[East African] Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) and NIC Group have confirmed their merger plan whose completion will see the unified banks listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).

[East African] East Africa's capital markets scored highly on market transparency, tax and regulatory environment and access to foreign currency according to the Absa Africa Financial Markets Index for 2018, but fared badly on local investor capacity.

[Guardian] Eat'N'Go Limited, Nigeria's franchisee for Domino's Pizza, Cold Stone Creamery and Pinkberry Gourmet Frozen Yoghurt, has been recognised by the London Stock Exchange group as one of the companies to inspire Africa in 2019.

[Guardian] Capital market regulators have blamed shareholders for their investment losses, urging them to report corporate governance lapses perpetrated by the boards of listed firms, and collaborate with management to create sustainable wealth through profitability.

[CIO] CrossBoundary Energy Access (CBEA) recently announced its launch with funding commitments from The Rockefeller Foundation and Ceniarth. The company will initially invest $16 million into mini-grids serving 170,000 people, providing first-time power to homes and businesses. The focus is on markets with supportive mini-grid regulatory frameworks, such as Tanzania, Nigeria, and Zambia.

[Balancing Act] London -A number of different start-ups have tried creating a data-free access service for African customers without success. biNu's Co-founder and CEO Gour Lentell is a veteran and pioneer of low-cost data access. Russell Southwood spoke to this Zimbabwean-born entrepreneur about offering free data through reverse billing.

[Citizen] Dar es Salaam -Foreign investors made a strong return to the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) on Wednesday by injecting Sh1 billion through transacting Tanzania Breweries Ltd (TBL) shares.

[Citizen] Dar es Salaam -The precision of trading processes and standards at the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) Plc has attracted the attention of international observers, granting the 23-year-old bourse a full membership of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE).

[The Exchange] Great news for Tanzania as the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange's membership has been approved by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE).

[Monitor] Absa, which currently owns the Barclays Africa franchise, has rated Uganda among countries with the easiest access to foreign exchange.

[Nation] Yields on Kenya's Eurobonds fell last week as the Nairobi terror attack failed to cow international investors who have cut their risk rating on the country's debt this year.

[Citizen] Dar es Salaam -The Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) ended the week strong after recording a 152.50 per cent increase of total turnover in the week ending Friday compared to the week before. Zan Securities weekly market wrap-up reports that DSE reported increased total turnover of Sh10.27 billion from Sh4.07 billion which was recorded in the week ending January 11, 2019.

[Zimbabwe Independent] Trading on Zimbabwe's equities market was suspended this week after mass protests and civil unrest unnerved investors in a week punctuated by clashes between state security agents and protestors in most of the high-density suburbs countrywide.

[Daily News] Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange maintained a bearish trend during the week that ended on 11th January 2019.

[East African] Fund managers in Kenya are working to safeguard pension funds from further erosion by a protracted bear run at the stockmarket.

[East African] East African stockmarkets are gearing up for stiff competition from private equity investments this year, with analysts saying it will make matters worse for the already struggling exchanges.

[Zimbabwe Independent] Many manufacturers could be forced to halt operations if government fails to arrest the crippling currency crisis within the next 10 days as most companies are left with less than a month's stock of raw materials, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has warned.

[Zimbabwe Independent] Gains on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) helped spur the life assurance industry as total assets for life assurers and assets supporting life reassurance grew 6,7% to US$2,8 billion in the nine months ending September 30 2018 from US$2,6 billion in H2 2018.

[East African] Investors and players in the energy sector are raising questions over President Yoweri Museveni's directive to Umeme to renegotiate the concession agreement it signed with the government.

[Addis Fortune] The Ministry of Trade & Industry has mandated that soybeans and chickpeas only be traded through the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX).