The inaugural meeting of the Specialized Technical Committee on Education, Science and Technology took place at the AU Commission Headquarters in Addis Ababa. The meeting brought together experts from the fields of education, science and technology as well as ministers and development partners. Highlights included a Pan- African Conference on teacher development and an exhibition. Read More »

West African Resources Limited released a report on its 100 percent-owned and earning gold and copper projects, both located in Burkina Faso, West Africa, for the quarter ending Sept. 30. Hyde said permit approvals for the projects will likely come in early 2016, after Burkina Faso's elections on Nov. 29. Resignations were submitted by Jean-Marc Lulin and Colin Jones. Read More »

Alderman Alan Yarrow participated in a breakfast meeting with business leaders in Accra to discuss ways to grow Ghana's capital markets, which are seen as ripe for development, with the assistance of the government, private finance and better collaboration between business sectors. Ghana's Alternative Exchange was mentioned as one particular resource moving forward. Read More »

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said there are fewer children in fewer countries than ever living with the polio virus on Oct. 23. The announcement was made the day before World Polio Day, an international holiday aimed at raising awareness about the virus and rallying efforts to stamp it out. UNICEF pointed to Nigeria as an inspiring example of the trend toward eradication. Read More »

Best Western Hotels & Resorts opened two new hotels in Nigeria last month, bringing the company's total operations in West Africa to 11. The Best Western Meloch Hotel is a three star hotel marketed toward business travelers. It has several amenities, such as an on-site restaurant, complementary breakfast, air conditioning, free wireless Internet, a pool and cocktail lounge. Read More »

The Global Development’s Frontier 100 Forum celebrated the growth of Africa's private sector during the "African Business in the World-Class Space” event that took place Oct. 19 and Oct. 20 in Washington, D.C. The keynote speaker was Solomon Asamoah, African Development Bank’s vice president of infrastructure. He urged Africa's leaders to develop stronger business environments. Read More »

Solange Eveline K. Rita Agneketom Bogore, Burkina Faso's new Permanent Representative to the United Nations, presented her credentials Oct. 21 to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna. The presentation of credentials is a diplomatic ritual authorizing someone to represent their country abroad. Director-General Yury Fedetov will review Bogore's credentials. Read More »

A program recently developed by the World Bank hopes to expand access to higher education for students in Benin. eLearning Benin allows students to access approximately 20 distance learning programs from universities around the world as an alternative to brick and mortar institutions within the country. The project was developed through the Youth Innovation Fund. Read More »

AIFS was held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium Complex in New Delhi, India, and overseen by representatives from the African Union (AU) and the government of India, including Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, chairperson of the AU, and Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The event's keynote speaker was Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, chairperson of the African Union Commission. Read More »

True Gold Mining Inc. has begun open pit mining and grade control drilling at Karma Gold Mine near the city of Ouauigouya, Burkina Faso. True Gold estimates the Goulagou II deposit contains 273,000 leachable ounces of gold. The company expects to extract gold from the project during the first quarter of 2016. The total project is expected to last 11 1/2 years and is fully funded. Read More »

U.S. officials extended congratulations to Côte d’Ivoire for the nation's peaceful Oct. 25 election. Provisional results from Côte d’Ivoire’s Independent Electoral Commission showed that Alassane Ouattara scored a decisive victory in his bid for re-election as the nation's president. Kirby also spoke to the future, encouraging Ivorians to maintain auspicious relations. Read More »

Parcel delivery company DHL is working to increase its African presence by recruiting local business owners to act as DHL resellers. The 2015 A.T. Kearney 2015 Global Retail Development Index™ cited African nations Botswana, Nigeria and Angola as three of the top 30 developing countries for retail investment globally. DHL has 5,800 retail outlets throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Read More »

During the Main One/Microsoft Enterprise Seminar, representatives from the two software companies spoke about the need for data center co-location and enterprise cloud solutions for businesses Monday. The theme of the seminar was “Innovative Business Models.” Opeke pointed out that Tier III rated MDX-i has received the PCI DSS and ISO 9001 and 27001 certifications. Read More »

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) will provide $19 million of financing over five years to improve food security in São Tomé and Príncipe. More than two thirds of Africa's second smallest country live in poverty, and more than 20 percent don't have a secure food supply. The funding plans to train 16,000 farmers and 3,000 fishermen on producing and marketing their products. Read More »

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will hold the Development Minerals Programme Nov. 9 in Addis Ababa.Africa’s supply of dimension stones, industrial minerals and semi-precious stones may be the key to boosting the continent's economy by creating millions of jobs and spurring intra-Africa trade. It is estimated that 8 million workers currently hold jobs in this sector. Read More »

With President Alassane Ouattara recently winning re-election in the Cote d'Ivoire, the Secretary General's Office made a number of statements, lauding the country and organizations for helping to make the elections successful. It also thanked civil society organizations as well as the African Union and ECOWAS for the role they played in making the elections successful. Read More »

Amid growing violence in concession areas, Liberia's National Investment Commission (NIC) said Oct. 18 it will institute a new program to proactively prevent disputes between residents and foreign investors. The Free Prior Informed Consent Process will be required to obtain consent from Liberians living in an area of proposed development before NIC is allowed to open it to investors. Read More »

The AfDB welcomed 160 young entrepreneurs and techies from around West Africa to its headquarters in Abidjan Oct. 9 to 11 for its Innovation Weekend. A major focus of the meeting was to generate tech-based solutions in order to bring more women and young people into the workforce. Approximately 60 percent of unemployed people in Sub-Saharan Africa are between 15 to 24 years old. Read More »

Frost & Sullivan finds that Sub-Saharan Africa is primed for renewable energy investment. South Africa, Tanzania, Namibia, Kenya, Zambia, Nigeria and Ethiopia are all ripe for investment in grid-tied solar, wind, and geothermal projects. Frost & Sullivan cited International Finance Corporation's Scaling Solar Programme as an example of solutions addressing the funding gap. Read More »

Indian automotive manufacturer Mahindra announced recently that it was launching a number of new vehicles in partnership with Ghana-based Svani Limited. Read More »