The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) yesterday announced $8 million in aid for the locust control operations in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.   According to the latest update by FAO on 17 February, the situation remains critical and could lead to food insecurity in the region. The new funding brings the U.S. government's total contribution to the humanitarian...

Africell announced it has purchased $6 million of equipment in plans to modernize its Internet network across Gambia. In an interview with The Point on February 16, Musa Ceesay, Africell’s Head of Corporate Affairs, said “the materials are currently in China and we will be shipping them into the country soon. I can assure you that if the materials arrive in the country we will never have...

In an interview with New Times, the British High Commissioner to Rwanda, Jo Lomas (pictured) said the United Kingdom is seeking to sign with the East African Community (EAC) a deal somewhat similar to EAC’s Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union. “We are looking to have a trade deal with the EAC, along the lines of what was agreed upon by the EU. Ultimately, we would like to...

Estimates by the UN Fund for Children (Unicef) show that a total of 2.9 million people need humanitarian assistance in Niger, with 1.6 million of them being children. Malnutrition, recurrent epidemics, cyclical floods, drought seasons, people displacements and insecurity are the factors leading to the current situation, Unicef said. “Insecurity is escalating at a worrying pace in the central...

Bad news for power thieves. The Electricity Company of Ghana is making moves to acquire AI tools that will be used to fight power theft. This was announced February 18 by Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia at the launch of a mobile application for ECG customers. The official said the measure will help overcome major challenges including the difficulties in collecting payment for power supply that...

In Nigeria, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is planning to deploy ICT centers in all state secretariats. The information was announced by the Agency’s Managing Director Kashifu Abdullahi, in response to Shu’aibu Ibrahim, head of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who asked NITDA to replicate the ICT center it established at the Federal Capital Territory...

In Nigeria, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation, increased by 12.1 pct YoY in January this year, its highest level in 21 months, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed. This figure is higher by 0.15 pct compared to December 2019 when the index increased by 11.9 pct. NBS linked the situation to the closure of the border with Benin which was a gateway for foodstuffs,...

The 2020 edition of the Financial Secrecy Index (FSI) recently published by the Tax Justice Network reveals that Africa continues to bear the heaviest consequences of financial secrecy and capital flights, a system that gives elites and criminals a place to hide and launder money. The sad thing is the continent is the most hit while all the 17 African countries featured in the report account for...

Between January and November 2019, trade between Egypt and the rest of Africa slightly increased by 2.03%, reaching $131.35 million against $128.74 million the same period in 2018. Data were provided by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (Capmas). On the continent, Kenya was Egypt’s leading trade partner with a trade volume of about $17.69 million at the...

Dutch development bank FMO invested $2.8 million into US Acumen’s Pioneer Energy Investment Initiative (PEII) that seeks to bridge the energy funding gap in developing countries. The investment was made through Access to Energy Fund (AEF), a fund managed by FMO on behalf of the Dutch government, which finances private sector projects focusing on improving access to sustainable energy in...