Press freedom in Nigeria continues on its downward path in Nigeria. This is what reveals the recent World Press Freedom index produced by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Indeed, the ranking puts the African nation at the 122nd position out of 180 countries graded, while it was 116th in 2016. According to the report, “in Nigeria, it is nearly impossible to cover stories...

“Deficits, lack of valorization instruments and of protection tools, absence of land policy”. This is the result of assessment conducted by the Morocco’s Cout of Audit in its 2015 report released on April 24, 2017. Management of State’s private property thus calls for urgent reforms. In the report, the institution which estimates private land owned by the State at 1,703,677 hectares...

Agrofood Emirati firm Al Dahra has invested 156 million dirhams ($15.6 million) in apple and flower production in Azrou, South of Fès in Morocco. The firm made the announcement in a statement released on the sidelines of 12th edition of Morocco Agriculture Fair (SIAM 2017). According to the statement reported by newspapers Le Matin, the investment includes in the first stage the development of...

After selling two Eurobonds in 2014 ($750 million) and 2015 ($1 billion), the Ivoirian government plans to issue another $1 billion bond denominated in foreign currency, Bloomberg reported on April 26 citing sources close to the case. The new issuance on the international debt market, the first since 2015, will help the government finance various infrastructure projects. Though the...

In Nigeria, the parliament’s upper house aims to pass the government’s 2017 budget next week, revealed Senate leader Ahmed Lawan (photo, left) on Thursday. “By next week… we should be able to finish our own work and pass the budget to Mr. President to sign,” Lawan said after a meeting with president Buhari. The leader explained that the parliament should have passed the budget in...

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has provided Dangote Industries Ltd a grant for a feasibility study aiming to assess the capacity and stability of a transmission system that is part of a 100 MW solar plant project which the group is developing in Kano State. Undertaking the PV project with Dangote Industries is the South African infrastructure investor, Black Rhino. “This grid...

Distributable government revenues in March soared by about 9% to N467.81 billion ($1.53 billion), against N429 billion the month before. According to the government statement which disclosed this, the rise was due to collection of higher royalties from oil production. The statement which was released on Tuesday shows that the federal government obtained in the distributable revenues N189.234...

Nigeria should get out of recession latest by the end of June. This was declared by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, after a meeting with Senate’s leadership on Tuesday. “We are very much optimistic that by the end of the second quarter very latest third quarter this year, we should be out recession that we are in right now,” said Emefiele....

The Federal Government of Nigeria has decided to team up with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to fund coal projects across the country. This was disclosed by the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi (photo), during a meeting in Enugu State with stakeholders of the mining sector. According to Fayemi, the funds mobilized through the cooperation with AfDB will help exploit...

Moroccan lender Attijariwafa Bank will help Cote d’Ivoire establish two investment funds which aim to finance its tourism sector. This was revealed by Ivoirian minister of tourism, Siandou Fofana, during a meeting of the Club Afrique Development held on April 20, 2017. The first of the two funds is a "private investment fund dedicated to tourism and hospitality". According to M. Fofana, the...