Mali’s gold reserves have been scaled up from 800 t to 822 t which can be exploited over 16 years based on actual production levels. This was announced by Mali’s minister of mines who said the increase is due to new discoveries by mining firms since the last estimation. “The increase in reserves is due to new discoveries in various mines, including Rangold’s Loulo-Gounkoto complex and...

A document from the Ministry of Budget and National Planning has revealed plans by the Federal Government to sell some assets over the next four years to generate as much as $16.4 billion to help reduce the deficit in the 2017 budget. According to the document obtained by Bloomberg, the sales will assist in tackling inefficiencies and reduce corruption in public enterprises. Although...

In line with President Buhari’s drive to eradicate corruption, Nigeria has, in less than two months, recovered $177 million of embezzled funds, the information Ministry revealed in a statement on Sunday. “The looted funds were recovered from just three sources through whistle-blowers who gave actionable information to the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the...

The Federal Government of Nigeria has allocated the sum of N51bn ($162 million) in the 2017 budget to develop the garment and textile sector as this will help in job creation, support diversification efforts and increase the patronage of made-in-Nigeria apparels. Aisha Abubakar (photo), minister of State of Industry, Trade and Investment who made the announcement, highlighted that “out of...

Dangote Rice, a subsidiary of Dangote Group, is to launch 25,000 hectares of rice outgrower scheme in Sokoto State, with the aim of creating hundreds of employment opportunities for the rural communities. The President of the Group, Aliko Dangote (photo), who disclosed this during the weekend said the company will on Wednesday, kick-start the scheme with a pilot project of 500ha by Goronyo...

The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has reported that the resurgence of Bird flu in Plateau state killed over 11,000 birds, last week. According to PAN’s chairman in the state, John Dasar, six farms had so far been affected and no fewer than 11,000 birds were gotten rid of. Dasar attributed the fast spread of the disease to failure by farmers to report the outbreak of the...

The Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Kachikwu (photo), has said that the excessive vandalism of oil facilities by militant groups in the Niger Delta oil region has resulted in a loss of at least $80 billion annually. According to the Minister, over 10,000 of such incidents were recorded at oil fields across the region which covers about 8% of the oil-rich...

Tea exports in Rwanda in 2016 stood at $63.4 million thus 12.9% less than in 2015. The fall in exports revenues is tied to lower volumes of the crop sent outside. This volume was at 24.4 million kg in 2016, or 370,000 kg less than in 2015. Moreover, the decrease of export revenues is also explained by a slump in the price of the commodity which traded at $2.94 at the end of 2015,...

Benin plans to borrow from regional capital markets about 1 trillion CFA, by issuing public securities. The decree corresponding to the move was adopted during a council of ministers held last February 1. It will help the country fund part of its CFA2 trillion budget for 2017. The issuance of securities by the Benin government this year was decided jointly with the UMOA-Titres agency (UAT) and...

The Bank of Solidarity of Mali (BMS-SA) secured from the Investment and Development Bank of the ECOWAS (BIDC) a FCFA10 billion credit line last Tuesday. The financing agreement was signed by BIDC’s president, Bashir Mamman Ifo, and Babaly Ba, managing director of BMS-SA, the same day at the ministry of economy and finances. “The FCFA10 billion credit line repayable over nine years (with a...