At the end of the main cocoa season (Oct. 1st 2016-March 31st 2017), arrivals of shipments at the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro combined stood at 1,403,000 metric tons of cocoa, thus a 15% increase compared to the volume recorded over the same period, a year before. This was revealed to Reuters by cocoa exporters. Arrivals to exporting points increased significantly near March ending. Indeed,...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will grant a composite facility of $450 million to the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). The facility consists of a three-year $150 million unfunded risk participation agreement and a $300 million loan to boost intra-Africa trade. The facility will also help support regional integration and contribute to the reduction of the trade...

The government of Benue State spent over $6.3million on rural projects since May 29, 2015, according to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Rural Development and Cooperatives, Adzer Abya. Abya who disclosed this after examining some of the ongoing projects in the Gwer and Apa local government areas of the state on Tuesday explained that the projects which spread across the state include...

A total of $1.1billion is needed to address the outbreak of Meningitis in five states in Nigeria, according to the Acting Director-General of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Emmanuel Odu. The states concerned are Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina and Niger. “To vaccinate a total population of 22 million in the five affected states will cost $1.1billion;...

The Federal Government plans to commence online registration of unemployed Nigerians from Wednesday, April 5, 2017. This is aimed at creating jobs and maintaining a data bank on vacancies in the country. According to Edmund Onwuliri, Deputy Director, Information and Public Relations of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), “the online portal which goes live on Wednesday, April 5, 2017,...

The Nigerian oil tanker drivers have called off a strike action initiated on Monday over non-payment of salaries and poor road conditions. The strike was called off following government intervention to put an end to threats by the workers to stop supply. “The union called off the strike because the federal government has intervened and promised to look into the drivers’ demands,” said...

According to recent forecasts from Mali’s ministry of agriculture, the country’s rice output for the 2017-18 season should reach 3 million metric tons, Reuters reports. This represents an 8% increase compared to the output of the previous season (2.78 million Mt). Namory Diabate, the head of the statistics service at the ministry, said the improvement in output forecast, is partly due to an...

In line with the launch of the practical stage of the village territories delineation operation in the Western part of Cote d’Ivoire, advising firm specialized in topography and land (CETIF) has initiated a sensitization campaign in the Guémon, Cavally and Tonkpi regions. This was reported by the Ivorian press agency (AIP). The operation should result in the delineation of 950 village...

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday revealed plans to offer $150 million in currency forwards. This is to be settled within 60 days, according to currency traders. CBN has been selling dollars on the FOREX market so as to reduce the gap between the official and black market exchange rates. The naira was sold at 395 to the dollar on the black market on Monday compared to the...

The World Bank has called on Nigeria to protect its remaining rainforests in Cross River State as part of the global effort to reduce climate change. The call is coming a week after President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Paris agreement on climate change. “Among the measures that Nigeria has pledged to take, is to play its part by contributing to climate change mitigation through the...