by the World Economic Forum&#8217;s latest report but access to finance is still the biggest challenge for many start-ups in the region. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Arnold Kwizera spoke to Abraham Banadawa, Founder of Utilis Ventures, a block chain based funding platform trying to find a solution to this.</p>


This blockchain platform aims to bridge funding gap

This blockchain platform aims to bridge funding gap, facilitate financing for businesses

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The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group predicted Kenya&#8217;s 2020 GDP to grow at 6 per cent this year, boosted by favourable weather conditions and big-ticket investments around the Big 4 agenda on health, housing, manufacturing and agriculture. Also, Kenya’s private sector activity fell for the first time in nine months to January, largely due to weak consumer demand, pointing to poor cash flow in the country. Rodney Omukhulu, Assistant Investments Analyst at Cytonn joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Here’s how Big 4 agenda is expected to grow Kenya’s GDP by 6%

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The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and Rwanda Development Board (RDB) have signed a Technical Cooperation Project aimed to digitalize commerce in agricultural value chains. Dr. Gualbert Gbehounou, FAO Country Representative of Rwanda joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Rwanda moves to digitise its agricultural value chains to increase productivity

Rwanda moves to digitise its agricultural value chains to increase productivity, revenues

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<p>Uganda quells a potential trade war with Kenya after a shipment of milk was impounded, MTN agrees to sell 49 per cent of its holdings in Uganda Tower Interco and will we be seeing Ugandan embassy in Jerusalem? Analyst, Kenneth Agutamba joins CNBC Africa for headlines coming out of Uganda.</p>


Uganda moves to quell tensions with Kenya over impounded milk

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<p>Africa-focused Venture Capital firm, TLcom has announced that it has secured an additional $31 million for its Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) focused fund, increasing it to $71 million, so what do they plan to do with it? Founder and Managing Partner at TLcom Capital, Maurizio Caio joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


This venture capital company plans to increase its SSA footprint with $31mn injection


<p>DOHA (Reuters) &#8211; Qatar Airways is in talks to buy a 49% stake in Africa’s RwandAir, and is interested in doubling its holding in LATAM Airlines Group to 20%, its chief executive said on Wednesday.</p>



<p>A stake in an African airline would widen its reach in one of the world’s fastest growing aviation regions, and potentially help it bypass restrictions imposed on it by some Arab states.</p>



<p>“We are very tough negotiators &#8230; we will take our time to negotiate,” Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker told reporters in Doha.</p>



<p>Qatar Airways already owns stakes in British Airways-parent International Airlines Group, China Southern, Cathay Pacific, and LATAM.</p>



<p>It bought some of its stakes in other airlines since once-lucrative markets the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia banned it from its airspace following a regional political dispute.</p>



<p>Qatar Airways has been forced to fly longer routes to avoid the blocked airspace of some of its neighbours.</p>



<p>The ban does not apply to non-Qatari airlines flying to Qatar. RwandAir could potentially carry passengers from Africa over the blocked airspace to the state-owned airline’s Doha hub without any airspace restrictions.</p>



<p>RwandAir could not be immediately reached for comment.</p>



<p>Qatar Airways agreed in December to take a 60% stake in a new airport in Rwanda.</p>



<p>Baker, one of aviation’s most well-know executives, also said the airline could be interested in increasing its holding in LATAM, and working with fellow shareholder Delta Air Lines.</p>



<p>“When the right opportunity comes and at the right price we will look at increasing our investment in LATAM,” he told Reuters.</p>



<p>Qatar Airways, which holds a 10% stake, would be interested in having a stake that is the “same like Delta,” which is 20%, he said.</p>



<p>Delta surprised the industry when it announced in September it was taking a $1.9 billion 20% stake in the South American airline group.</p>



<p>Qatar Airways has historically had a contentious relationship with Delta and other major U.S. carriers, which have accused Gulf airlines of receiving unfair government subsidies, distorting competition and costing Americans jobs. The Gulf carriers have rejected such accusations.</p>



<p>However, Baker said had no ill-feeling towards Delta, and was willing to work with the U.S. airline at its hub in Atlanta.</p>



<p>“We can transfer passengers on each other. We are the only Middle Eastern carrier going into their hub so there is huge opportunity,” he said.</p>



<p>Qatar Airways has also expressed interest in taking a stake in India’s IndiGo and Morocco’s Royal Air Maroc. A transaction with either airline has yet to take place.</p>



<p>Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Peter Graff </p>


Qatar Airways in talks to buy 49% RwandAir stake

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Andrew Mold, Officer-in-Charge of the Office for Eastern Africa at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) is here to help us envisage the region’s economy in the next decade and how initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will shape it.</p>


