In Senegal, Agence Internationale d’Insertion et de Developpement Agricole (Anida) plans to establish 200 agricultural farms by 2017. To do so, the company intends to mobilize FCFA20 billion. According to El Hadj Malick Sarr, head of the institution, the project aims “to make agriculture an engine for sustainable growth in order to create jobs by 2017”. Government provides financial...

The government of Japan will announce financial aid to some 60 projects in Africa during the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI) which will take place on August 27th and 28th in Nairobi (Kenya), The Japan Times reported on February 14, 2016, citing a source from government. This aid, whose amount has not been revealed, is to mainly go to infrastructure...

In Mali, Excel TV, the pay-TV operator specialized in the retransmission of digital images has been suspended on February 11th on order of Minister of digital economy, Information and Telecommunication, Choguel Maiga. For some time now, the minister has contested the agreement between Excel TV and Office de Radiodiffusion Television du Mali (Ortm). Under this agreement, Excel TV has the rights...

Caledonia Mining announced it has sold forward 15,000 ounces of its gold production under a six-month collar and cap arrangement. Collar price is $US1,050 per ounce and cap price is $US1,080 per ounce. With this insurance, the mining firm will deliver the gold within the timeframe of contract, six months, with a weekly payment. Upon each payment, the range will serve as reference. If...

Ocean Rig UDW, has announced that one of its drilling contracts has been terminated. As a matter of fact, Total E&P Congo had on February 11, 2016 announced the termination the long standing contract of the 7th generation ultra-deepwater drillship Ocean Rig Apollo for convenience. Ocean Rig said it is eligible to a termination fee ranging from 50% to 95% of the daily operating rate which is...

BP on Tuesday announced the commencement of activities at its In Salah Gas project in Algeria. The Southern Fields project is a joint venture between Sonatrach, BP and Statoil. It is the most recent stage in the development of seven gas fields in central Algeria. It includes the development of four dry gas fields: Gour Mahmoud, In Salah, Garet el Befinat and Hassi Moumene. In Salah Gas joint...

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has announced that it is prepared to finalize current gas projects aimed at connecting gas-to-power and gas-to-industries in order to increase the nation’s economy. Speaking at the Senate Committee on Gas oversight visit to the NNPC Towers in Abuja, the Group General Manager, Gas Infrastructure Development (GID), Farouk Said, said NNPC is at...

French industrial firm Alstom announced in a release published on February 15th that it was going to provide 26 Citadis tramway kits to Cital, a joint-venture including Alstom (49%) and two other Algerian state-owned companies, Métro d’Alger (10%) and Ferrovial (41%). The 26 tramways were ordered Cital by Métro d’Alger for Sétif. They are to move on a 15.2Km-line which should be...

On February 15, 2016, the world renowned Beninese-born singer Angelique Kidjo confirmed her place at the top of world music as she received another Grammys Awards, one of the most prestigious music prizes awarded yearly in the United States. This is the second year, consecutively, that she wins a Grammy for Best World Music Album. This year, it’s with “Sings” that she gets the award. It...

Iran’s Minister of Petroleum, Bijan Zangeneh (photo), has said that his country is eager to develop relations and export crude oil as well as petroleum products to Ghana. This is coming after the conclusion of a meeting with Ghana’s Minister of Petroleum Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah in Tehran. Zangeneh said the two countries have prepared a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will be sign...