On Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th of November, Abidjan was host to the first and largest eSport event in Africa where 256 gamers gathered to compete over 2 days for cash prizes amounting to 8 500 000 FCFA (13 000 Euros) at the Palais de la Culture. Street Fighter V, Naruto and FIFA attracted video game players from 5 African countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, and Burkina...

Settling a debt for power supplied, Niger and Benin have paid Nigeria $64 million (CFA35 billion). This was disclosed by Babatunde Fashola, Nigeria’s minister of power.  Last May, the two countries which get power from Nigeria, paid about $159 million to the Nigeria bulk electricity trader (Nbet).  Nigeria currently goes through a power crisis that affects its whole...

With the support of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mauritius has launched a $191 million renewable energy project which aims at reducing the country’s fossil fuel imports and accelerate its shift to a low-carbon economy. The project will extend over eight years and falls in line with the country’s goal to, by 2025, bring renewables’...

French group Peugeot PSA just entered into a Joint-Venture agreement with three Algerian partners. This is to open a car manufacturing factory especially for the Algerian market.  The first cars will be delivered in 2018, by a plant located in the Oran suburb, 400km West of Algiers. According to the group, the agreement is signed after two years of negotiations, and should help produce...

This was announced on Sunday, November 12, 2017. Showkutally Soodhun, the minister of housing and lands was replaced by the agro-industry minister, Mahen Seeruttun (photo), 24 hours after resigning. “The Prime Minister gave me a task, and I will fully accomplish it,” said the new minister who added that he will continue on the same action path as his predecessor. He will in fact have to...

The solar power solution provider officially entered Ivory Coast. “Today, the mobile energy revolution arrived in Cote d'Ivoire. Families and businesses across the country now have access to affordable solar electricity. We are honored to bring our technology here, and we look forward to working with the Government and stakeholders to increase energy access for all Ivorians,” said...

In Burkina Faso, forecasts for the 2017/2018 cotton harvest were scaled down. The nation which initially aimed for an output of 650,000 tons, should finally produce 563,000 tons, or 17.5% less than during the previous year. According to the Société burkinabè des fibres textiles (SOFITEX), this decrease is due to insufficient rains during sowing, paired with pest invasion. Let’s recall that...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the European Union (EU) will inject $9 million in the construction of a 1,008km-long highway that will connect Lagos to Abidjan. This was disclosed by the President of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Marcel Alain de Souza (picture). The Abidjan-Lagos corridor which will cross five countries, namely Côte...

The Canadian firm Sherritt International has, at the end of last week, signed with its partners Sumitomo Holding and Korea Resources, a definitive agreement for the restructuring of the joint venture managing Ambatovy, Madagascar’s biggest mine. After the drop in prices of nickel recorded over the past years, the project has indeed experienced some profitability issues.   Under the terms...

Since last Saturday, Bloomberg has launched in Accra, Ghana, the Africa Business Media Innovators (ABMI) 2017. The event which is organized by Matt Winkler and Justin Smith, respectively co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg Media, will end on November 14. Themed “The Changing Face of Media and New Hybrid Model”, the ABMI17 looks at better ways to sustain the dynamism of a flourishing media...