After slumping for two consecutive seasons, global cotton sown area will in 2017/2018 soar by 11% to reach 32.5 million hectares.  According to the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), which released these forecasts on December 1, 2017, the increase will be driven by the expansion of area sown in the main producing nations. Thus, India, the world’s leading producer will...

Tunisia’s minister of State domains and Land affairs, Mabrouk Korchid (picture), announced that 12,000 hectares of public lands are still illegally occupied. This was reported by Radio Med. The official which was addressing the parliament, during a plenary session, has reasserted the government’s determination to recover all these properties. Truly, in this regard, the legal framework...

While visiting Korhogho in the Northern part of Côte d’Ivoire, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (picture), executive director of UN Women, revealed that only 3% of Ivorian rural women hold agricultural land titles. An anomaly she urged the government, customary and religious leaders to fix for equity sake, and to allow these women to “be more productive and competitive”. “Empowerment and...

By 2030, more than 30% of working hours could be automatized, according to a new report of the McKinsey Global Institute. Indeed, analysts from the cabinet estimated that depending on the speed at which new technologies are adopted, between 400 and 800 million people could lose their current jobs. However the good news is that, out of this group of people, more than 375 million people, which is...

Works for optical fiber interconnection between Congo and Gabon are completed. This was disclosed to the press last November 30, by the national coordinator of the Central African Backbone (CAB) project, Yves-Didier Miehakanda. He also indicated that the infrastructure, which “is key to the nation, will be commissioned at the end of December in the presence of the respective ministers of...

In 2018, Orange Liberia plans to make close to US$15 million worth of investments in the country. This will help improve populations’ digital inclusion through the construction of new telecom sites in the country’s most remote areas. According to Mamadou Coulibaly (picture), CEO Orange Liberia who disclosed the news, the investment aims at pushing the nation among the countries with the most...

German startup Africa GreenTec has commissioned its first solar container in Niger, in the Tahoua region. In Africa, solar containers provide renewable energy to villages, farms, charity organizations and mines. Africa GreenTec’s solar container includes a 41 kWp mobile PV system and a 60 kWh power storage system. It will power the village of Amaloul Nomade which is not yet connected to the...

Emirati group Phoenix has announced last Tuesday, an investment of $205 million to expand its business in Mozambique, Bénin, Côte d’Ivoire and India. The sum was secured from a consortium of banks led by the Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore). “This is a facility tailored for rice trading with Africa, for value capture across the entire chain from primary domestic procurement in Asia...

According to local press, President Macky Sall has cancelled the awarding of 10,000 ha of agricultural lands to the Moroccan group Afri Partners which is headed by Anas Sefrioui (picture). The lands which are located in Dodel and Némette, in the Fouta region, were to be used to grow rice. “The news was announced by the deputy minister in charge of the Budget, Birima Mangara, during the vote...

The Global Fund has recently provided €57.6 million or CFA37.7 billion to Togo to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria over the 2018-2020 period. The related agreements for the subsidies were signed on November 30, 2017, by the institution and the government of Togo. Just like all other developing nations, Togo is still affected by endemic and transmissible diseases such as HIV/AIDS,...