In Nigeria, the Lagos state government has revealed plans to raise N100billion ($290 million) in bond offering to finance critical infrastructural projects in the state, according to the Commissioner of Finance, Economic Planning and Budget, Akinyemi Ashade. “We have a lot of projects in the area of tourism. We have the facelift of Lagos Marina, Onikan, and the construction of about six...

The United Nations Children's Funds (UNICEF) has donated medical equipment worth N1.2 billion ($3.5 million) to the Adamawa state government in a bid to reduce prevalent maternal mortality. The equipment includes, 226 baby dressing tables, 220 bed screens, 180 infusion stand, 226 microscope, 300 delivery kits, 200 stethoscope, 300 surgical kits, and 322 examination tables among other...

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has revealed plans to start issuing licences for the use of the Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), also known as drones, for both commercial and private use in the country. Speaking to the press in Abuja on Thursday, Dele Sasegbon, Director of general aviation at NCAA said: “We have proposed regulations already. For the integration of unmanned...

In Nigeria, the Benue state government has said the sum of N300 billion ($868 million) is needed to dredge River Benue to tackle flood in the state. This is after the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) listed six local governments in the state as areas likely to be affected by flood in the country, this year. According to the State Commissioner for Water Resources and Environment, Terlumum...

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under its Anchor Borrowers Programme, has approved a N660 million ($1.9 million) loan for 3,479 farmers in Gombe State, according to Sani Chobe, Head of Development Finance, Gombe State office of CBN. Speaking at a sensitization workshop, he explained that the loan was for farmers who applied for the funding in the first and second batches and will be...

2016 was particularly harsh for land activists, according to a report recently released by the human rights defense organization Global Witness. The document indeed states that, about four people defending their lands were killed each week, last year, be it against mining, hydroelectric or agricultural projects. Overall, 200 people were murdered in this framework in 2016. This is 10% more than...

Tunisian Group Loukil and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) will build in Raoued, Tunis suburb, Africa’s biggest mall, the Tunisia Africa Mall. Partnership agreement for the project was signed last Friday, July 7th, on the sidelines of the recent Tunisia-China forum held in Tunis. The project whose cost has been estimated at $120 million will be fully funded by ICBC. It will...

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), production capacity of the Inga III hydropower dam will finally range between 10,000MW and 12,000MW, thus about twice more than initially planned (4,800MW). This was revealed by Bruno Kapandji, director of the Development and Promotion Agency for the Great Inga project (ADPI-RDC). The increase plan whose cost was not indicated aims not only to meet...

In Nigeria, the Debt Management Office (DMO) has raised N105.96 billion ($307.5 million) by selling a 5, 10 and 20-year local currency bond at an auction on Wednesday to fund the 2017 budget. According to the debt office, the amount raised was less than the N135 billion ($391.6 million) it had planned to issue at the auction. A total of N47.01 billion in 10-year paper was raised at a rate...

In Nigeria, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the commencement of the validation and payment of N2.7 trillion ($7.8 billion) debts owed to contractors and employee for over twenty years. This is in line with government’s effort to resolve long standing dues and stimulate economic activity. Kemi Adeosun, the Minister of Finance disclosed this at the end of the weekly Federal...