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West Africa News

  • Deadly Riots Again Grip Guinea’s Bauxite Hub

    GUINEA, 2017/09/16 Deadly rioting has again broken out in the Republic of Guinea’s bauxite capitol according to witnesses who spoke to the media. According to locals, over the course of two days rioters destroyed a police post and vehicle, leading to a lethal response by government forces. They say that rioters as well attempted to block bauxite miners from arriving to work at the mines, but their efforts were not entirely successful according to officials at Societe Miniere de Boke (SMB).
  • China to Loan Guinea US$20 Billion for Access to Bauxite Reserves

    CHINA, 2017/09/13 The Republic of Guinea will be the recipient of a US$20 billion loan from the People’s Republic of China in exchange for concessions on its significant bauxite ore reserves. According to reporting yesterday by Reuters, the loan will be disbursed over twenty years. The loan will be guaranteed by in-country projects 125 miles northeast of Conakry at Boffa inclunding China Power Investment Corp’s (CPI) planned alumina refinery, a bauxite mine operated by the Aluminium Corporation of China Limited (Chalco), and a bauxite-mining project operated by China Henan International Cooperation Group.
  • China to loan Guinea $20 billion to secure aluminum ore

    CHINA, 2017/09/13 China agreed on Wednesday to loan Guinea $20 billion over almost 20 years in exchange for concessions on bauxite, an ore of aluminum which the West African country has in abundance, the mines minister said. The projects guaranteed by the loan included China Power Investment Corp’s (CPI) planned alumina refinery and Aluminium Corp of China’s (601600.SS) (Chalco) bauxite mine and an extra bauxite project by China Henan International Cooperation Group, all of them in the northwestern town of Boffa.
  • UN envoy calls for swift introduction of term limits to prevent crisis

    TOGO, 2017/09/10 Togo must go the way of other West African nations and swiftly limit presidential terms to two if it wants to prevent protests escalating into a political crisis, the United Nations envoy to the region said on Saturday. Thousands of people have taken to the streets in the completed three days to request that President Faure Gnassingbe step aside, in the majority critical challenge to his family’s 50-year ruling dynasty since the death of his father in 2005.
  • Kenya, Nigeria & S. Africa: biggest winners of Google's Africa tech training

    KENYA, 2017/09/09 Alphabet Inc’s Google aims to train 10 million people in Africa in online skills over the next five years in an effort to make them additional employable, its chief executive said on Thursday. The U.S. technology giant as well hopes to train 100,000 software developers in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, a company spokeswoman said. Google’s pledge marked an expansion of an initiative it launched in April 2016 to train young Africans in digital skills. It announced in March it had reached its initial target of training one million people.
  • Submarine cable deployed in Angola to link Africa to South America

    ANGOLA, 2017/09/09 The project of deploying the initial submarine telecommunication cable in the South Atlantic ocean linking Africa to South America has been launched in Angola’s capital Luanda. The launch of the fibre-optic South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) follows months of marine survey that was completed by multinational telecommunications company Angola Cables in April.
  • The Security and Exchange Commission approves the 40th Annual General Meeting of Oando PLC

    NIGERIA, 2017/09/09 The Security and Exchange Commission approves the 40th Annual General Conference of Oando PLC Oando PLC has, as of August 31, 2017, received the approval of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) to proceed with its 40th Annual General Conference scheduled for Monday, September 11, 2017. The company made this known via a tweet that includes a statement from the SEC, “following the submission of an interim statement by the Appropriate Task Team, the Commission is of the opinion that it is unable to identify any material findings that would warrant the postponement of the company’s 40th Annual General Conference(AGM). As a result, Oando PLC can proceed with its 40th AGM as scheduled.”
  • UNWTO: International tourism – strongest half-year results since 2010

    AFGHANISTAN, 2017/09/09 Destinations worldwide welcomed 598 million international tourists in the initial six months of 2017, some 36 million additional than in the same period of 2016. At 6%, increase was well above the trend of recent years, making the current January-June period the strongest half-year since 2010. Visitor numbers reported by destinations around the world reflect strong request for international travel in the initial half of 2017, according to the new UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Worldwide, international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) increased by 6% compared to the same six-month period last year, well above the sustained and consistent trend of 4% or higher increase since 2010. This represents the strongest half-year in seven years.
  • GTBank records an increase in Profit Before Tax for the fiscal year

    NIGERIA, 2017/09/09 Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) has recorded an 18 % increase in Profit Before Tax (PBT) for the fiscal half-year that ended on June 30, 2017. The bank, in a statement, said its PBT rose from N85.69 billion in 2016 to N101.1 billion in 2017. The financial performance presented to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchange showed the bank’s loan book dipped by six % from N1.590 trillion recorded as at December 2016 to N1.491 trillion in June 2017 with a decrease in customer deposit by one % to N1.966 trillion from N1.986 trillion in December 2016.
  • Nigeria has been one of the hardest-hit economies due to its over-dependence on oil

    NIGERIA, 2017/09/09 Since the world oil price crash in 2014, Nigeria has been one of the hardest-hit economies due to its over-dependence on oil as its major source of revenue. China’s economic slowdown, inclunding the United States’ rate hike, as well affected its economy adversely. As a result, Nigeria’s economic increase declined drastically, with its currency falling to an all-time low. In order to save the economy from a complete collapse, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) put stringent monetary policies in place, which saw investors pulling out of the country.