25 October 2021
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.
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.
As Europe’s electric vehicle market gathers pace, Slovakian battery startup InoBat is expecting to scale up rapidly over the next few years.
South Africa’s Absa Bank has signed the first ever Green Loan Principles-adherent loan in Africa, with the International Finance Corporate providing the funding for renewable projects in South Africa.
When Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, became a public company in April, it sent shockwaves through the global financial community. Many are trying to decipher if now, after years of tantalising headlines, digital currencies are about to go mainstream.
Despite a difficult year and a recent ratings downgrade, Mauritius is looking to develop itself as an International Finance Centre as it bounces back from Covid-19.
