The government of Niger expects a total of CFA675 million (about $1.1 billion) from the World Bank to fight the coronavirus pandemic this year. The information was reported by the country’s Finance Minister, Mamadou Diop (pictured), following an online meeting held on July 8 between President Issoufou Mahamadou and Ousmane Diagana, the new vice-president of the World Bank for West and...

West Africa’s burgeoning youth population offers a strategic workforce which can be harnessed for employment and economic growth, despite a COVID-19 pandemic that is devastating the continent and global economies, the African Development Bank said in its regional economic outlook report. The virtual launch of the report on 3 July, was jointly hosted by the Bank’s Regional Development and...

The African Development Bank Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Rabah Arezki as Chief Economist and Vice President, Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, effective 1st October 2020. Dr Rabah Arezki, a citizen of Algeria, is currently the Chief Economist for Middle East and North Africa Region at the World Bank, a role he has held since 2017. At the World Bank, he led the...

Economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed East Africa’s growth projection for 2020 down to 1.2 percent, a rate that outstrips other African regions and is forecast to rebound to 3.7 percent in 2021, according to the African Development Bank’s East Africa Regional Economic Outlook 2020. The projection is under the baseline scenario that assumes the virus is contained by...

Morocco will increase its tariffs on certain imported products. This is revealed in the draft amending Finance Law proposed by the government for the financial year 2020. According to the document, the import duties applicable to certain finished consumer products will now rise from 30% to 40%. The measure aims to strengthen the protection of national production to accompany the efforts...

July 8 was all like every normal day, focused on work. I had no inkling there would be a storm, even though we have weathered many storms and floods in Abidjan in recent times. Like a jolting bolt of thunder, everything changed when my wife, Grace, called my attention to a news item that the Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly had died. I told her this couldn’t be true as he just came back and...

The European Union (EU) yesterday released €15 million for locust control in East Africa. The money should help strengthen the capacity of UN organizations engaged in the fight, such as FAO, as well as partner countries.This EU support comes at a time when many countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan are facing the threat of a new wave of locust swarms due to...

World Banks’ International Development Association (IDA) approved the disbursement of $100 million (CFA57.8 billion) to help Niger accelerate its digital transformation. According to a statement issued by the institution, this support -which is composed equally of a loan and a grant- will be invested in a program to modernize the economy and improve access to essential services. The World...

Sudan’s transitional government will undergo its first reshuffle, less than a year after its establishment. The information was reported on July 9 by the National Transitional Council. New faces will now head the Ministries of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Energy and Health. A total of seven ministers will be replaced by temporary staff in the coming days before the appointment of new...

Social issues are at the heart of the priorities of the Amending Finance Law in Morocco, we learned. Firstly, the Moroccan government wants to speed up the implementation of the reform of the education, training and scientific research system, improve the employability of young people, improve and generalize health services and guarantee citizens' access to quality health services, as well as...