December 11, 2017, the IMF’s board approved a three-year agreement under the extended credit facility (ECF) for Guinea. Valued at 120.488 million special drawing rights (SDR), which is about $170.1 million, representing 56.25% of Guinea’s quota, this programme aims to foster a stronger and inclusive growth, diversify Guinea’s economy and reduce poverty. The IMF’s decision will...

Firestone Diamonds has announced last Wednesday that it extends the option period granted Amulet, a group of private investors, to acquire its diamond assets in Botswana. Initially set on July 31, 2018, the option period now goes until December 31, 2018. The two firms had concluded last May, an agreement enabling Amulet for $5.1 million to purchase Firestone’s Botswana subsidiary which...

Visiting the Biskra wilaya, in the Central Eastern part of Algeria, the minister of tourism and craftsmanship, Hassan Mermouri (picture), has announced that all hotel developers that fail to valorize lands they were awarded for projects, will be expropriated. This was reported by Algérie Presse Service (APS). “Delayed projects will be taken care of and measures will be taken to...

Ethiopia has just signed an agreement related to the construction of two geothermal plants having a combined capacity of 1,000 MW. The Corbetti and Tulu Moye plants, as they are named, will cost $4 billion and will be located in the Rift valley, south of Addis-Abeba.   This initiative falls in line with the national power strategy which aims to make Ethiopia the largest power exporter...

Next year, HSPC polyclinic in Kumba, a private hospital in Southwest Cameroon, will be provided with a digital application which will help it compile data on patients for epidemiological surveillance. According to the app’s developer, Datareach, a start-up of the University of California, the application “will enable a better understanding of the healthcare context in communities, as far as...

Benin’s telecommunication and posts regulatory body (ARCEP), has stopped the activities of Glo Mobile, subsidiary of the Nigerian telecommunication group Globacom, in the country. The regulatory body has officially notified Glo Mobile of its decision on December 18, 2017, following the failure, in September 2017, of talks, started in June 2017, between that company and the government for the...

Base Resources has concluded with World Titane Holdings an agreement to acquire an initial 85% stake in its subsidiary holding the Toliara mineral sands project in Madagascar. Under the deal’s terms, the firm will pay $75 million for the interests it seeks. Once the project enters its development stage (in addition to other stages agreed upon), it will be able to acquire the remaining 15%...

Edita Food Industries, number one of Egypt’s snacks market, has announced that it signed with the Moroccan retailer Dislog a Joint Venture agreement (51% interest for Edita and 49% for Dislog) to enter the Moroccan market. With this new alliance, the Egyptian firm will be able to export, starting from 2018, its goods to the Cherifian Kingdom and supply consumers via Dislog’s distribution...

U.S. government has published last Monday a report revealing its new security strategy. This document shows the main orientations of the U.S. policy in terms of security and economy. According to the report, the USA must reposition itself in Africa not to lose ground to the “Chinese threat”. “China is expanding its economic and military presence in Africa, growing from a small investor in...

While visiting Mauritania on the sidelines of the third anniversary of the G5 Sahel’s creation, the permanent secretary of the organization, El haj Mohamed has announced that 65% of the funding needed to establish the new anti-jihadist joint forces has already been mobilized. The forces, a contingent of 5,000 soldiers whose headquarters will be based in Sévaré, Mali, have as main mission to...