Africa – Page 34 – MIL Africa Engine

June 30, 2026

Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) and Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) Pioneer First Joint Syndicated Financing Transaction to Mobilize Islamic Finance and Expand Private Sector Investment in Member Countries

Source: APO

The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (“ICIEC”), a Shariah-based multilateral insurer, and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (“ICD”) (www.ICD-PS.org), the private sector arm of the IsDB Group, both members of the Islamic Development Bank (“IsDB”) Group, celebrated the successful completion of their first joint syndicated financing transaction in Uzbekistan, marking an important milestone in strengthening intra-Group collaboration.

This landmark collaboration represents a significant milestone in strengthening strategic synergy within the IsDB Group by combining ICD’s syndication, structuring and private sector financing capabilities with ICIEC’s credit risk mitigation solutions. Together, the two institutions are expanding the availability of Shariah-compliant financing, mobilizing private capital, trade expansion, and supporting sustainable private sector investment across member countries.

Under this pioneering syndication arrangement, ICD successfully led a USD 60 million Shariah-compliant Syndicated Financing Facility for Joint Stock Company “Asakabank” (“Asakabank”) in Uzbekistan, with an accordion feature to increase the facility size, while ICIEC provided USD 30 million in Credit Risk Insurance coverage in favour of a Kuwaiti bank against the risk of default by the obligor within the framework of the ICD’s Syndicated financing Facility.

Boubyan Bank participated as the sole Kuwaiti financial institution in the syndication, demonstrating its continued commitment to innovative Shariah-compliant financing structures and regional private sector development. Its participation highlights the growing appetite among Islamic financial institutions for structured syndication opportunities supported by robust risk mitigation solutions.

By combining ICD’s expertise in structuring and mobilizing Shariah-compliant syndicated financing facilities with ICIEC’s credit risk mitigation expertise, the transaction demonstrates how integrated IsDB Group solutions can catalyze greater participation from regional and international financial institutions. The collaboration not only expands financing capacity but also strengthens confidence in Islamic syndicated financing as a scalable instrument for supporting private sector growth. It also supports the broader objective of enabling businesses to access the financing needed to grow, create jobs, strengthen value chains, and contribute to economic resilience.

Commenting on the milestone, Dr. Khalid Khalafalla, CEO of ICIEC and Acting CEO of ICD, said: “This first joint syndication transaction between ICIEC and ICD reflects the strength of collaboration within the IsDB Group and our shared commitment to delivering integrated, Shariah-compliant solutions that respond to the financing needs of member countries. By bringing together ICD’s mandate to support private sector development and ICIEC’s expertise in credit risk insurance, we are helping to unlock financing, strengthen confidence among financial institutions, and channel capital towards businesses and projects that contribute to job creation, economic diversification, and sustainable growth. This transaction sets an important precedent for future cooperation between our institutions and reinforces our collective role in delivering tangible development impact across our member countries.”

The transaction also reflects ICIEC’s and ICD’s shared commitment to expanding access to finance, strengthening Islamic finance solutions, and supporting transactions that contribute to economic growth, resilience, and development impact.

As part of the IsDB Group, ICIEC and ICD will continue to deepen collaboration in developing innovative Islamic financing structures, expanding syndication platforms, and mobilizing regional and international capital to support private sector development, trade, infrastructure, and sustainable economic growth across member countries.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD).

Media Contacts:
ICIEC:
Email: ICIEC-Communication@isdb.org

Social Media:
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About ICIEC:
As a member of the rated Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, ICIEC commenced operations in 1994 to strengthen economic relations between OIC Member States and promote intra-OIC trade and investments by providing risk mitigation tools and Shariah-compliant financial solutions. The Corporation is the only Islamic multilateral insurer in the world. ICIEC has led to delivering a comprehensive suite of solutions to companies and stakeholders across its 51 Member States. For the 18th consecutive year, ICIEC maintained an “Aa3” insurance financial strength credit rating from Moody’s, ranking the Corporation among the top tier of the Credit and Political Risk Insurance (CPRI) industry. Additionally, S&P has reaffirmed ICIEC’s “AA-” long-term Issuer Credit and Financial Strength Rating for the third consecutive year, with a Stable Outlook. ICIEC’s resilience is underpinned by its sound underwriting practices, a robust global reinsurance network, and strong risk management policies. Cumulatively, ICIEC has insured more than USD 139 billion in trade and investment. ICIEC’s activities span several key sectors, including energy, manufacturing, infrastructure, healthcare, and agriculture.

For more information, visit http://ICIEC.IsDB.org.

About ICD:
The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) is a multilateral development finance institution and member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group. Established in November 1999 and headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, ICD supports economic development in its 56 member countries by providing financial assistance to private sector projects in accordance with Shariah principles. With an authorized capital of USD 4.0 billion and more than 26 years of operational excellence, ICD complements IsDB’s activities by promoting capital market development, best management practices, and enhancing the role of market economies. ICD holds strong credit ratings of A2 by Moody’s, A+ by Fitch, and A by S&P.

For more information, visit www.ICD-PS.org

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June 30, 2026

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) Strengthens Nairobi Platform with Appointment of Fola Fagbule as Pioneer Director and Head of Regional Office

Source: APO

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) (https://www.AfricaFC.org/), the continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider, has appointed Fola Fagbule as Director and Head of its Regional Office in Nairobi, marking a significant step in the Corporation’s strategy to expand its presence across East and Central Africa.

In his new role, Fagbule will lead AFC’s activities across the region. AFC is deepening engagement in a region that is expected to play an increasingly vital role in advancing infrastructure development, industrialisation, energy security, digital connectivity, regional integration and capital mobilisation across the continent.

