Côte d'Ivoire's gold potential is estimated at 600 tonnes. The country is looking for new viable deposits to bolster its gold production, which hit 51 tonnes in 2023. During the Council of Ministers meeting on October 16, the Ivorian government issued four decrees granting mining exploration permits: three for gold and one for lithium. The gold licenses were awarded to Smart Mineral Explorer...

Last month, AngloGold Ashanti sealed a $2.5 billion deal to acquire Centamin. The move will give the South African company control of Egypt's largest gold mine, which can produce up to 500,000 ounces yearly. AngloGold Ashanti and Centamin have received approval from the Egyptian competition authority for merging. With this regulatory approval, AngloGold is on track to finalize the deal by...

Saudi Arabia is set to enter Zambia’s copper sector through a partnership with First Quantum Minerals. In 2023, Saudi Arabia established a company focused on mining investments, particularly in critical metals like copper and lithium. The kingdom has already signed a mining cooperation agreement with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the world's second-largest copper producer. First...

Manganese is Gabon’s third-largest export after oil and timber. Most of the country’s production comes from Eramet, a French company. The firm, however, recently cut its forecast for 2024–a move that could offset Libreville’s plans to ramp up the national output this year. Production at Gabon’s Moanda mine, the world’s biggest manganese mine, is on pause. Eramet, the company that...

During its 357th board meeting, the Islamic Development Bank announced a $3 billion funding package for 17 of its member countries. On October 14, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) approved more than $1.2 billion in funding for nine African member countries. The decision was made during a board meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This initiative aims to boost resilience, sustainability,...

The Ivorian government attributes this outcome to effective resource mobilization and careful spending management, despite challenging global conditions. Côte d'Ivoire wrapped up its FY2023 with a surplus of CFA38.6 billion, which is about $63.7 million. This announcement came during the Cabinet meeting on October 16. The government attributed this surplus to effective resource...

In February 2023, the state-owned telecom operator Celtiis announced its network was ready for 5G. Now, more than a year and a half later, its rivals in Benin are making the same promise. MTN and Moov Africa, two of Benin’s top telecom companies, announced on October 16 that they will soon roll out commercial 5G services. However, they did not provide a launch date. Ce que vous pensiez...

Olumide Balogun, Google’s Director for West Africa, recently announced that artificial intelligence (AI) could contribute up to $1.5 trillion to Africa's GDP by 2030. He made this statement during the Nigerian Economic Summit held in Abuja. However, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) presents a more conservative estimate. In its "Africa Development Insights" report published in...

Last April, AMN, a telecom tower builder, began a similar project in Nigeria in partnership with Starlink. By September, the company had already connected 100 towers, boosting traffic on its network. On October 17, Intelsat, a Luxembourg-based satellite telecom provider, introduced a new solution to help Internet service providers and telecom operators improve coverage in West Africa. The...

Now sitting at 65th on the list of the world's richest people, the head of Dangote Group has reached a new peak in wealth, according to the index. This significant rise in his fortune primarily results from factoring in the value of his mega-refinery when assessing the Nigerian entrepreneur's assets. Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote (pictured) has seen his fortune soar by $15.1 billion,...