Driven by gold mining, Burkina Faso's mining sector accounts for 16% of GDP and 80% of exports, according to the latest EITI data. To increase the sector's contribution to the economy, the government said it will build a refinery to process gold locally. Burkina Faso’s President, Ibrahim Traoré, laid the foundation stone for a national gold refinery on November 23, 2023. With an annual...

The African Development Bank’s Country Strategy Paper (CSP) for Tanzania has been implemented over the last two years with the programmed operations during the period producing results that exceed expectations, according to the mid-term review of the CSP 2021-2025 published on 9 November. The rate of access to drinking water in the project areas in Arusha, which was 60 percent of the...

The multipurpose industrial terminal of San Pedro (TIPSP), operated by Arise Ports & Logistics, is celebrating a major milestone in its activities through its first iron ore export operation on behalf of its customer PIMCO Mali by loading 62,415 MT into the MV Lowlands Mimosa vessel. The vessel docked on the morning of Sunday November 19, 2023, and completed loading at dawn on November 21, 2023 m...

The fifth edition of the Conference on Land Policies in Africa (CLPA) began on Tuesday, November 21, 2023, at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Discussions on the first day focused on various topics, including successful land reforms in Africa and their connections to intra-African trade. On-site, Ecofin Agency interviewed one of the panelists, Alaina Yacoub Possey, Secretary-General...

Meeting in Abidjan on Wednesday 22 November 2023, the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group approved a €86.89 million loan to Senegal to develop an agribusiness processing zone in the north of the country. The Bank's contribution accounts for 30.7% of the estimated €283.05 million total project cost. The Islamic Development Bank (21.2%), the West African...

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group approved a donation of EUR 34.27 million to Chad in Abidjan on 17 November 2023, to implement the second phase of the Semi-urban and Rural Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Programme in 11 of the country’s regions. The financial support comes from resources under Pillar I of the Transition Support Facility. The project aims to...

This initiative strengthens the longstanding partnership between the Senegalese bank and Proparco. French private sector financing institution in developing countries, Proparco, announced on Friday, November 17, the provision of a portfolio guarantee to the Senegalese subsidiary of the French banking group Société Générale. According to information made available, the guarantee will cover...

Ecofin Pro's Journal of Transactions has been collecting and storing information on private financing in Africa (excluding bank credit and financial markets) since 2017. It now enables a comprehensive overview of this sector, encompassing various aspects such as resources provided by development finance institutions, private equity firms, and venture capital. This databank is more about the...

After facing limitations in bilateral development cooperation with Germany due to its socio-political situation between 2002 and 2011, Côte d’Ivoire now enjoys a partnership aimed at promoting reforms as part of the G20's "Compact with Africa" initiative, launched in 2017. The Ivorian presidency issued a statement on November 19 saying Côte d’Ivoire will sign a new financing partnership...

Benin’s government aims to accelerate the country's digital transformation, positioning it as a key driver of socio-economic development. A budget of CFA31 billion FCFA was allocated to the Ministry of Digitalization for FY2023. Benin’s government is pursuing its digital transformation ambition. For FY2024, the government is planning to allocate up to CFA24.3 billion ($40.5 million) to the...