“With the Fourth Financing for Development Conference (FfD4) in Seville, Spain, just two months away, Africa has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rewrite the rules of global finance, so they serve as a bridge to Africa’s sustainable development.” Claver Gatete, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), made this statement in his opening remarks at a side event during the Fourth Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for FfD4 on 29 April 2025.

Co-organised by the ECA and the African Union Commission (AUC), the event aimed to review Africa’s priorities for the FfD4 scheduled for 30 June to 3 July 2025, building on outcomes from regional consultations, and to identify key actions to ensure the FfD4 agenda aligns with Africa’s development needs.

Stressing the need to strengthen domestic resource mobilization and tackling illicit financial flows, Gatete said that as long as US$89 billion escapes African economies each year, true resilience will remain out of reach. (Press release)

An inverted yield curve shows that long-term U.S. Treasury debt interest rates are less than short-term interest rates. When the yield curve is inverted, yields decrease the farther out the maturity date is. Sometimes referred to as a negative yield curve, the inverted curve has proven to be a reliable indicator of a recession.

African institutions and global credit rating agencies reaffirmed their commitment to developing a fair, transparent, and inclusive credit rating ecosystem for Africa.

With more than 30 African countries subject to sovereign credit ratings, the decisions of global rating agencies significantly impact debt sustainability and access to international financial markets. At a high-level dialogue held on the sidelines of the 2025 IMF–World Bank Spring Meetings, African institutions and global credit rating agencies reaffirmed their commitment to developing a fair, transparent, and inclusive credit rating ecosystem for Africa.

Organized by the African Union’s African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), AfriCatalyst, and the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), and hosted at the Open Society Foundations, the dialogue brought together senior representatives from Moody’s, S&P, and Bank of America for a candid discussion on financing solutions for African countries.

Against a backdrop of rising market volatility, sovereign defaults and constrained fiscal space, the dialogue aimed to address urgent reforms in Africa’s credit rating framework. Speakers identified structural issues such as data gaps, methodological opacity, and under-engagement between African governments and the ‘big three’ credit rating agencies (Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch), as barriers to accurate ratings.

Yango Ethiopia announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between G2G IT Solutions S.C, (operator of Yango service in Ethiopia) and with Amigos SACCO., Ethiopia’s trusted microfinance institution. This partnership will roll out an EV vehicles financing program under Yango Cares—an impactful initiative designed to empower Yango partner’s drivers by providing sustainable access to car ownership.

As part of the program, up to 100 Yango partner’s drivers are expected to have access to financial support from Amigos to purchase EV vehicles over 17 months financing, with six vehicles to be allocated monthly to eligible drivers who meet performance and platform criteria. This strategic effort is a direct response to the challenges facing the majority of drivers in Ethiopia—the majority of whom currently operate rented vehicles—limiting their ability to scale their income and independence.