Market Intelligence - Equities

During the week of 2 -6 November, African stock markets closed with mixed results. The stock markets in Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa recorded losses of up to 6%. In contrast, the markets in Kenya and Tunisia registered marginal gains of up to 0.2%.

• Egypt: The CASE 30 Index fell by 6% over the week, as foreign investors attempted to offset their losses in their markets. The decline was mainly due to losses by stocks in travel and leisure (-12.8%), personal and household products (-11.3%) and food and beverage industries (-11.1%).

Market Intelligence - Currencies

During the week of 2 – 6 November, most African currencies fluctuated within the range of ± 1.5% against the US dollar. Exceptions include the South African Rand and Madagascar’s Ariary which appreciated by up to 2.8% and São Tomé and Príncipe’s Dobra which depreciated by 2.5%.

FAPA Snapshot

The Fund for African Private Sector Assistance is a three year old trust fund that is managed by a small team in the Private Sector Department at the AfDB. It is one of three components under the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance (EPSA) initiative, which was established in partnership with the Government of Japan. The objective of FAPA is to build capacity in the African private sector with technical assistance grants. Here are some examples of recently committed grants:

• A USD 950,000 grant to build capacity in the Franchising Sector of Egypt, which is linked to a USD 40 million loan to the Egyptian Social Fund for Development.


• A USD 1,000,000 grant to the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) to improve ATI's ability to meet customer needs in trade credit and financing insurance.


• A USD 642,237 grant to Access Microfinance Bank-Tanzania (ABT) to fund start up costs of a greenfield microfinance bank oriented to financing SMEs and women's entrepreneurship. Funding will pay for consultant-managers to build and train local management and staff over the first three years of ABT's operations.

FAPA is currently undergoing conversion to a multi-donor thematic trust fund, which will allow for contributions from other donors. Japan's USD 30 million in contributions will soon be enhanced by contributions from the Danish Government under the Sustainable Energy Initiative.

L'Initiative migration et développement de la BAD

La Banque africaine de développement (BAfD) a mis en place l'Initiative migration et développement qui a pour objectif de maximiser l'impact développemental des transferts de fonds des migrants, par (i) une réduction de leur coût, (ii) un accroissement de leur utilisation productive, (iii) la multiplication des opportunités d'affaires et leur promotion, ainsi que (iv) l'appui au développement local, en particulier dans les domaines de l'éducation et de la santé.

Récentes activités de cette initiative incluent la publication de l'étude « Transferts des fonds des migrants, un enjeu de développement » en Janvier 2008, qui a examiné les flux entre la France et 4 pays Africains - Comores, Mali, Maroc et Sénégal, réalisée en collaboration avec la France des études d'évaluation des flux et des propositions pour faciliter les transferts et réduire leur coût en Ouganda et Rwanda, avec le support de DFID, en 2008-2009; la conduite d'une étude conjointe avec la Banque Mondiale sur « Migrations, transferts de fonds et développement en Afrique sub-saharienne » qui sera publiée début 2010 et la tenue du Forum International sur les envois de fonds 2009 organisé en partenariat avec le FIDA les 22 et 23 Octobre 2009. Comme suite à l'étude de 2008, la BAfD organisera, en partenariat avec la France, les 16 et 19 Novembre 2009, deux ateliers régionaux au Maroc et au Mali sur les cadres réglementaires et les produits financiers innovants pour les transferts de fonds des migrants au Maghreb et en Zone Franc. Ces ateliers seront suivis début 2010 d'un séminaire panafricain sur ces mêmes sujets.

Afin de se donner les moyens de ses ambitions et poursuivre la mise en ouvre d'un plus grand nombre d'activités et de projets concrets au sein de son initiative, la BAfD vient de créer un fonds fiduciaire multi-donateurs, avec des contributions initiales de la France et du FIDA pour un montant total de 6,2 millions d'Euros. Le fonds sera opérationnel dès début 2010.

AfDB at Second African Water Week (AWW-2) in South Africa, 9-13 November 2009

A high level delegation from the African Development Bank (AfDB), led by the Vice President for Infrastructure, Private Sector and Regional integration, Mr. Bobby Pittman, will take part in the Second African Water Week (AWW-2), to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 9-13 November, 2009. The first African Water Week was organized by the AfDB jointly with the African Minister’s Council on Water (AMCOW) and held in March 2008, in Tunis.

Having gathered more than 500 participants, the event was considered as a tremendous success. One of the main outcomes was a Ministerial Declaration on Accelerating Water Security for Africa’s Socio-Economic Development. For this second edition, the African Water Week will be both unique and innovative in character as the main focus will be on implementation and partnership as Africa sprints towards the 2015 MDG targets. It will bring together through a strong unity of purpose, African countries and UN agencies, civil society groups, the private sector and development cooperation partners, to address the critical issue of water and sanitation, which is a key to sustainable development on the continent.

The Conference will be a direct response to the Sharm El Sheikh Commitments on water and sanitation adopted by the African Union Heads of State and Government (Egypt, July 2008).