Fagbule joined AFC as an Associate in 2009 and has played a significant role in the Corporation’s evolution into Africa’s leading infrastructure solutions provider. He has led the provision of financial advisory services at AFC since 2017 – originating, structuring and executing transactions valued at more than US$12 billion, including roles on some of the most transformative natural resources, infrastructure, and industrial projects accomplished by AFC and its strategic clients over this period.

His investments and project finance experience spans power, transport, telecommunications, oil and gas, mining, heavy industry, technology, and financial services. He has advised governments, sovereign wealth funds, development finance institutions, pension funds, financial institutions, infrastructure sponsors and corporate clients on various complex transactions. Reflecting his longstanding interest in historical, political and economic forces that shape African development, Fagbule is the co-author of Formation: The Making of Nigeria from Jihad to Amalgamation (2020).

Samaila Zubairu, President and Chief Executive Officer of AFC, commented:“East and Central Africa is home to some of the continent’s most compelling opportunities for economic transformation through infrastructure development, industrialisation, and domestic capital mobilisation. This appointment reflects both the strategic importance of the region to AFC’s future growth and our longstanding commitment to developing leaders from within the Corporation. Fola’s experience, judgment and deep understanding of AFC and Africa’s investment landscape make him exceptionally well positioned to lead our regional platform and expand our engagement across the region.”

As Director and Head of the Regional Office, Fagbule will be responsible for leading AFC’s efforts to originate and develop investment opportunities, deepen strategic partnerships and strengthen relationships with governments, development partners, institutional investors, financial institutions and corporate clients across the region. He will also oversee efforts to expand AFC’s investment pipeline, enhance project development activities, and accelerate the mobilisation of long-term capital into strategic infrastructure and industrial assets. He will be responsible for leading AFC’s scaling up of its operations in the region, following on its recently announced equity investment in the Dhamana Guarantee Company, its strategic role in the expansion of the Dangote Group’s fertilizer and refining operations within the region, and its support for the proposed expansion of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Prior to joining AFC, Fagbule worked in investment research and corporate finance. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and a Masters in Business Administration and has completed executive education programmes at Harvard Business School and Stanford University.

Commenting on his appointment, Fagbule said:

“It is a great privilege to be given this responsibility at such an important moment for AFC and the region. East and Central Africa offer some of the most exciting opportunities for transformational impact across AFC’s sectors of focus. I am excited to build on our strong foundations in the region – working alongside colleagues, friends and partners to accomplish meaningful projects, unlock major investments and deliver lasting economic impact for Africa.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).

Media Enquiries:
Yewande Thorpe
Communications
Africa Finance Corporation
Mobile : +234 1 279 9654
Email : yewande.thorpe@africafc.org

About AFC:
AFC was established in 2007 to be the catalyst for pragmatic infrastructure and industrial investments across Africa. AFC’s approach combines specialist industry expertise with a focus on financial and technical advisory, project structuring, project development, and risk capital to address Africa’s infrastructure development needs and drive sustainable economic growth.

Nineteen years on, AFC has developed a track record as the partner of choice in Africa for investing and delivering on instrumental, high-quality infrastructure assets that provide essential services in the core infrastructure sectors of energy, natural resources, heavy industry, transport, and telecommunications. AFC has 48 member countries and has invested over US$19 billion in 36 African countries since its inception.

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June 30, 2026

President Ramaphosa to officiate Google Cloud Summit and investment announcement

Source: President of South Africa –

President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Wednesday, 01 July 2026, officiate the first Google Cloud Summit in Africa at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

The Google Cloud Summit brings together global technology innovators, African policymakers, and industry captains.

The event is designed to showcase the transformative potential of Cloud Computing and Artificial Intelligence.

The Summit is convened under the theme “Google Cloud is building for Africa”, which will encompass launching new investment announcements in South Africa.

In March this year, President Ramaphosa convened the 6th South Africa Investment Conference under the 3 D’s framework, namely; Decarbonisation, Digitisation and Diversification, with the Ease of Doing Business being a cross-cutting theme.

The President also launched the second Presidential investment mobilisation drive with a target of R2 trillion in new investment from 2026 to 2030.

Google’s investment announcements are designed to directly support South Africa’s investment drive, advance The Presidency’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) agenda, and reinforce collaborative public-private efforts around AI skilling and national policy development across Sub-Saharan Africa.

President Ramaphosa will officiate and deliver keynote address to the Google Cloud Summit and investment announcement as follows:

Date: Wednesday, 01 July 2026
Time: 09h00
Venue: Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg

Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President – media@presidency.gov.za

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

June 30, 2026

How oil turned the motors of capitalism: a history

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Imraan Valodia, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Climate, Sustainability and Inequality and Director, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand

The vulnerability of the world economy to oil prices was painfully visible in the first half of 2026 following the US and Israel war against Iran. The power of this commodity to upend economies has been apparent before. In his recently published book Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market, political economist Adam Hanieh provides an expansive history of the connections between oil and capitalism since the 1800s. Economist Imraan Valodia asked him about the book.

What was your motivation for writing this book?

A main motivation was a dissatisfaction with many of the standard ways of discussing the history of oil and its place in the global economy. Much of the dominant narrative around oil tends to invest it with some kind of innate power, separate from the social and economic logics of capitalism.

What I try to do in the book is foreground what these are. Things like the drive towards endless accumulation, the incessant speeding up of production and consumption, mechanisation and so forth. And I ask how these qualities have served to centre oil in our energy system.

So the book is not just a history of oil, but a history of capitalism seen through oil.

I also wanted to move beyond histories that are overwhelmingly focused on the US. It is obviously crucial to the story. But our oil-centred world was made through wider global relations. These included colonial extraction, the development of the Soviet oil industry, the transformations of post-Soviet Russia and, more recently, the rise of China and East Asia as central nodes in global energy demand, refining and petrochemical production.

Another major concern of the book is tracing what oil becomes after it is pumped from the ground, beyond simply a liquid transport fuel. So I examine areas such as the petrochemical industry (plastics, fertilisers, synthetic fibres and so forth) as well as oil’s crucial place in the contemporary financial system.

