Kouakou Kobenan Adjoumani Ernest, President of the Gorombo union has urged, at the 4th edition of the annual reunion of the people of Koulango on May 20, his audience not to sell their lands, AIP reports. “Parents, land owners, I am asking you not to sell your lands. Do not let them to the first comer who lures you with little money,” M. Adjoumani said. He also invited those present to...

In a press conference held on Monday, the Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi revealed the key points of the China-Cote d'Ivoire partnership. "At the moment, our two nations are working on a dozen projects worth $2.5 billion",said the Chinese diplomat. "And if we include projects that are currently being discussed by a respective firms, this figure exceeds $7 billion.This shows promising...

Nigeria’s ministry of finance has announced that the interest rate on unpaid taxes will be increased by 5% over the Minimum Rediscount Rate, which is a benchmark lending rate. The measure which will be effective starting from July 1, 2017, aims to discourage companies and individuals from paying taxes late. “The review of the interest rates on unpaid taxes was one of the necessary measures...

The Volvo Group will build a truck assembly plant in Mombasa, Kenya. The project which is estimated to 2.5 billion Kenyan shillings (approximately $24 million) will help the Swedish car manufacturer strengthen its presence in the East African market. It will be carried out in partnership with NECST Motors car dealership which is currently the exclusive importer of Volvo Trucks in East...

On the sidelines of the Arab-American Islamic Summit in Riyadh, Ali Bongo Ondimba, received a Russian-Saudi business delegation for an audience on 21 May. The delegation was led by Laheq Ghannam Outibi of the Rayat al-Mulabi group (for Saudi Arabia), and Yug-Neft (Russia). According to the Gabonese Presidency, the meeting provided an opportunity to review the hydro-electric dam project which is...

China will finance through a FCFA34 billion grant to Congo-Brazzaville the construction of the new parliament house in the country. The building is to accommodate both the National Assembly and the Senate. It was President Denis Sassou Nguesso himself who laid the first stone for the project, on May 22. Construction works are expected to be completed by the end of 2019. Covering an area of 4.5...

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of Nigeria (NBS), the country’s GDP has contracted by 0.52% year on year in Q1 2017, as compared to 0.67% in the same period last year.  In details, Nigeria’s oil industry slumped 11.6% from a year earlier, while agriculture expanded 3.4%, the slowest pace since the first three months of last year, NBS said.  Forecasts from the...

SENELEC, Senegal’s power utility, raised 2 000 billion CFA francs (more than $3.4 billion) to improve its results. The funding will help increase power output, build additional power plants, extend the electricity distribution network and the better integration of the IT tool into the management of the sector, among others. “For all these projects, we need 2 000 billion CFA...

The Government of Japan has signed with the African Development Bank a $300 million agreement, to support a program which aims to boost private sector in Africa. This new funding brings to $1.5 billion Japan’s commitments with the AfDB, in the framework of this program. “Japan is a strategic partner for the AfDB and major actor in Africa’s trade sector. Your support to the...

In Nigeria, purchases of cocoa have slumped as most of the beans for the ongoing harvest failed to fully develop. In addition to this, there is also the relative low weight of matured beans, revealed buying agents in the country’s cocoa-producing region which is in the southwest. Benjamin Adeyera, a cocoa-buying agent, in a phone interview with Bloomberg, attributed the high incidence of...