Côte d’Ivoire’s Coffee and Cocoa Council sold 170,000 tons more cocoa than it expected during the auction of the main crop, two senior officials of the institution told Reuters last March 1. According to the sources, the CCC auctioned export permits estimated at 1.53 million tons of cocoa but is now forecasting an output between 1.36 and 1.38 million tons of the bean, due to bad...

Kenya’s government signed with three European agencies, a concessional loan and grant agreements, under which it will be granted KSh22.29 billion (over $217 million) to implement water sanitization and supply projects in the country. The fund will be used to build a new dam in Mombasa, seek new water sources and upgrade existing supply networks in Kisumu and other towns in...

On February 27, 2018, Mars Egypt, a subsidiary of the US chocolatier Mars launched two new production lines in its West Cairo-based plant in 6th of October. The inauguration was headed by Tarek Kabil, the minister of industry and foreign trade. These new facilities valued at EGP750 million ($42.5 million) should allow the company to consolidate Egypt as a major exporter of its flagship...

The overall trade exchanges between Egypt and the US reached $5.61 billion in 2017. Compared to 2016’s volume which stood at $4.97 billion, this represents an increase by 13%, the Egyptian minister of trade and industry, Tarek Kabil (photo), revealed recently. He also indicated that the items mainly exported to the US are ready-made clothes, textiles, fertilizers, iron,...

Denham Capital Management LP, a British private equity company plans to invest $250 million in energy projects in Africa. In this regard, the company partnered with the Moroccan firm Neo Thermis, which is currently developing renewable energy and gas-fired plants estimated at about 400 MW across the continent. The projects include a solar plant (50 MW) in Nigeria and a hydroelectric dam (44...

During the 2017-2018 cocoa season, the offer will be superior to the demand. According to recent figures from the international cocoa organization, the surplus of the ongoing season should stand at 105,000 tons against 300,000 tons during the 2016-17 campaign. Though this is the second consecutive year that the offer is higher than the demand, the organization indicated that compared with the...

Last February 26, the West African Development Bank (BOAD) signed a financing agreement worth CFA5 billion ($9.3 million) with Senegal’s national bank for economic development (BNDE).  The fund will be used in part to refinance the 2017-18 peanut marketing campaign which began in December 2017. By using the fund the in agricultural and in the peanut sector, in particular, the Senegalese...

Benin's Minister of Planning and Development, Abdoulaye Bio Tchané (photo), announced that about 1.25 million hectares of land will be restored by 2030. This represents half of the degraded land during the 2000-2010 reference period. He revealed this on Feb. 27 during the national workshop on land and agroforestry landscapes management. The government also plans to limit to 5% the loss of...

In Côte d’Ivoire, about 125,000 tons of cocoa have been smuggled into neighboring countries since the 2017-18 campaign started in October. This was revealed by Bloomberg which quoted two sources close to the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) who requested anonymity. In detail, nearly 100,000 tons of the commodity were smuggled across the eastern border with Ghana while another 25,000...

Last week, Christian Magnagna, the Gabonese mine minister received in audience Koffie Ben Nassar, senior economist at the Africa department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during his visit in Libreville in the framework of an assessment of reforms and measures initiated by the government. During the audience, the economist reminded the objectives of IMF’s mission in Gabon. They also...