How important was the rise of the oil industry in the US, specifically the rise of Standard Oil?

Standard Oil (1870-1911) was owned by the Rockefellers. It established many of the organisational forms that would later define the global oil industry. John D. Rockefeller’s key insight was to grasp the power that came from controlling the whole value chain through which oil moves. Standard Oil integrated refining, transport, storage, pipelines, marketing and finance into a single corporate structure. It used its command over railroads and later pipelines to squeeze competitors, lower costs and shape the market around itself. Much of the subsequent history of the oil industry revolves around this basic lesson – corporate power comes from vertical integration, and the ability to control the infrastructures through which oil circulates.

The corporate structures built up around Standard Oil were closely connected to the wider architecture of American capitalism. Tax systems, corporate law, banking, capital markets and state policy all became central to how oil companies grew and operated. The later global dominance of US oil firms was built on these wider innovations, and remained closely tied to support from the US state.

We can see the legacy of this today. Many national oil companies, especially in the Gulf monarchies, are now pursuing similar strategies of vertical integration.

When did the Middle East emerge as a key player?

Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC), which was founded by Britain in 1908, exemplified the relationship between oil extraction and colonialism. The company’s rise in Iran depended on concessionary agreements protected by imperial power. Britain’s interest in Persian oil was closely tied to the needs of empire, especially the fuelling of the Royal Navy.

APOC became a way of linking Middle Eastern oilfields to British military and industrial strength. This set a precedent for the wider Middle East, where a handful of foreign oil companies sought long-term control over oil reserves, infrastructure, pricing and export routes.

This also shaped the subsequent political history of the Middle East. Oil became a focal point for struggles over sovereignty because foreign control of the industry revealed the limits of formal independence. Producer governments were often constrained by companies that controlled technical expertise, transport, marketing and access to world markets. In response, different forms of oil nationalism emerged, from demands for a greater share of revenues to full nationalisation.

Iran’s attempt to nationalise oil in 1951 under Mohammad Mossadegh is the most famous example. But the broader pattern was regional. Across the Middle East, oil became a battlefield for states and nationalist forces to challenge colonial domination and foreign corporate power.

The formation of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) in 1960 and the later rise of national oil companies has to be understood against this background.

He sits at the intersection of finance, empire and the making of the modern oil industry. He was an Armenian businessman born in the Ottoman Empire, educated partly in Europe, who became one of the most influential intermediaries of early 20th-century oil. His nickname, “Mr Five Per Cent”, came from the 5% stake he secured in the Turkish Petroleum Company, the consortium that eventually gained control over Iraq’s oil. Unlike the other members of that consortium, Gulbenkian did not own a major oil firm, but he was able to broker the agreements through which the big western companies divided up access to Middle Eastern reserves. He was also very skilled at writing himself into history in dramatic and fanciful ways.

He is especially associated with the 1928 Red Line Agreement, in which the main shareholders of the Turkish Petroleum Company agreed not to develop oil independently across much of the former Ottoman Empire without the others. This was a key moment in the cartelisation of world oil, in which the control of oil (including pricing) came under the sway of a handful of large firms. The Red Line Agreement linked Middle Eastern oil to these international oil companies who fully managed production, prices and market access on a global scale. Gulbenkian’s 5% share is thus a window into how the oil industry was built through networks of imperial diplomacy and corporate collusion at the time of the break-up of the Ottoman Empire.

What were the implications of the 1973 oil shock, during which oil prices quadrupled following an embargo by some Arab oil producing states?

It marked a rupture in the world economy because it revealed that the old structure of the international oil industry was no longer sustainable. For much of the 20th century, the global oil industry was controlled by just seven western companies, the so-called Seven Sisters. They controlled the extraction of oil in the Middle East and elsewhere, as well as its refining, pricing, transport and marketing. But by the early 1970s, this system was being challenged by producer governments, especially in the Middle East and Latin America, and by the growing assertiveness of Opec.

The dramatic increase in oil prices after 1973 was a sign of this shift in power towards oil-producing states.

The implications were enormous. Higher oil revenues generated vast financial surpluses in the Gulf and other producer states, and these surpluses were managed and invested through the international financial system. They were recycled through US and European banks, invested in dollar-denominated assets, placed in US Treasury securities, and channelled into equities, real estate and other financial markets. This helped strengthen the position of the dollar and deepened the role of American financial institutions in the world economy. In this sense, the oil shock played a major role in creating the global financial architecture that we live with today.

Saudi Arabia was especially important in this process. The consolidation of the US-Saudi relationship in the 1970s linked oil, finance and military power very tightly together. Oil continued to be priced in dollars, which reinforced global demand for the US currency. Gulf surpluses flowed into American markets, while the Gulf monarchies became major purchasers of US weapons and military services. The consolidation of oil as the world’s leading fossil fuel was therefore increasingly intertwined with the reproduction of American power.

Why are you critical of the net zero emissions framework that’s key to climate change policy?

My criticism of the “net zero” concept is that it makes the climate crisis appear as a technical or accounting challenge, rather than a systemic crisis rooted in the dynamics of capitalism itself. The term entered the mainstream climate policy vocabulary through the Paris Agreement in 2015. In its basic form it means balancing ongoing greenhouse gas emissions with equivalent removals of carbon from the atmosphere. That might involve forests, soils, carbon capture and storage, or technologies that directly remove carbon from the air.

The problem is that this shifts attention away from the urgent need to reduce fossil fuel production and consumption in absolute terms. It allows companies and governments to say they are moving towards “net zero” while still expanding oil and gas extraction, as long as those emissions are, in theory, offset somewhere else.

