Author: Editorial Staff

THE Federal government of Nigeria has launched a ‘Solar Power Naija’ project, a programme focussing on 5 million solar connections for off-grid communities as part of the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This solar power programme is expected to generate an additional N7bn ($18 million) increase in tax revenues per annum and $10 million in annual import substitution, according to a media statement issued by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA). The solar connection scheme is a Federal government initiative whose objectives are: Expand energy access to 25 million individuals (5 million new connections) through the…

MORE than 25,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Cameroon have joined the formal sector by registering their operations through UNCTAD’s eRegistrations online platform launched in the country in 2016. The platform has allowed residents of Douala, Yaoundé, Garoua and surrounding regions to conveniently register businesses and create jobs even amid the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Funded by the European Union, the platform is marketed by the national SME promotion agency (APME) as mybusiness.cm, via its network of business creation centres (CFCEs). Cameroonian SMEs mostly operate in the informal sector, limiting interactions with public authorities. By formalizing their…

GHANAIANS are voting in presidential and parliamentary elections, with the race for the top job, dubbed ‘the battle of two giants’, expected to be a close fight between incumbent Nana Akufo-Addo and long time opponent John Mahama. Nestled along the Gulf of Guinea, Ghana – long a beacon of democracy and stability in West Africa – has ensured peaceful transfers of power on seven occasions since it returned to democracy nearly 30 years ago. The two main parties have always accepted electoral outcomes and pursued any grievances through the courts. To ensure its continued tradition of peaceful polls, Akufo-Addo, 76,…

LIBERIANS vote Tuesday in a referendum on shortening presidential terms, a change some members of the opposition fear President George Weah will exploit to extend his stay in office. Ballot papers will also ask voters whether to lift a ban on holding dual nationality, a divisive issue in the poor West African nation founded as a haven for freed American slaves in the 19th century. Weah, a former footballing icon, wants to cut the length of terms for presidents and lower-house lawmakers from six to five years; and from nine to seven for senators. ‘I strongly believe keeping someone in…

FORMER Malawian president Peter Mutharika is taking the country’s anti-corruption body to court over his bank accounts. Mutharika approached the courts in an attempt to have the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) unfreeze his bank accounts. News website Nyasa Times reported that ACB director-general Reyneck Matemba told a news conference in the capital city Lilongwe last Thursday that Mutharika had sued the anti-corruption body. The ACB froze the personal bank accounts of Mutharika and his wife, Gertrude, in August when it started investigating Mutharika in the 5-billion kwacha (about $6.6 million) cement scandal where his tax number was allegedly used to import…

COTE D’IVOIRE and Hershey’s, a US multinational chocolate manufacturer,  have resolved their differences over cocoa prices. The West African country lifted an order to suspend Hershey’s sustainability programmes following the Pennsylvania-based company’s ‘definitive’ commitment to paying a premium on cocoa to improve farmers’ income, according to a letter from the Ivorian regulator seen by Bloomberg. The governments of Cote d’Ivoire and neighbouring Ghana had accused Hershey’s  of trying to avoid the $400-a-tonne premium by buying cocoa through the New York exchange. Hershey’s upended markets in November when it unexpectedly bought large amounts of cocoa through futures contracts, roiling prices. In…

ENERGY companies in Africa have used the recent digital World Energy Capital Assembly (WECA) to call for more capital in 2021 to fund the industry, with some of its professionals talking up the prospects for investors in African energy. The WECA connects oil & gas executives with finance and investment professionals from around the world. Dedicated to the capitalisation and development of the industry, the WECA provides access and introductions to global deal and market makers. The recent Assembly had a spotlight on Africa, during which panellists spent almost two hours looking at the opportunities that 2021 could present for…

A SURGE in attacks on Nigerian farmers is having a knock-on effect on the West African nation’s food reserves. Stocks have declined to less than 30,000 tonnes — a fraction of what the country of 200-million people requires, according to the All Farmers Association of Nigeria. Growing insecurity is making it difficult to augment those supplies, Kabir Ibrahim, the group’s president, said. Food growers are being assailed on at least three fronts. The latest attack took place on November 27, when alleged Islamist insurgents killed dozens of subsistence rice growers in the northeastern state of Borno, where an insurgency has…

FORMER Ghanaian President John Mahama said he’ll spend $10bn on infrastructure over the next five years if he defeats the incumbent in elections next week. Mahama plans to build roads, dams and schools, and extend an airport and hospital, should he defeat President Nana Akufo-Addo in the December 7 vote, he said in an interview Wednesday. The West African nation is the world’s second-biggest producer of cocoa after Cote d’Ivoire, and Mahama will work to ensure half its output is processed domestically, compared with 38 percent now. ‘We’ll be able to take care of social and economic infrastructure without necessarily…

WHILE many Namibians have names originating from the ex-colonial power Germany, a newly-elected municipal councillor has overnight romped to prominence not because of his victory but because he is called Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler Uunona, 54, a politician of the ruling SWAPO party was last week elected local government councillor for Ompundja constituency in northern Namibia, with 85 percent of the ballots cast. Sounding a tad annoyed, Uunona told AFP on Thursday he was perplexed that people were intrigued by his being named after one of the world’s most notorious dictators. He refused to discuss the reasons he was named…