Nigeria will commission its first nuclear power plant within the next decade, Simon Pesco Mallam, head of Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission (Nigatom) announced. “We have a roadmap and that is by the mid-2020s. We hope we can get a commercial plant and add three more in five to 10 years,” the manager told The Guardian. The official also recalled that Nigeria has a nuclear...

Côte d’Ivoire is reinvigorating land management. Indeed, after having announced more speed in the land-related process, the minister of construction, housing, sanitation and urbanism, Claude Isaac Dé (photo) set last May 16 the consultative committee that will price public land acquisition. “This Commission, headed by the Managing Director of Urban Planning and Land Management, Kouamé...

In Rwanda, cut flower exports generated $2.8 million between July 2017 and March 2018, more than double the value recorded the same period a year earlier. According to the Rwandan National Agricultural Export Development Board, (NAEB), which revealed these figures, the flower industry could better perform by the end of the year thanks to new development.   These...

Paul Obambi (photo), owner of the Congolese company SAPRO SA, seeks a loan from a French “consortium of banks” to finance a 450 km railway linking the city of Mayoko to a port in Pointe-Noire. In a telephone interview with Bloomberg this week, he said construction of the railway, which will transport iron ore produced in Mayoko, is expected to begin in 2019 and  completed in...

Manas Resources concluded an agreement with Perseus Mining to acquire its Mbengué gold project in Côte d’Ivoire. The project is located near Randgold Resources’ Tongon mine. Under the agreed terms, Manas will initially invest $300,000 (repayable) over 6 months to further evaluate the project's potential. Subsequently, it could then acquire up to a 70% interest in the project by...

In Morocco, the agricultural inclusive and sustainable development support program (PADIDFA) will benefit from a €200 million loan granted by African Development Bank. This initiative, which is in line with the Green Morocco Plan launched in 2008, aims to boost job creation in rural areas by reviving agricultural value chain.  “This project will increase agricultural exports to...

Battery Minerals announced last May 15 a A$20 million fundraising to advance its Montepuez graphite project in Mozambique, through a two tranche placement of 333.33 million shares at 6c each. CEO David Flanagan said that the fundraising,which had been oversubscribed, marks another step towards “starting production and generating cash flow from the Montepuez project”. Specifically,...

After a record first quarter, Roxgold has revised upwards its 2018 full year production target at Yaramoko gold mine in Burkina Faso. The mine is now expected to deliver between 120,000 and 130,000 oz, an increase from the initial forecast of 110,000 to 120,000 oz.  “As a result of the continued outperformance at Yaramoko that delivered record cash flow and gold production in the first...

Ivorian Coffee-Cocoa Council (CCC) has so far sold 1.1 million tons worth of cocoa export contracts for the 2019-19 marketing season, two CCC senior officials told Reuters. The regulator’s strategy is to liquidate contracts related to a 1.3-1.4 million tons total volume of beans before the next marketing year according to the the said source. Reuters revealed that the agreed...

In Côte d’Ivoire’s capital Abidjan, Société Africaine de Cacao (Saco), a subsidiary of  the world's leading cocoa by-products manufacturer ,Barry Callebaut, will launch a new production line for butter, cake and cocoa powder by 2019. This project is part of the group's strategy to invest CFA30 billion in Côte d'Ivoire. The goal is to boost its cocoa processing capacity to...