Kenya’s government submitted last week a record draft budget estimated at KSh3,500 billion (about $34.6 billion) for the 2018/2019 fiscal year beginning next July. This draft budget, which is 25% higher than the current year's (2017/2018) budget of KSh2,600 billion (about $25.7 billion), will enable the implementation of the “Big Four Agenda” development program initiated by...

World Bank has approved an additional $125 million in financing to Morocco for the development of the Noor Midelt I and II solar power plants. These funds include $25 million from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF). These facilities, set to have a total capacity of 600 MW, are developed under a combination of solar thermodynamic and photovoltaic technologies. The combination allows to...

By 2050, environmental damages could lead global economic output to decrease by 18%. Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) indicates in its latest report entitled “Measuring and Managing Environmental Exposure: A Business Sector Analysis of Natural Capital Risk’. Quoting data from Trucost research group and the UN-backed Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI) network, the report...

Randgold Resources announced yesterday June 11, it will soon complete the feasibility study on its Massawa gold project in Senegal and make a development decision by the end of this year.   Speaking during an inspection visit, CEO Mark Bristow (photo) indicated that the latest test work showed that 75% of the mine's ore reserves could be processed by the simple and inexpensive leach method,...

United in the Acord Guinée organization, various Guinean civil society groups plan to create a platform to popularize land texts and monitor land policy within the country. Guinée Matin reports. The organization, which is backed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), “has several missions, which include the contribution of land policies’ design and development. It will also...

In Kenya, food import spending jumped over the first 4 months this year. Central Bank of Kenya revealed that KSh68.63 billion were earmarked for food purchases over the period, reflecting an increase by 30% compared to last year. This amount also represents about 11.64% of the country's total import expenditures which stood at KSh589.62 billion ($5.8 billion) during the period under review. This...

In an article published on Le Banco.net, Antoinette Koukougnon-Nogbou, head of the Council for Cohesion, Justice and Development (CCJD), alerts about the ecological peril facing Côte d'Ivoire as forests disappear. “We are once again raising our voices to alert national and international opinion about an ecological crisis currently prevailing in Côte d'Ivoire, following previous...

The Ivorian subsidiary of Coris Bank International approved a new credit line worth CFA10 billion ($17.9 million) to local SMEs. The document was recently signed between the company and the ministry of trade, craft, and SMEs’ promotion. This new financing of 3 years and 6 months term period will run under an annual interest rate of 9%, down from the 10% usually applied. Key beneficiaries...

Teranga Gold reported it has revised upward estimates at its Wahgnion gold project in Burkina Faso. According to the updated estimates based on results from a 73,000-metre infill drill program completed in 2017, the mine would now host 50.5 million tons of measured and indicated resources grading 1.51 g/t, representing 2.4 million oz of gold. This figure exceeds the 1.8 million previously...

Yesterday June 10, Morocco and Nigeria clinched two cooperation agreements in the field of agriculture. The first was signed between the Cherifian Phosphate Office (OCP) and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority to develop a plant for ammonia and byproducts production. The second concerns professional training in agriculture and technical support within both countries’ agriculture...