The West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) is projected to achieve a 6.4% growth rate in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). This positive forecast aligns with the commencement of natural gas field exploitation and the initiation of a new oil pipeline by member countries, including Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, and Niger. The BCEAO...

Burundi became Africa’s only rare earths producer in 2017. Uganda and Angola could join it, consequently making the continent compete with China which currently dominates this market. Ionic Rare Earths has finished building and commissioned its Makuutu rare earths project in Uganda, the country’s first rare earth mine. The Australian firm announced the news on March 7th, adding that it...

Uranium prices surged in recent months, peaking above $100 per pound in January 2024. The rise was spurred by a renewed interest in nuclear power. Long-term demand is also expected to increase, offering promising prospects for uranium-producing countries like Niger. Global Atomic, a leading Canadian firm, has recently struck a significant deal with a prominent European nuclear power...

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group, granted an additional $16.08 million on March 4, to The Gambia to bolster its ongoing Agriculture and Food Security Project, launched in 2021. GASFP (Global Agriculture and Food Security Project), a multilateral financing platform dedicated to enhancing the incomes and food security of impoverished communities in developing...

Senegalese President Macky Sall has appointed Sidiki Kaba as the new prime minister, freeing Amadou Ba to enter the presidential race scheduled for March 24, amid a backdrop of a controversial amnesty law. Sidiki Kaba, formerly the Minister of the Interior, will take over as Prime Minister, replacing Amadou Ba, who is now a candidate in the presidential election set for March 24. Ba will have...

Wall Street Bank anticipates that the surplus supply of three critical minerals and the slowdown in the electric vehicle market in Western countries will continue to drive prices down in the mid-term. U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs forecasts a double-digit decline in the prices of three critical minerals essential for the energy transition - cobalt, nickel, and lithium - over the next 12...

The West African Development Bank (BOAD) has approved a series of financing totaling $197 million for Burkina Faso and Mali, two countries that are part of the newly formed Alliance of Sahel States (AES). This funding, approved during the bank's latest board meeting on Monday, March 4, 2024, indicates significant support for the countries that have recently expressed intentions to distance...

The inflation rate within the WAEMU zone averaged 2.7% in January 2024, remaining below the 3% threshold of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). However, notable increases were observed in Niger and Burkina Faso, where prices surged beyond the bank's upper limit. Niger and Burkina Faso recorded the highest inflation rates in the WAEMU region in January 2024, according to the monthly...

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote is planning to establish an oil trading company to manage crude supply for his new refinery in Nigeria, Reuters reported on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, citing sources familiar with the matter. The new oil trading arm of Dangote Group, expected to be based in London, would allow Dangote to do without global trading giants like Trafigura and Vitol. These firms have...

Gold greatly contributes to state revenues and GDP in Africa, as the primary mineral commodity mined in several countries. The global increase in the ore’s prices could boost producers’ revenues, including those active in Africa. Gold futures contracts for April reached $2,126 per ounce on Monday, the highest level since the contract was created in 1974. In recent months, many analysts,...