SENEGAL:
A 12% increase in the economic activity in March 2017: "The internal economic activity (excluding agriculture and forestry) has recorded an increase of 11.5% in the monthly rate in March 2017 compared with the previous month, APA learned from the Department of Forecasting and Economic Studies (DPEE) on Saturday..."
Christophe Bigot: "By decorating the general manager of Isra, we salute the Senegalese agricultural world": ""France wanted to welcome "all the Senegalese agricultural universe" by raising the general manager of the Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research (ISRA), Alioune Fall, to the rank of knight of the Order of the French agricultural merit," said, in Dakar on Thursday, the French ambassador to Senegal, Christophe Bigot. Mr. Fall received this distinction at a ceremony held at the residence of the French ambassador in Dakar, in the presence of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Equipment, Pape Abdoulaye Seck, and other personalities of the Senegalese agricultural world. ''You are a polytechnic. You are in this agricultural universe and then beyond, it is the whole Senegalese agricultural universe and the cooperation between Senegal and France who are welcomed," said Bigot..."
SENELEC will offer prepaid counters to 37,000 families: ""Prepaid electricity counters will be offered to 37,000 needy families from different regions of Senegal by SENELEC," announced, in Thiès on Thursday, the general manager of this company, Mouhamadou Makhtar Cisse. "The installation program of these counters, called "Woyofal", is supported and financed by the World Bank to the tune of 4 billion CFA Francs," said Cissé, "by handing a batch of counters to 125 deprived families of Thiès." "SENELEC has made a lot of effort in order to stop untimely power cuts known in the recent past, to ensure a fairly correct supply of energy for the Senegalese households, although the zero cut does not exist anywhere. The people must bear and support the efforts of the electricity company, because it is a heritage for all," he said during the ceremony marking the launching of the "social woyofal"..."
NIGERIA:
Dangote plans to invest approximately $340 million in Dangote Sugar Refinery within 4 to 6 years: "Aliko Dangote revealed that 106 billion naira ($338 million) will be invested in Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) within 4 to 6 years. Addressing shareholders on the sidelines of the 11th General Meeting of the Group for the fiscal year 2016, Mr. Dangote stated that part of the investment will be devoted to updating the upstream integration project (BIP) of the Dangote Sugar Refinery. This includes the purchase of equipment, field studies, as well as awareness-raising campaigns in several communities. The manager has also added that another part of the investment will be devoted to the rehabilitation and expansion of the Savannah Sugar Company, the division of Dangote Industries Ltd in charge of sugar. According to Dangote, the group aims to produce 1.5 million tons of refined sugar made from locally grown sugar cane over the next six years..."
A national airline company soon: "In Nigeria, on May 3, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, announced that a project to create a national airline company had been approved by the Government. This decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, during which the project was studied. Also to enable the strengthening of national airport infrastructures, the project will not only create an airline company, but also to launch, among other structures, an airline leasing company..."
BURKINA FASO:
Burkina Faso's Chamber of Commerce: The President Mahamadi Savadogo exchanges with three Diplomats: "The Ambassador of Tunisia residing in Burkina, Mohamed Kahloun, has traveled first the offices of the Chamber of Commerce of Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou. Received by the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mahamadi Savadogo, the diplomat said his visit was important. The first Ambassador of Tunisia resident in Burkina explained that this is a working visit whose objective is to coordinate the actions to be carried out in the months to come. According to the diplomat, there are many actions taken between the two countries. He pointed out that his country noted with satisfaction the new cooperation treaty with Burkina Faso, especially between the different Tunisian-Burkinabe private sectors. He suggested that the ultimate goal is to develop and enhance economic cooperation between the two countries and plan for the coming dates the possibility of organizing a Tunisian-Burkinabe forum in Tunis..."