Many net zero strategies rely heavily on carbon capture and storage. This technology remains unproven at the scale required to deal with the volume of emissions produced by global fossil fuel use. Historically, carbon capture has often been used for oil recovery: captured carbon is injected into oilfields to extract more oil. So a technology presented as a climate solution actually becomes a means of extending fossil fuel production. Another important example of a false “solution” presented within the net zero framework is carbon offset projects. These turn forests and other ecological systems into financial assets that can be counted against emissions elsewhere. These projects have been linked to land dispossession and numerous scandals, including some across the African continent, and often rely on highly dubious accounting schemes.

– How oil turned the motors of capitalism: a history
– https://theconversation.com/how-oil-turned-the-motors-of-capitalism-a-history-286072

June 30, 2026

The world has the science to transform food systems. The next frontier is scaling it

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Timothy Krupnik, Director – CGIAR Scaling for Impact, CGIAR

The world’s food systems face real and urgent challenges. These include climate change, nutrition insecurity, food safety, and unequal access to markets. Research has produced practical solutions to each of these that could benefit hundreds of millions of people. Too few are moved into widespread use.

For years, the development sector has flattered itself with pilots.

A new tool works in a controlled pilot, a crop variety performs well in a field trial, and a digital advisory service shows promise in early testing. Evidence is written up, a case study or experiment is published, and then comes the familiar refrain: now we need to “take it to scale”.

That is the moment the real difficulty begins.

Solutions do not spread simply because they are good. They move, or fail to move, through systems where scientific supply and demand for innovative solutions are frequently misaligned. Policy environments are not ready, financing is difficult to mobilise, demand is weak, and markets are not designed to carry promising ideas beyond their pilot phase.

These are some of the challenges that have faced CGIAR, the world’s largest publicly funded research-for-development partnership focused on agriculture and food systems. But these challenges are not limited to CGIAR alone; they are common in research for development.

The world does not just need more breakthroughs. It needs more organisations that know how to turn scientific advances into adoption, investment and lasting use. Put plainly, it needs stronger efforts to move proven science into widespread use.

That sounds abstract. It is not. As director of CGIAR’s Scaling for Impact Program, which works with partners across Africa, Asia and Latin America to connect innovations with the systems and investments needed to scale them, I have seen this pattern myself. The evidence from that work consistently points to the same conclusion: scaling must be treated as a core part of the scientific process – built into research from the start, with systems thinking prioritised, not treated as a final phase.

What it takes to scale up

Scaling is about asking different questions earlier in the research process – identifying the challenges that prevent innovations from moving into use, and charting strategies and actions to overcome them. Not just: does this solution work? But: who will deliver it, who will pay for it, what incentive do they have, what regulations apply, what evidence unlocks funding, and what has to change in the surrounding system for uptake to last beyond a project cycle?

Those questions are rarely asked early enough in the research process. Yet they determine whether a promising idea becomes a public good or another stranded pilot.

One example of what this looks like in practice is a “clearinghouse” created under the African Development Bank’s Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation programme, now integrated into the CGIAR Scaling for Impact programme. Its role is not to invent new technologies, but to make proven ones usable at scale: validating them, packaging them with complementary innovations, and linking them to large public investments and agricultural delivery systems.

That model is now positioned to connect agricultural innovations to a US$1.5 billion AfDB-backed portfolio in 2026, expected to benefit 3.4 million additional smallholder farmers.

In Nigeria, it helped connect heat-tolerant wheat varieties – developed to maintain yields as temperatures rise – to an AfDB-financed programme backed by US$134 million, contributing to a sharp expansion in wheat area over two years. The point is not only that the varieties worked. It is that someone built the bridge between science and investment.

Sometimes the real bottleneck is not the innovation itself. It is the absence of systematic scaling support for the organisations working to deliver it.

That is why building scaling capacity matters. In 2025, Enabel, Belgium’s development agency, drew on the Scaling for Impact Program’s scaling fund to apply a structured approach to two African innovation projects: Tap & Track Asset Management in Uganda and the Abalobi Monitor fisheries platform in the Western Indian Ocean.

The value of the support, through the Scaling for Impact Program’s scaling fund, was not simply more investment. It was a more disciplined way of thinking about scaling. Enabel found the approach “practical” and “doable” because it surfaced constraints the teams had not previously recognised as part of the innovation system. These included government roles, how systems need to connect, institutional gaps and coordination failures.

For Tap & Track, that process fed into a medium-term scaling plan and a long-term ambition to reach 30 utility companies across seven countries. What the support produced most clearly was stronger planning and strategy. And that is precisely the point: scaling capability is itself part of the infrastructure of impact.

These examples point to the same conclusion.

We spend a great deal of time celebrating innovation and far less time understanding how innovations can be moved into use. But the gap between a successful pilot and a durable outcome is where much of the important and scientifically exciting work sits. It is where solutions are translated into investment cases, fitted into public and private delivery systems, adapted to institutional realities, and made credible to the actors who have to carry them forward.

That is why scaling should not be treated as a final phase or a dissemination exercise. It should be treated as a discipline. A capability. A scientific endeavour in its own right.

Good science remains indispensable. But it is not self-propelling.

The science to address food systems challenges exists. What remains insufficient is the systematic capacity to move proven innovations into widespread use at scale. Building that capacity and treating scaling with the rigour it requires is among the most important tasks facing food and agricultural research today.

– The world has the science to transform food systems. The next frontier is scaling it
– https://theconversation.com/the-world-has-the-science-to-transform-food-systems-the-next-frontier-is-scaling-it-282881

June 30, 2026

Financing the sustainable transition: ER Group launches its Sustainable Finance Framework

Source: APO – Report:

ER Group (https://ERGroup.mu/) announces the launch of its Sustainable Finance Framework (SFF), a structure that anchors its financing strategy around formalised, measurable and independently verified sustainability commitments. Aligned with international standards set by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and the Loan Market Association (LMA) and validated by a Second Party Opinion from Moody’s Ratings, a world-leading credit rating agency, the Framework positions ER Group among the most advanced corporate issuers in the region in sustainable finance.

