Morocco’s customs and indirect taxes administration (ADII) announced that the country’s customs earnings reached MAD95 billion (about $10.3 billion) in 2017.  Compared to the MAD90.5 billion (about $9.8 billion) collected the previous year, it represents an increase by 5.1% and it is also a record in the country’s history. The administration further indicated that the...

Nigeria will connect 500, 000 to 800, 000 new households to the national grid, every year, to achieve universal access to energy by 2030. This was indicated in a report from World Bank on the environmental and social assessment of the Power Sector Recovery Program. In order to achieve this goal, the country plans to reach in the mid-term, an electrification rate of 75% from the current 30%,...

Yesterday March 27, the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) disbursed $18.5 million as loan for the Agricultural Value Chain Support Program (PADFA) which will be implemented in Côte d'Ivoire. The agreement was initialed by Gilbert Houngbo (photo), IFAD’s chairman, and Seydou Cissé, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Côte d'Ivoire to IFAD, FAO and WFP. Valued...

Trek Metals announced today March 28, it concluded a binding agreement with Battery Minerals to acquire 100% stake in its Kroussou copper and zinc project in Gabon. According to details published, Trek Metals will hold full capital-share of Select Exploration Ltd, the Mauritian subsidiary of Battery Minerals in exchange of $400, 000 broken into $200, 000 in cash money and the...

Vital Metals, active on Bouli gold project in Niger, announced on March 26 a fundraising of $3.8 million through the placement, in two tranches, of 422.2 million common shares worth $0.009 each. The company will use the fund to fast-track exploration works on Bouli project and further its Watershed tungsten project in Queensland (Australia). On Bouli project, where it has...

Tè Power Company SASU announced it has completed the fund mobilization for the construction of Tè thermal power plant (50 MW) in Guinea Conakry.  During the operation, the company raised the $121 million needed to build the facility. The resource includes $32 million in equity from Endeavour Energy (charged with the plant’s construction) and $89 million from...

Firestone Diamonds, announced yesterday March 27, that it produced 379, 716 carats of diamonds on its Liqhobong mine in Lesotho, during the first half of the ongoing financial year that began in July 2017. While specifying that the mine’s commercial production started last July 1, the company indicated that it has processed a total of 1.9 million of ore in the period under review and...

 Ndiouck Mbaye (photo), chairwoman of Senegal’s National Federation of Rural Women, wants the government to hold national meetings on agricultural issues and women's access to land, as soon as possible.   Speaking during an interview with Le Soleil, the woman said that Senegalese rural women were facing socio-cultural pressures that hinder their efforts to ensure their economic...

Alta Semper Capital, a London-based private equity firm that invests in a number of African growing markets, announced yesterday March 27 that it granted $18 million to Health Plus Ltd, a Nigerian-based retail pharmacy chain. Bukky George, founder and CEO of Health Plus, said that the London firm was the right partner for its group’s stage of growth. “Alta Semper’s focus on...

The TSX-V listed Orezone Gold, active in Burkina Faso on the Bomboré project, announced yesterday March 26, a fundraising of C$44.92 million (about $35 million) through a non-brokered private placement of 56.15 million common shares worth $0.8 each. New strategic investors will also participate in this placement. They are namely Resource Capital Fund VII (RCF VII) and Coris...