PROPARCO and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), the holding company of Ecobank Group, today announced the signing of a USD 50m loan agreement with a 10-year maturity.

Trafigura, one of the world’s largest commodities trading firm, has raised $500 million from the sale of a 10% stake in its African unit Puma Energy, the company said in a prospectus.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. continues to strengthen its position as a leading global hotel operator in Africa with the signing of three new Sheraton hotels, marking the entrance of the company into Mauritania, Guinea and South Sudan by 2017.

The worsening of South Africa’s Current Account Deficit, down from -3.4% in 2011 to -6.3% in 2012, in addition to the shaky Nigerian and Angolan Current Account Surpluses, increasingly worries economists and 2013 hasn’t brought any fundamental change to the overall picture.