As one of Mauritius’s leading listed groups and a member of SEMSI, the Stock Exchange of Mauritius Sustainability Index, ER Group employs nearly 13,000 people and operates across 17 territories. The adoption of this Framework marks a milestone in the implementation of the Group’s Sustainability Strategy 2025–2035.

Building on the successful green bond issued by EnVolt in 2023, ER Group takes a new step with a policy that applies across all its activities: common eligibility criteria for every business, dedicated governance at Board level, and annual reporting on the results achieved. The scope covers more than 90% of the Group’s revenues.

What the SFF enables in practice

The framework rests on two complementary financing mechanisms. The first, the Use-of-Proceeds, reserves the funds raised for the financing of clearly identified impact projects: renewable energy, green-certified buildings, clean mobility, sustainable water management, circular economy initiatives and biodiversity restoration. It also covers projects with a social dimension: job creation and support for SMEs, gender equality and women’s empowerment, and the preservation of cultural heritage.

The second, the Sustainability-Linked Bond (SLB), links the financial terms of future issuances to the achievement of measurable sustainability targets that are independently audited. Under the SLB, ER Group has set three measurable group-wide targets to be achieved by 2031: increasing female representation in management positions to 40%, reaching 10% electric vehicles in sales across Axess, Mauritius’ leading car dealership and certifying 50% of its commercial rental portfolio under internationally recognised green building standards. These targets will apply to every future issuance carried out under this mechanism.

Governance of the SFF is entrusted to the Sustainability and Inclusiveness Committee (SIC), sub-committee of the Board of Directors, responsible for validating eligible projects, monitoring targets and approving Framework-related spending across the Group. The framework also draws on the Group’s 2025-2035 Climate & Biodiversity Strategy, developed with Carbone 4, and aligned with international recommendations on the management of climate and nature-related risks.

Gilbert Espitalier-Noël, Group CEO of ER Group: “Every investment decision at ER Group is guided by the same principle: deploying capital where it creates long-term value, with discipline and in support of projects that strengthen both the resilience of the Group and the development of Mauritius as well as the countries where we operate. The Sustainable Finance Framework gives us a common reference point to apply this discipline to projects with environmental and social impact, and to report on them transparently.”

The SFF is intended to serve as the reference point for all future bond issuances and structured financing of the Group and reflects ER Group’s ambition to make sustainable finance a structural driver of its growth strategy.

Amaury Koenig, Chief Strategy & Investment Executive of ER Group: “The Sustainable Finance Framework provides our investors and financial partners with a common reference point, aligned with international standards, for identifying, structuring and monitoring eligible projects across our seven business segments. With several issuances planned over the coming months, this framework enables us to mobilise capital on conditions aligned with the nature of our environmental and social commitments.”

International standards, independent validation

To validate its framework, ER Group has obtained a Second Party Opinion from Moody’s Ratings, one of the major global credit rating agencies, whose opinion serves as a reference for institutional investors worldwide. This independent validation confirms both the rigour of the framework and the ambition of its targets. It places ER Group in a very select group of African corporate issuers to benefit from such international recognition for their sustainability commitments.

MCB Capital Markets supported ER Group in structuring and drafting the SFF, in line with the Green Bond Principles, Social Bond Principles and Sustainability Bond Guidelines of the ICMA for bonds, as well as the equivalent LMA principles for loans.

Anish Goorah, Senior Vice President – MCB Capital Markets: “This collaboration reflects the ability of MCB Capital Markets to support its clients across the full spectrum of sustainable finance, from the development of Sustainable Frameworks to the structuring and issuance of innovative instruments. By combining technical expertise with a thorough understanding of markets and investors, MCB Capital Markets continues to play a leading role in the development of African capital markets.”

For the development of the Framework, ER Group also benefited from the technical support of FSD Africa, a financial markets development agency based in Nairobi and funded by the UK Government.

Dr Evans Osano, Chief Financial Markets Officer, FSD Africa: “We commend ER Group’s leadership in aligning its capital-raising strategy with measurable sustainability outcomes. The dual-tranche structure, combining Use-of-Proceeds financing and a Sustainability-Linked Bond, demonstrates how complementary sustainable finance instruments can mobilise local-currency capital for climate resilience while setting an important precedent for corporate issuers across Africa. FSD Africa is honoured to have supported ER Group throughout the development of the Sustainable Finance Framework and the Second Party Opinion process, in line with our commitment to deepening sustainable finance markets across the region.”

The first applications across the Group

The SFF builds on the experience gained in 2023 with the green bond issued by EnVolt, a subsidiary of the Group’s Technology & Energy segment. What was then a pilot transaction is becoming a structured policy, applicable across all the Group’s segments.

It opens the way to structured financing for projects already under way across several of the Group’s businesses: solar capacity expansion with Ecoasis (Technology & Energy segment), green-certified real estate developments (Real Estate segment), the rollout of electric mobility solutions with Axess (Commerce & Manufacturing segment), as well as initiatives on water efficiency, circular economy practices and ecosystem restoration. These projects form the first pool of investments eligible under the framework.

Sophie Desvaux de Marigny, Chief Sustainability Executive of ER Group: “This framework changes the way our teams approach every project. The question is no longer solely whether an investment is profitable, but also how it concretely contributes to the transition of Mauritius in terms of energy, biodiversity and inclusion. For an island as exposed to climate risks as Mauritius, this level of rigour is not a luxury.”

With this framework, ER Group becomes one of the few corporate issuers in sub-Saharan Africa to have put in place a sustainable finance structure validated by Moody’s and applicable across all its activities. A strong signal for the markets, and a concrete commitment to Mauritius.

– on behalf of ER Group.