How will AfCFTA shape East Africa’s economies in the next decade? UNECA’s Andrew Mold explains

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As Chinese markets opened on Monday, the impact of the Coronavirus was felt immediately as trading had to be suspended on multiple stocks as they hit the daily 10 per cent downhill limit but China isn&#8217;t the only country to be affected by the virus, economies in the region are set to face trading pressures in the coming weeks, CNBC Africa&#8217;s Arnold Kwizera talked to commentator Frederick Goloba Mutebi on the potential trade effects of the outbreak.</p>


The economic impact of China’s coronavirus on East Africa


<p>NAIROBI/LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) &#8211; An Eritrean father yearning to be reunited with his four children after 15 years apart. An American woman adopting a Nigerian toddler. A Nigerian man desperate to be with his American wife and children.<br></p>



<p>These are some of the families waiting to see how they will be affected by President Donald Trump’s expansion of the U.S. travel ban.</p>



<p>Awet, who asked that Reuters use a nickname to avoid reprisals against his family, fled Eritrea in 2005. He is now a U.S. citizen.</p>



<p>Awet described how he hugged his four young children hard, whispering only to his weeping mother that he was leaving forever. For three days, he said, he hid under rocks by day and dodged hyenas and soldiers at night as he tried to cross the border.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Awet spent four years as a refugee in Ethiopia and Kenya before being resettled to the United States in 2009. When a 2018 peace deal between Ethiopia and Eritrea made it possible for the children to leave Eritrea safely, he finally dared hope he would see them again.&nbsp;Awet had been trying to bring his children over on family visas for the past year.</p>



<p>But on Friday, Trump, a Republican, issued an expanded version of his travel ban that suspended immigrant visas &#8211; a category that includes family visas &#8211; for Eritreans and Nigerians.&nbsp;The other countries with new restrictions are Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Tanzania and Sudan.</p>



<p>U.S. Homeland Security acting Secretary Chad Wolf said the restrictions were needed because the six countries had failed to meet U.S. security and information-sharing standards. But U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, called the ban “discrimination disguised as policy.” [nL1N2A020Z]</p>



<p>“Trump’s new law, for us, it’s very hurtful,” said Awet, speaking by phone from his home in the United States. “At least let the children in &#8230; those who want to come to be with their mother or father.”</p>



<p>Awet said he is still praying that he will see his children &#8211; now aged 14-18 &#8211; again one day. Their mother is in the Middle East.</p>



<p>“I’m leaving it to God,” he told Reuters.</p>



<p>“God and a lawyer,” his attorney Kari Scofield chimed in.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">“YOU ARE POWERLESS”</h3>



<p>In the West African powerhouse of Nigeria, 37-year-old Californian Lynsey Elston is waiting to find out if or when her newly adopted daughter will be able to meet the rest of the family back in the United States.</p>



<p>The former social worker always wanted to adopt. Three-year-old Eliana Ezinne arrived at her home in Nigeria on Christmas Eve 2019 after years of paperwork, interviews and uncertainty.</p>



<p>“This is my child,” she said as she cuddled the sleepy girl. “I can’t be separated from my child.”</p>



<p>Hasan Shafiqullah, head of the Immigration Law Unit at The Legal Aid Society in New York, told Reuters that Elston can apply for Eliana’s citizenship only from inside the United States, and Eliana can enter only on an immigrant visa.</p>



<p>The 2017 version of the travel ban outlines which groups can qualify for waivers, including adoptees, and the expanded ban says it will follow the same guidelines. But the system for obtaining waivers has proven opaque and difficult to navigate, and there is an ongoing federal lawsuit challenging the government’s implementation of the process.</p>



<p>“The emotion I am feeling is anger,” Elston said at her home in an upscale neighbourhood of Lagos.</p>



<p>In the same city, a 38-year-old Nigerian man quit his job last month as he prepared to move to the United States with his two toddlers and wife &#8211; all U.S. citizens. He asked for anonymity to avoid prejudicing his visa application.</p>



<p>The man said his mother and two sisters, also U.S. citizens, live in America, and he studied there and lived there for a decade. He wanted his children to grow up near his family, he said, and he considers America his second home.</p>



<p>Asked what he will do if he cannot get a visa to move with his family, he drew in a long, slow breath and went silent.</p>



<p>“I’m afraid to even consider that,” he said at last. “You really are powerless.”</p>



<p>Reporting by Ayenat Mersie and Libby George; Additional reporting by Mica Rosenberg in New York; Writing by Katharine Houreld; editing by Alexandra Zavis and Leslie Adler </p>


Families in Africa fear impact of U.S. immigration ban, what you need to know…

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The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) hosted the 7th edition of the Business Excellence Awards in Kigali and CNBC Africa attended the event and filed this report.</p>


