German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed her case for investment in Africa on Monday as part of the G20’s Compact for Africa initiative, the focus of two-day meetings in Berlin. Merkel, whose nation holds the current G20 presidency, welcomed African leaders from Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Tunisia, the three nations that…
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in Lagos says it has cut a deal worth more than USD$86 million with the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to buy out the NPA’s remaining equity in the Lekki Deep Sea Port. “Both parties have already executed an agreement to this effect,” the NPA…
The World Bank has approved USD$50 million in grant funding to assist with the drought and famine response, and provide humanitarian aid to Somalia. The Somalia Emergency Drought Response and Recovery Project (SEDRP) will be coordinated through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations Food…
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, speaking at a session on Africa and the G7 during the weekend summit in Italy, emphasized six strategies for advancing growth across the continent while reducing the risks that unemployment and economic frustration create for peace and security. Guterres noted the challenges facing fragile…
American officials on Tuesday released a much-awaited $37.6 billion combined budget request for the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), one that cuts more than $17 billion from the “leaner” government’s diplomatic and foreign aid programs. “This budget request supports the President’s ‘America First’ vision…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India will participate Tuesday alongside Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), at the bank’s annual meeting in Ahmedabad in India’s western Gujarat state. The meeting, which runs through Friday, will focus on India’s partnership with African nations in key development areas, with…
The preview of a McKinsey & Company report on Chinese investment in Africa is making a few headlines, but full details on “Dance of the Lions and Dragons” won’t be released until the upcoming World Economic Forum (WEF) in Asia. What McKinsey did share at a WEF event in Durban,…
The Africa Competitiveness Report was released Thursday at the World Economic Forum on Africa meeting in Durban, with some muted positive trends despite the overall economic stagnation. Lagging infrastructure improvement, weak financial sector development and low levels of regional trade continue to be key constraints to growth. Yet the report,…
President Peter Mutharika admitted Monday that corruption in Malawi’s government is at a record high, and pervasive in government, civil society organizations, NGOs and elsewhere. The remarks came during a May Day observance in Blantyre, Nyasa Times reports. Mutharika’s comments come in the wake of a two-day National Anti-Corruption Conference…
Environmental champion Youba Sokona’s resignation is effective April 30, so as of Sunday the Malian scholar will no longer serve in his leadership role at the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI). At first glance, it may seem hardly newsworthy and entirely forgivable to not know who Sokona and the AREI…
Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, says Africa faces a triangle of disaster because of youth unemployment, poverty, and environmental and climate impacts. “Everywhere you find this triangle of disaster you always find terrorists,” Adesina said in a Financial Times interview published Monday. The article focused on how…
China says that 28 governments so far have confirmed they will attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in Beijing in May, with the attendees including President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia. They will be joined by United Nations Secretary General…
Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is showing signs of recovery, the World Bank said Wednesday, but regional growth in 2017 is still projected to reach a comparatively weak 2.6 percent. Seven countries show the greatest economic resilience, with annual growth rates above 5.4 percent in the 2015-2017 period. They include…
The financial impact of the Internet shutdown in Cameroon is now an estimated €2.69 million, according to digital access advocates who have repeated calls for restoration of service to the Anglophone regions in the West African nation’s northwest and southwest. The latest figures were released at the end of March…
France says it has committed €100 million to development initiatives in the Central African Republic (CAR), including road infrastructure projects in the north and east regions of the country. Funds also will be used to improve the situation in Bambari, RFI Africa reports. The announcement came as President Faustin-Archange Touadera…