For more information, please contact:
Melisa Virassamy
Communication Officer
E. communication@ergroup.mu
T. +230 490 4526

About:
A major player in the Mauritian economy and listed on the Stock Exchange, ER Group was born from the strategic merger of the ENL and Rogers groups. With more than 200 years of history for ENL and 125 years for Rogers, these two pillars of the Mauritian economy have shaped the country’s economic and social development over the long term. In 2025, they came together under a new identity – ER Group – which honours their shared heritage while setting out future ambitions, now carried with one voice.

Today, ER brings together nearly 13,000 employees and operates across 17 territories around the world. Drawing on a strong portfolio of recognised brands that lead in their fields, ER Group operates across 7 strategic segments: Agribusiness, Real Estate, Hospitality & Travel, Logistics, Finance, Commerce & Manufacturing, and Technology & Energy.

Guided by its purpose “Ignite today for a better tomorrow”, the Group is driven by its ambition to act responsibly, combining strengths, widening its horizons and playing an active part in shaping the future of a sustainable Mauritius.

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June 30, 2026

Gâmbia: Novo relatório do Banco Africano de Desenvolvimento apela ao reconhecimento das mulheres como parceiras de pleno direito na transição do país para as energias renováveis

Source: Africa Press Organisation – Portuguese –

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O Banco Africano de Desenvolvimento (www.AfDB.org), em parceria com o Ministério do Género, da Infância e da Proteção Social da Gâmbia e com financiamento dos Fundos de Investimento Climático (CIF) (https://apo-opa.co/3QPAkcL), divulgou um relatório (https://apo-opa.co/4vz4jot) que reconhece as mulheres como parceiras em pé de igualdade na transição energética do país.

O relatório ‘As Mulheres como Parceiras-chave: Uma Estratégia e um Plano de Ação para as Energias Renováveis com Transformação de Género para a Gâmbia’ foi publicado no início deste mês. O relatório apresenta um plano para garantir que as mulheres sejam reconhecidas e capacitadas como parceiras em pé de igualdade na transição energética da Gâmbia, colmatando a lacuna entre os quadros nacionais progressistas e a sua implementação no terreno.

Os resultados revelam que a pobreza energética na Gâmbia pesa fortemente sobre as mulheres, particularmente nas zonas rurais. Aproximadamente 90% dos agregados familiares continuam a depender da biomassa (lenha e carvão vegetal) para cozinhar, enquanto apenas 1,7% da população tem acesso a combustíveis e tecnologias limpas para cozinhar. O acesso à eletricidade também continua desigual: cerca de 85% nas zonas urbanas, em comparação com 35 a 40% nas zonas rurais. As mulheres continuam praticamente ausentes do setor que molda estas realidades, ocupando apenas à volta de 1% dos cargos na Companhia Nacional de Água e Eletricidade (NAWEC).

O estudo baseia-se num inquérito a 279 inquiridos (67% dos quais eram mulheres), em discussões em grupos focais, em entrevistas a informadores-chave e em diá.s em rádios comunitárias em todas as sete regiões do país.

O plano articula-se em torno de cinco áreas prioritárias: reforço das políticas e da governação; expansão do desenvolvimento da capacitação através de bolsas de estudo, formação profissional e mentoria para mulheres no setor das energias renováveis; melhoria do acesso ao financiamento; aprofundamento do envolvimento comunitário e ampliação de parcerias, incluindo o alinhamento com as melhores práticas regionais e a revitalização de instituições como o Centro de Energias Renováveis da Gâmbia (https://apo-opa.co/4wapFZo), enquanto polo de competências e inovação para as mulheres.

O relatório identifica os principais obstáculos à participação das mulheres no setor das energias renováveis: acesso limitado ao financiamento, à formação, à terra e aos mercados, a par de normas culturais, restrições à mobilidade e baixa representação na educação em ciência, tecnologia, engenharia e matemática (STEM). Documenta também as mulheres que já lideram a mudança no setor, desde cooperativas de instalação de painéis solares até empresas de produção de fogões limpos e briquetes.

O Plano foi concebido para ser implementado entre 2026 e 2030, liderado pelo Ministério do Género, da Infância e da Proteção Social, em colaboração com o Ministério do Petróleo e da Energia e um conjunto de parceiros nacionais e internacionais.

Nathalie Gisabo Gahunga, Diretora de Género e Empoderamento das Mulheres no Banco Africano de Desenvolvimento, afirmou: “O nosso objetivo é ver mulheres e raparigas a participar no processo de transição energética a todos os níveis, em pé de igualdade com os homens. Na Gâmbia, estamos a assistir a passos promissores no domínio das energias renováveis, mas a participação das mulheres continua a ser limitada”.

“Isso significa proporcionar formação, orientação e políticas sensíveis às questões de género, ao mesmo tempo que se concebem tecnologias, como sistemas de cozinha limpa e ferramentas solares, que respondam verdadeiramente às necessidades das mulheres”, acrescentou.

O Secretário Permanente Adjunto do Ministério do Género, da Infância e da Proteção Social, Saikou JC Trawally, afirmou, durante o seminário de validação, que o estudo “é um marco na jornada da Gâmbia rumo a um futuro energético sustentável e amigo do ambiente”. Além disso, instou as partes interessadas, o governo, o setor privado, a sociedade civil e os parceiros de desenvolvimento a envolverem-se ativamente na definição de um “quadro robusto de energias renováveis que seja inclusivo, prático e sensível às necessidades específicas da Gâmbia”.

Foday Sanyang, do Ministério do Petróleo, sublinhou o compromisso do governo em integrar a perspetiva de género em todos os projetos energéticos, afirmando que a produção de energia renovável é uma opção atraente para satisfazer a procura crescente, “mas temos de reconhecer as necessidades diferenciadas de homens e mulheres”, ressalvou Sanyang.

O relatório completo está disponível em inglês (https://apo-opa.co/4vz4jot) e francês (https://apo-opa.co/4v1evVF) no site do Banco Africano de Desenvolvimento.

