Business

African Development Fund Approves $16m For Youth Entrepreneurship Bank

Published

2 years ago

July 22, 2023

African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional lending arm for the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, has approved $16 million for the creation of a Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank (YEIB) in Liberia.

A statement issued on the AfDB website said the fund was approved to unleash the business potential of young Liberians.

According to the AfDB Group Country Manager for Liberia, Benedict Kanu, approximately $16 million has been allocated to finance this strategic initiative.

Kanu said the initiative was meant to target youth-led micro, small, and medium enterprises in Liberia’s burgeoning agribusiness and allied sectors.

“The YEIB is anticipated to support over 30,000 youth-led businesses during the next 17 years. “The YEIB will be the initial catalyst for developing a financial ecosystem for youth entrepreneurship in Liberia, which is currently non-existent.

“By creating 120,000 direct and indirect jobs and unlocking approximately $500 million in additional lending, it can lay the groundwork for future, potentially more profitable investments.

“The YEIB is a long-term investment with a significant impact on job creation and financial inclusion,” he said.

According to Kanu, Liberia’s youthful population, accounting for over 60 per cent of its citizens, is experiencing high unemployment meaning many young people do not get the opportunities they deserve.

“With about 45 per cent of its youths not involved in employment, education, or training, Liberia is facing daunting youth employment challenges.

“With notable implications for social cohesion, fragility, and resilience,” Kanu added.

He said a primary cause of this was the absence of adequate financial literacy, education, and entrepreneurial skills.

“ The micro, small, and medium enterprises that are vital contributors to Liberia’s economic growth are particularly the hardest hit, with up to 90 per cent failing within the first year of operation.

“The bank project will help mitigate these issues by providing financial and non-financial services for young entrepreneurs, ensuring inclusion, reducing vulnerabilities, and preparing for long-term sustainability.

“The establishment of a YEIB in Liberia will enhance institutional stewardship and oversight of the youth entrepreneurship ecosystem, thus helping to drive economic growth and development,” he added.

Also, the AfDB’s Financial Sector Development Acting Director, Ahmed Attout, said the inauguration of the YEIB project in Liberia was a landmark moment.

“Fostering youth entrepreneurship is at the heart of our mission. The YEIB project is a testament to this commitment; an investment in our youths is an investment in Africa’s future.

“And beyond finances, the project is about capacity building, promoting innovation, and empowering our youths to drive economic transformation,” Attout said.

Liberia presents numerous opportunities for investment, especially in the agriculture sector which engages about 70 per cent of the population.

Also, sectors such ad Information Technology, renewable energy, and light industrial manufacturing offer promising avenues for investment.

The implementation of the YEIB will be carried out in close collaboration with a range of key stakeholders, including the government, commercial banks, and micro, small, and medium enterprises.
VANGUARD

Business

Okonjo-Iweala Reveals How Nigeria Can Dominate AfCFTA

Published

17 hours ago

September 23, 2025

Editor

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, says Nigeria has what it takes to lead Africa’s new era of trade if it tackles high logistics costs, develops efficient payment systems, and invests in value addition.

Okonjo-Iweala, who was speaking on the sidelines of the WTO Public Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, said Nigeria and other African economies must speed up the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, and build stronger infrastructure to unlock billions of dollars in opportunities in manufacturing, services, and digital trade.

“The AfCFTA is a great step, but Africa trades only about 15–20 percent within itself — far below the European Union, EU’s 60 percent. We (Nigeria) need to speed up implementation so Africans trade more with each other.

“Take Lesotho: it exports around $200 million worth of textiles (jeans, etc.) to the U.S. — about 10 percent of its GDP — while Africa imports $7 billion of similar goods. Why not absorb Lesotho’s products within Africa? To unlock intra-African trade, we (Nigeria) need efficient payment systems (Afreximbank and others are working on this), better infrastructure and lower trade costs. It shouldn’t take longer to ship goods from Cape Town to Lagos than from China to Lagos.

“With critical minerals, energy, and new supply chains, plus opportunities in services and digital trade, there’s huge potential — if we invest in connectivity and implementation,” she said.

The former Nigeria’s Minister of Finance also cautioned that negative narratives about global commerce risk overshadowing recent successes achieved through multilateral cooperation.

Business

French Media Giant Canal+ Takes Over S.Africa’s Multichoice

Published

2 days ago

September 22, 2025

Editor

French media giant Canal+ said Monday it had taken effective control of South African television and streaming company MultiChoice, creating a group present in nearly 70 countries in Africa, Europe and Asia.

The companies said in a joint statement that the combined group will have a workforce of 17,000 employees and serve more than 40 million subscribers.

The acquisition is “the largest transaction ever undertaken” by Canal+, the statement said.

Canal+, which is already the sector’s leader in French-speaking African countries, now controls what it described as the leader in the continent’s English- and Portuguese-speaking regions.

“This acquisition allows us to strengthen our position as a leader in Africa, one of the most dynamic pay-TV markets in the world,” Canal+ chief executive Maxime Saada said in the statement.

The buyout was given a final green light by South Africa’s competition authority in late July, more than a year after Canal+ launched its bid.

Canal+ offered 125 rand ($7.2) per share for MultiChoice when it launched its offer last year, valuing the South African firm at around $3.0 billion.

Canal+ is present in 25 African countries through 16 subsidiaries and has eight million subscribers.

MultiChoice operates in 50 countries across sub-Saharan Africa and has 14.5 million subscribers.

It includes Africa’s premier sports broadcaster, SuperSport, and the DStv satellite television service.

AFP

Business

BREAKING: Nigeria’s GDP Grows By 4.23% In Q2 2025 – NBS

Published

2 days ago

September 22, 2025

Editor

Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.23 per cent (year-on-year) in the second quarter of 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics revealed in its Q2 2025 GDP Report.

According to the report released on Monday on its website, the figure shows a significant improvement compared to 3.48 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2024 and the 3.13 per cent recorded in Q1 2025.

The figures signal a strengthening economy, driven by recent rebasing, rebound in oil production and a resilient non-oil sector.

The report said, “Following the rebasing of the Gross Domestic Product using 2019 as the base year, previous quarterly GDP estimates were benchmarked to the rebased annual estimates to align the old series with the new rebased estimates

“This procedure provided a new quarterly GDP series, which is compared to the 2025 second quarter estimates. Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.23% (year-on-year) in real terms in the second quarter of 2025.

“This growth rate is higher than the 3.48 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2024. During the quarter under review, agriculture grew by 2.82%, an improvement from the 2.60% recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2024.

According to NBS, “The growth of the industry sector stood at 7.45% from 3.72% recorded in the second quarter of 2024, while the Services sector recorded a growth of 3.94% from 3.83% in the same quarter of 2024.”

The report said in terms of share of the GDP, “the Industry sector contributed more to the aggregate GDP in the second quarter of 2025 at 17.31% compared to the corresponding quarter of 2024 at 16.79%.”

It added, “In the quarter under review, aggregate GDP at basic price stood at N100,730,501.10 million in nominal terms. This performance is higher when compared to the second quarter of 2024, which recorded an aggregate GDP of N84,484,878.46 million, indicating a year-on-year nominal growth of 19.23%.”

Details later…