Randgold Resources announced last Friday that it paid in 2016 $173 million to the governments of African countries where it operates, Miningweekly reported. At the year ended on December 31, 2016, the company paid $161 million to the government of Mali where is located its Morila gold mine as well as its Loulo and Gounkoto projects. In Cote d’Ivoire where it operates the Tongon...

Yesterday, Tunisia’s government announced it has cut fuel subsidy, causing prices of petrol to raise by 6.7%, Reuters reported. This decision which falls in line with one of the reforms imposed to the country by the International monetary fund (IMF), aims at helping reduce its budget deficit. Indeed, it may be recalled that last month, IMF released to Tunisia a tranche of $320 million...

On June 16, 2017, Ecobank requested the approval of its shareholders for the issue of $400 million worth of convertible bonds. Part of the proceeds of the operation ($200 million), according to the group, will be used to pay back the bridge loan that it granted the resolution vehicle it set up to recover non-performing loans of its Nigerian subsidiary as they impair its financial results....

What if land was the answer to the protests currently taking place in Al Hoceima ? Well, it seems the government believes so, according to the minister of agriculture, Aziz Akhannouch, who made the announcement while commencing a visit in the region last Thursday. Others issues brought up by the official on that occasion include land property in rural areas which is one of the main sources of...

Last Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved an $86 million loan for Madagascar after its first review of the country’s economic performance, under a programme backed by an Extended Credit Facility. The money will be provided immediately, bringing total financing under the programme to around $129.61 million. The funding will enable Malagasy authorities pursue the...

The government of Gambia has proposed to cut its budget for 2017 by 6% to 12.24 billion dalasi ($266.8 million). This decision comes in a bid to contain public debt which exploded over the past years. According to Reuters, the country’s public debt which already represented 83.3% of its gross domestic product between 2013 and 2016, rose to 120.3% of this value, last year, under former...

From January to now, Algeria’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen by $6.1 billion standing at $108 billion, Reuters reported citing the governor of Central Bank, Mohamed Loukal. The official explains that the decrease was due to significant imports. Truly, over the first four months of the year, imports in the country reached $15.2 billion, which is 0.14% less than over the...

The European Union (EU) has said it is withdrawing its financial support for Nigeria, claiming that the country has sufficient resources to meet its developmental needs. “We are not offering more financial support, we are proposing more political and policy dialogue, technical assistance, capacity building, training, transfer of technology, more advocacy for more private investments and...

Nigeria can generate more than $10 billion from selling honey and other hive products locally and internationally, according to David Musa, the Team leader for USAID Bee Keeping Pollination Project. Speaking on the sideline of a capacity building workshop tagged “EU Third Country Listing; An Eligibility Criteria to Export Honey to the EU Market” for bee-farmers in Nasarawa State on...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has restated its commitment in assisting the Federal Government of Nigeria address the power challenges that the country faces. Expressing himself in Abuja on Thursday, the Country Director of AfDB, Ebraima Faal, said the bank will support efforts to find a durable solution to the power challenges. He however, did not give further details regarding the nature...