United Nations (UN) announced yesterday May 24 it would provide a $30 million emergency fund to help Sahelian countries’ most vulnerable populations. Information from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) relayed by Xinhua, revealed that in the very short term, four countries should benefit from this emergency fund as to combat drought and food...

The Ivorian Ministers’ council enacted last May 23 a bill amending Act No. 98-750 of 23 December 1998 on rural land. This new act allows individuals receive land certificates on rural land. “This modification bill amends the existing rural land system in order to further secure and modernize rural land management. It clarifies certain concepts, in particular, that of land certificate and...

Mining company SEMAFO announced yesterday May 24, it has concluded a 70-months mining service contract with African Underground Mining Services (AUMS) to develop its Siou underground mine in Burkina Faso. According to agreed terms, AUMS will provide the mining fleet and a skilled labor force. It will also be charged with the mine’s development and production as well as auxiliary services....

Ghana will establish a Cashew Development Board by the end of next month, President Nana Akufo-Addo announced. At the same time, an initiative of the agriculture ministry will see 2.7 million cashew trees grown over 13,400 hectares. Moreover, producers will benefit from the technical support of 900 agricultural extension agents. Let’s note that this subsector provides about 70,000 tons of...

Angola’s government announced it will benefit from $700 million under a credit line granted by Credit Suisse to develop “strategic” projects, without specifying the projects involved. This information published in the country’s official journal was relayed by Macauhub.  This new financing comes few weeks after the government announced a $2 billion bond issuance, and...

Benin’s government set the price per kilogram of 1st choice cottonseed at CFA265 while that of the substandard quality will be CFA215. This was announced yesterday May 24, by the government at the end of a Council of Ministers. These tariffs are CFA5 up from the prices applied during the previous campaign. However, inputs will be sold at same prices as previous season (CFA12,000 per 50 kg of...

Yesterday May 23, the United States rejected a proposal by the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, to set up a direct funding for the G5 Sahel force, Deutsche Welle reports. According to the information revealed, the direct financing aimed at reducing the force’s dependency on donations from member and partner countries. This was to enable it accelerate the establishment of an operational...

South African company AngloGold Ashanti plans to cut 2,000 jobs at local mining operations as part of its restructuring plan to reduce costs. The restructuring will affect employees across the different categories and levels, including the region’s executive committee and senior management. In a statement published yesterday May 23, the company which employs about 8,200 people in South...

Ethiopia exported 340,000 tons of legume during the 2016-17 season. This represents an increase by 32,000 tons compared to the volume produced during the previous campaign and a new record after the 318,000 tons in 2012-13. US Department of Agriculture (USDA) which revealed the figures, indicated that during the period under review, legume exports generated $255 million in foreign exchange...

Mars Inc., a US confectionery giant, plans to pump KSh7 billion ($69.3 million) into the construction of a chewing-gum production factory in Kenya. CEO Victoria Mars announced yesterday May 23 following a meeting with Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta. The facility which will be implanted over 8 ha in Athi River, is set to produce about 7.8 billion chewing-gum per year. It will be...