Société africaine des plantations d'hévéas de Côte d'Ivoire (SAPH-CI), the Ivorian branch of the partnership between the Billon family and French company Michelin, saw a significant rise in debt in 2023. Their net debt climbed to CFA45 billion ($73.5 million), a 34% increase from the previous year's CFA34 billion. SAPH-CI, mostly owned by Société internationale des plantations d'hévéas,...

The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund, the concessional lending arm of the African Development Bank Group, has approved a partial credit guarantee to support Rwanda’s mobilisation of financing to implement green and social initiatives. The Partial credit guarantee for mobilisation of sustainable financing for Rwanda project will enable the country to raise up to €200...

Perseus Mining operates the Yaouré and Sissingué gold mines in Côte d'Ivoire. While the initial lifespan of Sissingué was set to end in 2022, the company has identified satellite deposits that could extend the mine's operation until 2026. In Côte d'Ivoire, the National Environmental Agency has approved the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) submitted by Perseus for the Bagoé...

Gemfields, a leading producer of rubies in Mozambique and emeralds in Zambia, introduced a calculation method in 2021 to assess its contribution to public revenues in both countries. This method considers mining royalties and dividends. On April 24th, Gemfields announced it paid Zambia and Mozambique respectively $28.3 million and $53.2 million. These represent 31% and 35% of the...

Citibank's forecast suggests copper prices could soar to $15,000 per ton by 2025. Meanwhile, production at Zjinn’s copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo was halted amidst concerns over supply meeting demand. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has paused the mining license for the COMMUS copper and cobalt project, operated by Zijin Mining. The decision was driven by reports...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated that Côte d'Ivoire's financing needs to combat the impacts of climate change amount to $22 billion over eight years starting from 2022. This information stems from a report released by the institution on April 22. According to the IMF, these requirements are divided into two categories: $12 billion for implementing adaptation...

Mobile financial services have emerged as a vital tool for enhancing financial inclusion in Africa, especially among populations with limited access to traditional banking. In DRC, the mobile money market is operated by major telecom operators like Vodacom, Orange, Africell, and Airtel. Subscriptions to mobile financial services in DR Congo surged from 6.59 million in the third quarter of 2020...

African leaders gathered last April 22 and 23 in Audja, Nigeria, to address the escalating challenges posed by terrorism across the continent, spotlighting the Sahel and Somalia as epicenters of violence. The event themed “Strengthening Regional Cooperation and Institution Building to Address the Evolving Threat of Terrorism in Africa” served as a platform to assess current hurdles and...

The adoption of electronic communication services is booming in Africa, driven by high demand and constant shifts in digital service consumption habits among the population. As of December 31, 2023, Benin had 8.5 million unique subscribers to mobile telephony services, with 16.3 million SIM cards in circulation, as reported by the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Postal...

Collectively, the three AES countries will have a combined GDP of $62.3 billion. Burkina Faso will lead the way, overtaking its neighbor Mali, according to the IMF. Ouagadougou will nevertheless lag far behind the region's leading economy, Côte d'Ivoire, which will post a GDP of $86.9 billion this year. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts Burkina Faso to become the...