Distribuído pelo Grupo APO para African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

Contacto para os media:
Raissa Girondin
Departamento de Comunicação e Relações Externas
e-mail: media@afdb.org

Sobre o Grupo Banco Africano de Desenvolvimento:
O Grupo Banco Africano de Desenvolvimento é a principal instituição financeira de desenvolvimento em África. Inclui três entidades distintas: o Banco Africano de Desenvolvimento (AfDB), o Fundo Africano de Desenvolvimento (ADF) e o Fundo Fiduciário da Nigéria (NTF). Presente no terreno em 41 países africanos, com uma representação externa no Japão, o Banco contribui para o desenvolvimento económico e o progresso social dos seus 54 Estados-membros. Mais informações em www.AfDB.org/pt

June 30, 2026

The Gambia: New African Development Bank report calls for women to be recognised as full partners in the country’s renewable energy transition

Source: APO – Report:

The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org), in partnership with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare in the Gambia and with financing from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) (https://apo-opa.co/3QPAkcL), has released a report (https://apo-opa.co/4vz4jot) recognising women as equal partners in the nation’s energy transition

Women as Key Partners: A Gender-Transformative Renewable Energy Strategy and Action Plan for The Gambia, was released earlier this month. The report sets out a blueprint for ensuring that women are recognised and empowered as equal partners in The Gambia’s energy transition, and bridges the gap between progressive national frameworks and their implementation on the ground.

The findings show that energy poverty in The Gambia weighs heavily on women, particularly in rural areas. Approximately 90 percent of households still rely on biomass – firewood and charcoal- for cooking, while only 1.7 percent of the population has access to clean cooking fuels and technologies. Electricity access also remains uneven: around 85 percent in urban areas, compared to 35-40 percent in rural areas. Women remain largely absent from the sector that shapes these realities, holding only about one percent of staff positions at the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC).

The study draws on a survey of 279 respondents (67 percent of whom were women), focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and community radio dialogues across all seven regions of the country.

The plan is built around five priority areas – strengthening policy and governance; expanding capacity building through scholarships, vocational training and mentorship for women in renewable energy; improving access to finance; deepening community engagement, and scaling partnerships, including aligning with regional best practices and revitalising institutions such as the Gambia Renewable Energy Centre (https://apo-opa.co/4wapFZo) as a hub for women’s skills and innovation.

The report identifies the main barriers to women’s participation in renewable energy: limited access to finance, training, land and markets, alongside cultural norms, mobility restrictions, and low representation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. It also documents women already leading change in the sector, from solar installation cooperatives to clean cookstove and briquette production enterprises.

The Plan is designed for implementation between 2026 and 2030, led by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare in collaboration with the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and a range of national and international partners.

Nathalie Gisabo Gahunga, Manager of Gender and Women’s Empowerment at the African Development Bank said: “Our goal is to see women and girls participating in the energy transition process at all levels in equal position as men. In The Gambia, we are seeing promising steps in renewable energy—but women’s participation is still limited.”

She added: “That means providing training, mentorship, and gender-responsive policies, while designing technologies, like clean cooking and solar tools, that truly serve women’s needs.”

Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Welfare, Saikou JC Trawally, in the Validation Workshop shared his views on the report. “This study is milestone in our country’s journey towards a sustainable and environmentally friendly energy future.” He further urged stakeholders, the government, private sector, civil society and development partners to actively engage in shaping a “robust renewable energy framework that is inclusive, practical, and responsive to the Gambia’s unique needs”

Foday Sanyang, from the Ministry of Petroleum, underscored government’s commitment to mainstreaming gender in all energy projects saying that renewable energy generation is an attractive option to meet growing demand, “but we must recognize the differentiated needs of men and women,” Sanyang said.

The full report is available in English (https://apo-opa.co/4vz4jot) and French (https://apo-opa.co/4v1evVF) on the African Development Bank’s website.

– on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

Media contact:
Raissa Girondin
Communication and External Relations Department
email: media@afdb.org

June 30, 2026

South Africa’s move to renewable power is complex, but clearing 5 bottlenecks would speed it up

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Rod Crompton, Visiting Adjunct Professor, African Energy Leadership Centre, Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand

South Africa is moving away from coal-fired electricity, which currently supplies 74% of the country’s power, to wind and solar energy. But as the country’s experience shows, the transition is complex and is being slowed down.

This is because renewable energy works very differently from coal. It needs a different kind of electricity system and new ways of planning and managing the grid.

The transition also requires major changes at the state-owned electricity utility, Eskom, which has long dominated South Africa’s power sector. It involves transforming an electricity system built around a few large coal-fired power stations into one that can absorb power from many renewable energy producers while keeping electricity reliable, affordable and accessible.

I’ve been working in the field of energy and economic regulation in South Africa for 40 years. I sat on the Eskom board for six years until I resigned in 2024 and I was involved in drafting key energy policies.

Based on my experience, I argue that there are five key factors slowing down the energy transition:

Eskom’s dominance over the country’s electricity system
inconsistent and politically driven government electricity planning, favouring certain technologies and restricting private energy providers
a grid that has not been designed to keep up with technological change
crumbling municipal electricity distribution networks and high levels of local government debt to Eskom
inability of rooftop solar to sell surplus power into the grid.

These five problems are closely linked to slow-moving institutions, outdated ways of thinking, poor management and corruption. Many countries face similar challenges, but South Africa is a politically fractured society, with low trust in government, weak education systems and high rates of crime. All this shows in the slow pace of the energy transition.

The slow pace comes at a cost. Communities living near coal-fired power stations continue to face health risks. And South African exports could become less competitive as the European Union introduces border taxes on products produced with coal-fired electricity. The country’s coal-fired power stations continue to produce high levels of greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change.

Five bottlenecks

I have ranked the factors slowing the transition from most to least influential. Others may rank them differently.

