The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) just announced the launch of three news website covering solely Ethiopia and Eritrea, all three in local dialects. The languages which are spoken not only in Ethiopia and Eritrea but in the whole African Horn, are Amharic, Afaan Oromo and Tigrinya. “We know that there is a great deal of hunger for audiences in Ethiopia and Eritrea to access a broad...

Regrouped last September 19, members of the economic and social council of Guinea pondered on major challenges such land issues in rural and urban areas, Mosaique Guinée reports. The issue is to be dealt with by the infrastructure, decentralization, rural development and land development commission. “By tackling this issue, the commission No2 wanted to deal with one of the most...

Mining firm Roxgold which is active in Burkina Faso on the Yaramoko project should produce in 2017 more gold than it expected to. Indeed, the firm expects its output to stand at 115,000-125,000 ounces of gold, against 105,000-115,000 ounces before. The company’s CEO, John Dorward said the scaling-up is to be attributed to good performance at “Yaramoko’s 55 Zone where mining rates and head...

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the United Nations Food and Agriuclture Organization (FAO) signed on September 20, 2017, in New York a memorandum of understanding to promote ICT-driven innovation in agriculture. The two institutions will in this framework team up to facilitate the development of measures and regulations related to e-agriculture. The final objective of the...

The Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) secured yesterday in Paris, a syndicated loan of $1.3 billion from a pool of 25 banks to pre-finance the purchase of 850,000 tons of cocoa during 2017-18 season which will begin next month. This was revealed to Reuters by the Cocobod’s deputy managing director, Yaw Adu-Ampomah. The sum which is 27% lower compared to that obtained last year ($1.8 billion)...

Tunisia plans to reduce its budget deficit to 4.9% (against 6% now) by 2018. To achieve this, it plans to rely on the tax reforms it currently implements. “Next year’s budget will focus on major reforms which have been postponed for long, such as tax reforms and those in the public sector,” the Tunisian minister for economic reforms, Taoufik Rajhi (photo), told Reuters. Tunisia plans to...

In South Africa, tech firm International Business Machine (IBM) and mobile operator MTN have teamed up with the Wageningen University (WU) in Holland, and Prodapt to fight the poaching of rinhoceroses at Welgevonden Game Reserve. To achieve this, the Internet of Things (IoT) will be used.  Indeed, the IBM technology will be paired with MTN’s Connected Wildlife Solution and predictive...

In Cote d’Ivoire, the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) will develop a 5-year programme to fight cocoa’s swollen shoot disease. This was announced by the regulatory authority last Monday, during a workshop organized in Bouaflé, in the North Western part of the country, Xinhua reported.  The scheme which will go from 2017 to 2022 and cost overall $63 million (FCFA34.5 billion), will...

In Zambia, Muchinga Power Company Limited (MPCL) will spend $900 million to develop a 330MW hydropower dam. The project which aims to boost renewables share in the country’s energy mix also includes construction of a 66km-long 330kV power transmission line. It will connect the hydropower station to the country’s grid, Daily Mail indicates. “MPCL intends to develop a hydropower project...

TSX and NYSE listed firm, Kinross Gold, has published results of the feasibility study for the second phase of its expansion project for its Tasiast gold mine in Mauritania. The phase aims to make Tasiast a world-class project with low costs, a long lifeline, and which would generate substantial cash flows. Results of the study show that the mine’s processing capacity should rise to 30,000...