President Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire has announced US$2.3 billion in funding for the Abidjan Initiative, a five-year plan to combat land degradation and deforestation in the West African nation. Ouattara presented the launch of the program during opening remarks at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention…
The economic recovery that has followed COVID pandemic impacts in sub-Saharan Africa has been disrupted by the impacts of war in Ukraine, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) now trimming back its 2022 projected growth estimates to a slower 3.8%. “The Russian invasion of Ukraine has triggered a sharp rise…
The Central African Republic has become the first nation in Africa to adopt Bitcoin as an official currency, saying the move will put the C.A.R. “on the map of the most courageous and visionary countries in the world.” President Faustin-Archange Touadéra announced the decision in a statement, welcoming the news…
President Dénis Sassou N’Guesso of the Republic of Congo was in Italy on Thursday to discuss partnership on energy between the two nations, one that centers on a new deal supported by oil major Eni to increase the supply of gas from the African nation. “The Italian government is pushing…
British Home Secretary Priti Patel continued to defend the United Kingdom’s decision to send immigrants to Rwanda, a deal that’s come under deep criticism for essentially outsourcing its responsibilities to asylum seekers. “The UK-Rwanda partnership is the type of international cooperation needed to make the global immigration system fairer, keep…
The southern African nation of Mozambique is set to receive US$470 million over the next three years, as part of a financing package agreed to by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week. The new IMF deal, under its Extended Credit Facility program, marks the first time the IMF has…
The United States has imposed new sanctions on six people linked to Boko Haram who were working to establish a cell of the Nigerian extremist group in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The six – Abdurrahman Ado Musa, Salihu Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan,…
Ethiopia declared a truce in the Tigray region fighting on Thursday, citing the need for humanitarian aid that the government has long been accused of preventing or withholding. “Thousands from the Tigray region are trekking into neighboring regions in search of assistance,” said the Ethiopian statement. “The government believes that…
Google’s Equiano undersea cable project is about to make its landing in Togo, bringing some 37,000 new jobs with it by 2025, according to a statement released by the West African nation on Friday. “As its first landing in Africa, the subsea cable will have a direct impact on internet…
The United Nations warns that amid other concerns about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the impact on wheat and food supply reaches far beyond its borders and has the potential to make matters worse in countries like Somalia that are already challenged by a hunger crisis. “For months now, developing…
The United States has broadened its efforts to place sanctions against Russian elites in connection with the armed conflict in Ukraine, this time adding a group of individuals that includes Pevgeniy Prigozhin, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Prigozhin was previously targeted by the U.S. Department of Treasury for…
DNA taken from elephant tusks, and then matched with DNA from other tusk shipments seized in the fight against Africa’s illegal ivory trade, shows patterns that can help to identify those active in wildlife crime. That’s based on results from a team of international scientists who published their work in…
Exactly two years after the first COVID-19 was confirmed on the African continent, the outlook for 2022 remains positive in terms of getting the pandemic under control, according to the World Health Organization. “The African continent has gotten smarter, faster and better at responding to each new surge in cases…
Google CEO Sundar Pichai highlighted African innovation during a brief address Monday to the Business Forum of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) held in Addis Ababa. The business forum was held on the margins of the annual African Union Summit. It focused on transportation as part of…
Akinwumi Adesina, head of the African Development Bank (AfDB), says he was in the VIP lounge of Dakar’s Blaise-Diagne International Airport with Senegal’s economic minister this week when another African dignitary walked in. The surprise guest was Moussa Faki Mahamat, head of the African Union Commission. What followed, the AfDB…