The first bottleneck is Eskom: state-owned and slow to respond to change. It controls electricity generation, transmission and distribution. Because it controls so much of the system, Eskom has had the power to influence who can connect to the grid and how quickly new competitors can enter the market.

Eskom is also struggling financially. As more households and businesses generate their own cheaper solar power, its sales have declined. It has tried to slow down the energy transition by challenging licences for electricity traders and by resisting plans to make the national transmission grid fully independent.

It has also backed expensive coal projects. In 2024, Eskom decided to extend the lives of the Camden, Grootvlei and Hendrina coal-fired power stations until 2030 at a cost of about R90 billion (about US$5.5 billion). That money could instead have gone towards new renewable energy projects that would have lasted much longer.

The second bottleneck is the government’s electricity plans (known as Integrated Resource Plans). They are supposed to set out the cheapest ways of providing the country with the electricity it needs. But instead, the government uses them to pick technologies that it prefers, like nuclear and gas, over cheaper renewable energies.

The country passed law setting up a wholesale electricity market, but in contradiction, the government intervenes in the market using the Integrated Resource Plans to limit the operation of market forces.

The third bottleneck is the electricity grid itself. There are two problems here. The first is that South Africa’s grid was built decades ago to carry electricity from coal-fired power stations in the eastern province of Mpumalanga to the country’s main cities and industries. But the best wind and solar resources are mostly in the west of the country. So the grid now needs to become a two-way street, able to move electricity from west to east as well.

The National Transmission Company of South Africa (a wholly owned subsidiary company of Eskom) plans to build 14,500km of new transmission lines over the next decade to help this happen. Until then, some renewable energy projects have to cut back how much electricity they produce because the grid cannot carry it. Coal-fired power stations continue to fill the gap. Years of poor planning and Eskom’s financial problems have made this bottleneck worse.

The second problem is that managing a national grid with thousands of renewable energy providers is more complex than one based on a few coal plants. To keep the system stable, there have to be services in place to respond to sudden changes in power and to restart the grid after a blackout.

Wind and solar need a suite of such services. South Africa is still working out how to organise, fund and allocate responsibility for these services.

The fourth bottleneck is crumbling municipal electricity distribution networks which create a serious risk to the electricity system. Local governments also owe over R100 billion (about US$6 billion) to Eskom, and this debt is rising fast.

Rising non-payment is worsening the problem, making it harder to fund and maintain electricity services. With weak public finances, government support is limited. Eskom has received R464 billion (US$28 billion) in bailouts. But some of these have gone towards covering losses linked to non-payment, crime and corruption.

The fifth bottleneck is is that renewable energy from rooftop solar systems is being wasted. Over the past five years, solar generation has shot up to about 8%-10% of total generation, powering about 3 million to 4 million households. Excess electricity generated is not used or sold back into the grid because municipalities and Eskom make it difficult and costly to do that.

When people disconnect from the grid, it reduces Eskom’s revenue and raises costs for those who remain. Over time, a weaker grid also makes it harder for large renewable projects to deliver power where it is needed.

What needs to happen next

To address the electricity crisis, the Presidency has set up a National Energy Crisis Committee. This is a collaborative effort by relevant national government departments, Eskom, and representatives from the private sector.

It has made progress but still faces many problems.

There is no magic solution for all these challenges. However, the focus of attention needs to be the establishment of a fully independent National Transmission Company. This will allow private capital to invest in removing the bottlenecks from the grid, and limit some of Eskom’s market power.

– South Africa’s move to renewable power is complex, but clearing 5 bottlenecks would speed it up
– https://theconversation.com/south-africas-move-to-renewable-power-is-complex-but-clearing-5-bottlenecks-would-speed-it-up-286002

June 30, 2026

Several people arrested for looting and attempted looting

Source: Government of South Africa

Several people arrested for looting and attempted looting

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has, since the early hours of this morning, arrested several individuals in connection with incidents of looting and attempted looting reported in various parts of the country, as law enforcement continues to monitor the planned marches taking place nationwide today.

According to the police, policing operations have been effective thus far, with demonstrations remaining largely peaceful across the country. Police have, however, responded to isolated incidents of looting and attempted looting.

“Police remain on high alert, with heightened deployments in place to ensure public safety, protect businesses and critical infrastructure and maintaining law and order.

“Members deployed across the country have been instructed to act swiftly and decisively against anyone who engages in criminal activities, including looting, attempted looting, public violence, malicious damage to property, intimidation or any other unlawful conduct.

“We urge citizens to exercise their constitutional rights responsibly and to ensure that demonstrations remain peaceful and lawful.

“Those who choose to exploit the marches to commit criminal acts will face the full might of the law. Police will continue to identify, arrest, and prosecute all those responsible for criminal conduct,” Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said.

On Monday evening, the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structures (Natjoints) chairperson, Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili, warned that where criminality presents itself, law enforcement agencies would respond swiftly, proportionately and decisively within the confines of the law.

Mosikili said specialised operational units were ready to respond at a moment’s notice.

Mosikili warned those who intend to break the law that “they should not test the resolve of the State”.

“To those who intend to demonstrate peacefully, we assure you that your constitutional rights will be protected. To every South African: be confident that your safety remains our highest priority,” Mosikili said.

She said contingency plans had been tested and law enforcement was ready, adding that the Air Wing would provide aerial surveillance and operational support wherever required.

“There is a clear distinction between exercising democratic rights and committing criminal offences. Anyone who crosses that line must expect the full and immediate consequences of the law,” she said.

Mosikili said no dangerous weapons including firearms, knives and traditional weapons will be allowed in terms of Section 17 of the Constitution.

“The State will act decisively against any person who seeks to exploit demonstrations to commit acts of lawlessness,” she said. – SAnews.gov.za

Edwin
Tue, 06/30/2026 – 12:50