The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved an investment of $100 million in the industrial platform developer and operator Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms Ltd (Arise IIP) to contribute to funding industrial parks and special economic zones across Africa as a part of our industrialization strategic priority and flagship Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones...

• Burkina Faso’s first vet drug plant is expected to save $17.3M yearly on imports.• The $36.4M factory will produce 110M doses and create over 600 jobs.• The project supports national food sovereignty and export opportunities. The construction of Burkina Faso’s first veterinary pharmaceutical manufacturing plant will help the country reduce its reliance on imported animal...

• The NCC now requires telecom operators to publish details of major service outages.• Operators must explain the cause, affected areas, and expected repair time.• Extended outages must be compensated; repeated failures may face penalties. Network outages are becoming more frequent in Nigeria, mostly due to power cuts and damage to telecom infrastructure. Recently, MTN’s network was down...

AXIAN Energy has officially broken ground on the NEA Kolda solar power plant, marking the start of construction works. The plant is located in Tankanto Escale, in the southern region of Kolda, Senegal, approximately 700 km from Dakar. The groundbreaking ceremony was held in the presence of regional authorities and local communities, who are the primary beneficiaries of this high-impact...

• ARPCE urged Airtel and MTN to address nationwide service quality shortcomings.• A Feb–April 2025 audit showed significant performance drops across key areas.• Both operators pledged to submit optimization plans to correct technical issues. The Regulatory Authority for Posts and Electronic Communications (ARPCE) has firmly called on mobile operators, Airtel and MTN, to substantially...

• Afreximbank committed to mobilize $1 billion for Tanzania over the next year.• Target sectors include manufacturing, infrastructure, oil refineries, and SMEs.• The pledge aligns with Tanzania’s five-year plan to drive industrial expansion. The African Import-Export Bank (Afreximbank) has pledged to mobilize $1 billion in funding for Tanzania over the next twelve months to...

Egypt completed technical planning for a ground link to Saudi Arabia via bridge or tunnel The plan includes high-speed rail corridors to support Egypt’s logistics hub ambitions. Political tensions, environmental risks, and funding gaps pose key obstacles. Egypt is moving forward with plans for a direct terrestrial link to Saudi Arabia, aiming to intensify work on a project that...

Carlo McLeod named special advisor and deputy director in Namibia’s upstream unit. His public-private background aligns with goals to shape oil and gas policy direction. The presidency aims to review regulations and boost local content as projects advance. Following her inauguration in March, Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah decided to channel the management of...

Dangote Group is backing a new 32-ton/hour rice mill in Niger State, Nigeria. The mill is part of the Niger Foods Initiative, a public-private agriculture program. Nigeria is projected to import 3M tons of rice in 2024/25, 37% of total demand. In Nigeria, Niger State is set to host a new rice mill on a 30-hectare site in Wushishi. Fatima Wali Abdurrahman, the senior special adviser...

Kenya is promoting adventure tourism to create rural jobs amid 70% youth unemployment. The Kenya Tourism Board launched a global campaign with BBC StoryWorks on May 25. Job creation in guiding, hospitality, and local services is a key strategy. With about seven out of ten young people unemployed, according to the Federation of Kenyan Employers (FKE), Kenya seeks to rejuvenate its...