Obi Emetarom is an ambitious man. He wants his fintech company Appzone to be at the heart of African banking and payments with its proprietary cloud and blockchain based technology, and, after raising US$10mn in series A funding earlier this year, he is building the team to do it.

With US$10 trillion in combined assets – many of which are highly polluting – the world’s sovereign wealth funds have been accused of lagging behind the rest of their financial sector in terms of their climate change commitments. What can be done to change the status quo?

Italian energy company Enel sold a multibillion-dollar sustainability-linked bond at the start of July, as the nascent deal structure, which sees a coupon step up on missed ESG targets, continues to gain global popularity.

ESG veteran Solomon joins Equitile

Hampleton expands with Bell

The pandemic served as a catalyst for changes that were already underway, not least greater digitisation and better non-financial risk management. 

Sir Paul Collier has been working in Africa for four decades and is one of the world’s leading voices on the economies of the region. He tells EMEA Finance that, while the pandemic has ravaged the continent, there are clear signs of hope for sustainable economic growth.

The Brexit deal has posed challenges for London-based financial services firms, which look set to lose some of their EU business as a result. 

The artisanal and small-scale mining sector is a huge employer in Congo, but its often-illicit nature means workers can’t access banking services. Trust Merchant Bank hopes to change that picture. 

The syndicated loan facility, underwritten by German export bank KfW IPEX-Bank, will be used to fund MFD Rail’s new fleet of intermodal freight cars.

Following a €2.4bn fundraise, Altrad is well positioned to continue a growth strategy that has seen it acquire 11 companies in a year

As the sixth data centre in Raxio’s portfolio, Raxio Tanzania will play a key part in plugging the East African digital infrastructure gap.