After Gafsa, Gabes and Sfax, the Sidi Bouzid governorate is also about to see its phosphate industry crippled by social mobilizations. On Wednesday, militants who demanded jobs and development for their delegations (Mazzouna, Meknassi, Menzel, Bouzayane) blocked the rail traffic between Sfax and Tozeur in the Founi region. These types of manifestations tend to become the norm in these regions as...

“So many projects fail because, when we talk about solar parks in Africa, most of the time people think this is just about finding an empty plot of land and implementing a project. Little thought is given to how projects will be managed once built.” This is how Eugene Ikejemba summarized the study he conducted in collaboration with Peter Schuur on the lack of efficiency of solar projects in...

The government of Ghana is currently in negotiation with actors of the private sector to finalize a strategic plan for the development of the cashew industry. Extending over 10 years, this plan will boost the country’s output to 150,000 tons from 50,000 tons, Ghanaweb reveals. Upon the implementation of this plan, the processing sector for the nut which has a total capacity of 65,000 tons...

The Ivorian economy should grow 9.8% in 2016 against 9.5% in 2015, Minister of budget, Abdourahmane Cissé, announced during a conference held on January 21. This projection exceeds the 8.4% forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the end of 2015.   Mr. Cissé also said Côte d’Ivoire recorded an annual average growth of 9% since the end of the 2011 civil war. To maintain...

Tullow Oil on Thursday revealed that it is sending one of the world’s leading floating deep-water oil production platforms to West Africa to produce crude for at most 20 years. According to Tullow’s COO, Paul McDade (photo), the 340-m long production vessel which was named after late Ghanaian president Prof John Evans Atta Mills, was rehabilitated in Singapore from a very large crude carrier...

The Egyptian Refining Company (ERC), has announced that production will commence at its $3.7 billion oil refinery in Q1 of 2017. According to the company’s managing director, Mohammed Saad, the refinery which is the biggest in Egypt with a capacity to produce 4.2 million tonnes of refined products yearly, is to commence trial production by the end of 2016. "We have completed so far 80...

Tunisia will present a development plan which requires $63 billion of investments, from which $23 billion of foreign investment, during the Davos World Economic Forum which began yesterday and will end on January 23. “Tunisia plans during the Davos Forum to mobilize a third of the amount representing its financial needs for developing national economy over a period of 5 years. These...

In Libya, Islamic State militants on Thursday claimed responsibility for another attack on an oil installation close to the country's Ras Lanuf terminal. According to an engineer at the port and an energy official not less than two storage tanks from the Harouge Oil Operations Company had been set ablaze near Ras Lanuf. The militants in a video released not long after the attack, threatened to...

Telecom firm Gabon Telecom just purchased 44 power generators to keep its telecommunication network active as the country currently experiences repeated power outages. Acquiring this equipment is the second step in the group’s strategy to reinforce its network. Gabon Telecom’s director general, via Gabon Television, revealed that the firm had already invested about FCFA7 billion in the...

Islamic Corporation for the development of the Private Sector (ICD) will disburse $30 million as part of its contribution in the funding scheme to support SMEs and SMIs in WAEMU. This commitment is a product of memorandum of understanding signed last January 18 in Jeddah by Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). ICD also committed to raising its...