The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 14 Sept 2016, has announced the launch of an investment plan for Africa and neighboring countries. The plan aims to provide more local prospects and tackle economic emigration to the E uropean Union (EU). “We currently have an ambitious investment plan for Africa and its...

Lekoil is currently in preparation to reach its production target of 10,000 barrels of oil a day from the Otakikpo facility in West Africa by the end of this year. “Onshore facilities are complete while welding and installation work continues to progress on the offshore pipeline. The company expects commercial production to begin at Otakikpo in the next few weeks. The company is targeting...

Morocco’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) just blocked Google Duo, another VoIP app.According to news website Telquel.ma, the app kept working until now, despite the regulatory authority blocking VoIP, by using WebRTC, a sub-technology different from that used by Skype, Viber, or WhatsApp. With Google Duo blocked, concerns now turn toward Imo which is still accessible but uses the...

Construction of the Bab Ighli site which will host the COP 22 is in its fourth stage, according to those in charge of the project. “Being at the fourth stage of the project means we still have the ground to cover, pass the cables and the optic fibre through their tubes and trays, and place parquets, one of the project’s leaders said. There is also dressing which has already been designed,...

Ending a work mission in Conakry, the head of the International Monetary Fund’s delegation to Guinea, Abdoul Aziz Wane, announced that the institution has reviewed its growth forecast for 2016 to 5.2% from 3.8% previously. IMF’s visit was part of the eight and last review of the program of authorities supported by an agreement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). According to the...

On September 12, China and World Bank announced the official launch of a new finance institution for infrastructure projects in Africa with an initial capital of $500 million. China Overseas Infrastructure Development and Investment Corporation Ltd (COIDIC), the new entity should support infrastructure projects during conception, stake acquisition, commercial exploitation, feasibility...

In order to insure food safety for the 28,000 Sudanese refugees who ran from the Darfur and moved in the Farchana arid region, in Eastern Chad, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Lutheran World Federation had implemented a land sharing project with local farmers. This initiative turned out to be successful. “We had agreed to share our lands with refugees because we...

Air pollution is responsible for 7.1% of deaths in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a study published on Sept 8 by the World Bank and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Entitled “The cost of air pollution: Strengthening the economic case for action”, the study reveals that 605,000 of deaths in sub-Saharan Africa in 2013 are caused by air pollution. In East Asia and the...

UK’s recent exit from the European Union (Brexit), should impact the economy of developing countries if their free-trade agreements are not maintained. “Developing countries could lose €378 million per year if existing trade agreements with the United Kingdom are not maintained in the event of Brexit,” the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the UK Trade Policy Observatory said....

Belmet 7, a Ghanaian company, has completed and loaded onshore Tullow Oil’s Gas export manifold for both the offshore Jubilee and TEN oil fields at the West Cape Three Point in the Western Region. The company is a joint venture between Belmet Ghana and Subsea 7, in which Belmet Ghana owns a 51 percent shareholding and Subsea 7 has a 49 percent shareholding. According to Loic Chateau, the...