By Dominic Wabwireh with other agencies Senegal successfully paid nearly half a billion dollars in debt obligations on Friday, avoiding default, but spending cuts, delayed payments to other lenders, and growing civil unrest cast doubt on how much time the effort buys the West African nation. The Central Bank of West African States transferred 380 million euros to eurobond holders and $33 million for dollar-denominated bonds, covering principal and coupons. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s government mobilized local resources via regional markets after the IMF suspended its program following the discovery of $13 billion in undeclared debt—the largest ever hidden debt…
Author: Montage Africa
Global shipping giant Mediterranean Shipping Company has secured a 45-year concession with Nigerdock to develop and operate a new container terminal at Snake Island Port, marking a major expansion of port infrastructure in Nigeria. The terminal forms part of MSC’s broader $1 billion investment aimed at strengthening logistics and supply chains in Africa’s largest economy. Once completed in 2028, the 30-hectare facility will feature a 910-meter quay capable of handling large deep-sea vessels as well as barges. The deal comes as Lagos ports buckle under chronic congestion and global shipping companies race to secure strategic footholds in fast-growing emerging markets.
Desperate and ageing white farmers whose land was seized during Robert Mugabe’s rule more than two decades ago hope Donald Trump may be able to help them get billions of dollars in unpaid compensation owed to them by Zimbabwe’s government. After all, some of them argue, the US president intervened last year to fight for the rights of white farmers in neighbouring South Africa, where he feels they are being “persecuted” because of their race – claims that have been widely discredited. Trump has offered members of South Africa’s white Afrikaner community, many of whom are farmers, refugee status in…
By Rédaction Africanews with AFP As oil prices remain high amid the ongoing war in the Middle East, its impact is increasingly filtering down into the lives of people across Africa. Oil prices shot past $100 per barrel this week as shipping through the vital Strait of Hormuz came to an effective standstill, and Iran has struck energy facilities in the Gulf. A top African energy regulator says that if fuel shortages and the current price persists, it could knock three percentage points off economic growth across the continent. “There is a little bit of panic,” said Geoffrey Aori, CEO…
Ghana is making moves to reduce its import dependency with the launch of a $40 million pasta manufacturing plant by Olam Agri near Tema. The facility, completed ahead of schedule, will produce up to 40% of Ghana’s pasta needs—a market previously met entirely by imports that cost an estimated $140 million between 2021 and 2024. With 300 direct jobs and nearly 1,000 indirect positions created, the economic ripple effects are already real. Trade Minister Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare called every ton produced locally “a dollar preserved in our foreign reserves.” The plant joins a wave of new industrial investments including a $250 million glass…
In Somalia’s remote al-Miskad mountains, a group of soldiers huddles around a small hand-held screen, tracking Islamic State group fighters on a drone feed. A figure appears in the picture, moving through a valley. “He has been to fetch water for his friends,” says the drone operator. “He is running and carrying something on his back,” adds another soldier. The man on the screen is near a cave, which the army believes is a hideout for 50 to 60 IS fighters. The Puntland Defence Forces have about 500 soldiers stationed at this base in the north-east of Somalia. Ten years…
By Rédaction Africanews with AP The plane carrying about 150 Palestinians from Gaza came as a surprise to everyone on the ground when it landed in South Africa in November. It wasn’t the only one. Since May, at least three flights filled with Gaza residents who had signed up to leave the war-torn enclave have landed in Indonesia and South Africa. But an investigation by news agency Associated Press suggests Israeli group Ad Kan, whose founder supported US President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Gazans, is behind the move. It says this raises further questions about the motives behind the…
Across Africa, millions of people still cook with charcoal and firewood, which can be expensive, environmentally destructive, and bad for their health. While liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and electricity are often promoted as modern alternatives, they remain unaffordable or unreliable for many households. Ener-G-Africa (EGA), an innovative African energy access solutions company based in South Africa and Malawi, believes that pellet gasifier stoves are an often-overlooked technology that could help to bridge that gap. Silvia Nanyangwe, Project and Country Manager at Ener-G-Africa Zambia, says pellet stoves burn cleanly, cost less and can be powered by Africa’s own agricultural by-products. How pellet stoves…
After the acquisition this week of East Africa’s biggest media outfit by a politically well connected billionaire businessman, questions are being asked about the future of independent journalism in the region. Every day millions of people in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda turn to one of the dozens of newspapers, TV and radio stations or digital outlets owned by the Nation Media Group (NMG) for reliable news. In countries where journalists have come under pressure from the authorities, titles such as Kenya’s Daily Nation, Tanzania’s Mwananchi or Uganda’s Daily Monitor have become the standard-bearers for trusted information. But NMG now…
By Agencies Madagascar’s transitional leader, Michael Randrianirina, has appointed the head of the country’s financial intelligence unit, Mamitiana Rajaonarison, as prime minister, just days after dissolving the government. In a statement on Sunday, the presidency said Rajaonarison, who has led the anti-money-laundering agency SAMIFIN since 2021, would head a new cabinet. A former senior gendarmerie officer and career civil administrator, he replaces Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, who was dismissed last week when the cabinet was unexpectedly dissolved. Rajaonarivelo had been appointed shortly after Randrianirina took power in October during protests that forced former president Andry Rajoelina to flee the country. Speaking during…