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The Pan-African Economy in Brief: Tuesday, April 14, 2020

South Africa:
ICASA has registered 35 expressions of interest for temporary frequencies:
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has announced the registration of 35 Expressions of Interest in response to the call, launched on April 6, 2020, for the allocation of temporary radio frequency spectrum that will enable telecom operators to cope with the growing telecom traffic during containment. These are International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) frequencies in the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2600 MHz, and 3500 MHz bands.


Senegal:
In Senegal, Samba Ngom manufactures clean coal production equipment:
Samba Ngom is the promoter of Téranga Green Energy, a company specialized in the manufacture of clean coal production equipment. It has designed a mechanical press with a capacity of 100 kg per day to supply women in the town of Thiès in Senegal. The promoter reports on Initiatives Climat that the idea came from the observation that the women of the town of Thiès travel for an average of two hours a day in the bush in search of wood for culinary needs. Moreover, the demand for ecological charcoal would be higher than the current supply in Senegal.


Tanzania:
Progress in the financing of the Mwenga wind power plant (2.4 MW), the first in the country:
Tanzania's first wind power plant will soon complete the financial mobilization phase thanks to a $1.2 million loan from the Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP). REPP is a facility fully funded by the UK Government's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). It has a financial envelope of £148 million. Tanzania's first wind power plant will be located in Mwenga, Mufindi District. The three turbines for the plant have already been delivered and are scheduled for installation by May this year. Once operational, the plant will have a capacity of 2.4 MW.


Togo:
How Togo is preparing to (re)become a global player in the phosphate sector:
"Last November, the Togolese Government concluded a $2 billion partnership agreement with the Dangote group to transform its phosphate into fertilizer. The announced objective is to take advantage of a growing fertilizer sector in Africa, while the continent is aiming for food security through increased development of its agriculture. If this marriage between Lomé and Africa's richest country succeeds, it could mark the return to the forefront of a raw material that has long been the glory of Togo, but has since struggled to take off again.


Cameroon:
The IDB provides financing of 64 billion CFA francs to the Cotton Development Corporation:
On April 7, 2020, Cameroon's Minister of Economy, Alamine Ousmane Mey, signed with the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a subsidiary of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), a financing agreement of 64.3 billion CFA francs. This financing is intended for the Société de Développement du Coton (Sodecoton), an agro-industrial unit majority controlled by the Cameroonian State, which supervises more than 250,000 cotton producers in the northern part of the country.