In Burkina Faso, the president of Ghana pleads for the Accra-Ouagadougou railway line: "As part of a tour which will take him to 9 countries in West Africa, the Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo, visited Burkina Faso on Thursday, May 4, 2017, at the head of a strong delegation composed of members of his government and high personalities of his country. The purpose of the visit was to strengthen cooperation already existing between the two countries, enabled the review of important integrative projects. These include the electrical interconnection, the management of water resources of the Volta, and the Accra-Ouagadougou railway line..."
KENYA:
Kenya will import COMESA sugar to satisfy its deficit market due to the drought: "The Kenyan Executive should soon import sugar from the countries of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in order to supply its domestic market deficit due to the drought which has undermined sugar cane production. According to a statement from the Kenyan Authority in charge of agriculture and food taken over by Reuters, the country of East Africa is expected to import 40 000 tons of the commodity in the next three weeks and then 60,000 tons in the next two months. "We want to reassure the Kenyans that all the efforts are undertaken to ensure the availability of sugar and that they should not be alarmed," explained the Authority..."
GABON:
Gabon sets up a 'One-Stop Shop' for supporting young people wanting to invest in agriculture: "The young Gabonese wanting to invest in agriculture will now benefit from better facilitation thanks to the establishment by the government of a one-stop shop in order to guarantee them better technical support of their files. This new instrument, which is supposed to bring together all the departments of the administration, will be aimed at receiving project promoters in the field of agriculture. In other words, it is a unique point of contact for cooperatives and agricultural investors..."
MALI:
The Higher Council of Agriculture plans to allocate 15% of arable lands to young people and women: ""Meeting in ordinary session on Tuesday, May 2, under the presidency of the Malian head of state, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the Higher Council of Agriculture decided to allocate 15% of arable lands to young people and women to ensure their autonomy," specifies a statement published for this purpose.
Referring to the Agricultural Land Act recently in force, the President expressed the hope that it will bring profound changes in the security of individual and collective lands rights, while at the same time limiting recurrent conflicts between rural communities. Securitization of lands involves taking into account the land rights of vulnerable segments of society. "I am pleased that women and young people have not remained on the sidelines, because 15% of the lands will be allocated to their needs to ensure their autonomy," he promised..."
IVORY COAST:
The EDF Group will invest $10 million in the construction of a biomass plant: "The Electricity Group of France (EDF) will build a biomass plant for the recovery of vegetable waste resulting from the production of palm oil in Ivory Coast. The information was provided by the Executive Manager of the International Group, Simone Rossi, at a hearing granted to him by the Ivorian Prime Minister, Amadou Gon Coulibaly. The investment of an estimated cost of 6 billion CFA Francs (approximately $10 million) should eventually provide nearly 1300 jobs according to the comments of the person in charge of this French energy group..."
CAMEROON:
The MCPSD and the work of land: "Cameroon is still heavily dependent on the rural world. For this, agriculture is a strategic sector for the development of our country. We need to make our agricultural sector competitive and less hard. If man works the land, he must live; it must assure him rest and retreat. When I talk about agriculture, I speak of everything connected with this world, breeding, etc. I am talking about our territories and our lands. We are 23 to 25 million Cameroonians, about 16 million Cameroonians work the land, less than one million live..."
Gross domestic product: The war of the growth figures: The French Insurance Company of Foreign Trade (COFACE), credit insurer, expects growth of 4.2% for the year 2017 in Cameroon. According to Le Quotidien de l'Economie published on April 2, 2017, these figures were down from the previous year's forecast. COFACE is more pessimistic than the World Bank which predicts growth of 5.7% for the year 2017. That is 1.7% difference. More optimistic, the government set its estimate at 6%. "According to our prospects for Cameroon, the growth is expected to be around 4.2%. This is less than what Cameroon had in 2013 and 2014. It is also below the 8% forecast by Cameroon in its Strategy Paper for Growth and Jobs," said Olivier Bagneki, the General Manager of COFACE West and Central Africa. "It was during the luncheon organized in Douala, on April 25, 2017, by COFACE in partnership with Ecobank, in order to provide the companies with tools to take advantage of the current context marked by the decline in growth," says Le Quotidien..."
Crédit : IMPERIUM MEDIA