Rwanda honours top performing companies at the Business Excellence Awards ceremony

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When Rwanda celebrated the World Wetlands Day recently, CNBC Africa spoke to Dr. Sam Kanyamibwa, Executive Director of Albertine Rift Conservation Society (ARCOS) to understand the economic values of wetlands as well as the state of conservation in the Great Lakes region.</p>


ARCOS on the economic value of wetland conservation

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The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) will host the 7th edition of the Business Excellence Awards in Kigali. The event was designed to recognise outstanding businesses, encourage competitiveness and promote a profitable private sector in the country – but is it necessary? Guy Baron, Chief Investment Officer at the RDB joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


RDB to host the 7th Business Excellence Awards

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Central Bank of Kenya’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has lowered the Central Bank Rate from 8.50 to 8.25 two months later after it was reduced from 9.0 per cent. Moreover, SBM Bank Kenya Limited has filed a petition to liquidate East African Cables after the company defaulted on a $2.82 million loan. Rodney Omukhulu, Assistant Investments Analyst at Cytonn joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Kenya’s central bank cuts lending rate to spur growth

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Earlier this week, Cote d&#8217;Ivoire confirmed to have in quarantine what is being suspected to be the first Coronavirus case in Africa. The spread of the virus has prompted proactive measures from African governments. CNBC Africa’s Arnold Kwizera spoke to Dr. Jose Nyamusore from the Rwanda Biomedical Center for more.</p>


How Rwanda plans to deal with Coronavirus outbreak

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Ugandan climate Activist, Vanessa Nakate was recently erased from a photo taken of climate activists by the Associated Press at the just concluded World Economic Forum. The act received a lot of backlash from institutions in Africa describing it as silencing of black African voices. Climate Activist, Vanessa Nakate joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Climate activist Vanessa Nakate gives voice to Africans over climate change crisis

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The Government of Uganda has requested that the Electoral Commission reduce its over 700 billion shilling budget, the equivalent of about $190 million, ahead of the 2021 general elections, citing that the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development will not be able to finance it due to revenue shortfall. What does this mean as we move towards the imminent election? Analyst, Kenneth Agutamba joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Uganda govt directs Electoral Commission to lower budget over revenue shortfall

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<p>Gauri Shah, Actuarial and Risk Services Leader at PwC East Africa joins CNBC Africa to discuss insurance trends in 2019 and 2020 outlook in the East African region.</p>


East Africa

This blockchain platform aims to bridge funding gap, facilitate financing for businesses

Here’s how Big 4 agenda is expected to grow Kenya’s GDP by 6%

Rwanda moves to digitise its agricultural value chains to increase productivity, revenues

Uganda moves to quell tensions with Kenya over impounded milk

This venture capital company plans to increase its SSA footprint with $31mn injection

Qatar Airways in talks to buy 49% RwandAir stake

How will AfCFTA shape East Africa’s economies in the next decade? UNECA’s Andrew Mold explains

The economic impact of China’s coronavirus on East Africa

Families in Africa fear impact of U.S. immigration ban, what you need to know…

Rwanda honours top performing companies at the Business Excellence Awards ceremony

ARCOS on the economic value of wetland conservation

RDB to host the 7th Business Excellence Awards

Kenya’s central bank cuts lending rate to spur growth

How Rwanda plans to deal with Coronavirus outbreak

Climate activist Vanessa Nakate gives voice to Africans over climate change crisis

Uganda govt directs Electoral Commission to lower budget over revenue shortfall

PwC on insurance trends & economic outlook for East Africa in 2020

News Tips

Advertise With Us

East Africa

This blockchain platform aims to bridge funding gap, facilitate financing for businesses

Here’s how Big 4 agenda is expected to grow Kenya’s GDP by 6%

Rwanda moves to digitise its agricultural value chains to increase productivity, revenues

Uganda moves to quell tensions with Kenya over impounded milk

This venture capital company plans to increase its SSA footprint with $31mn injection

Qatar Airways in talks to buy 49% RwandAir stake

How will AfCFTA shape East Africa’s economies in the next decade? UNECA’s Andrew Mold explains

The economic impact of China’s coronavirus on East Africa

Families in Africa fear impact of U.S. immigration ban, what you need to know…

Rwanda honours top performing companies at the Business Excellence Awards ceremony

ARCOS on the economic value of wetland conservation

RDB to host the 7th Business Excellence Awards

Kenya’s central bank cuts lending rate to spur growth

How Rwanda plans to deal with Coronavirus outbreak

Climate activist Vanessa Nakate gives voice to Africans over climate change crisis

Uganda govt directs Electoral Commission to lower budget over revenue shortfall

PwC on insurance trends & economic outlook for East Africa in 2020

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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