Roxgold Inc. announced positive results from QV1 and QV Prime drilling programs at its Bagassi South project in Burkina Faso. The Bagassi South project is adjacent to Roxgold's main gold interest in Burkina Faso. Gold is expected to be produced from these projects; Roxgold officials anticipate the Bagassi South project will enhance the value of the Yaramoko gold project. Read More »

An emergency arbitrator has partially granted and denied emergency relief measures requested by SCS Corp. for a dispute with multinational oil and gas exploration companies Tullow Guinea Ltd. and Dana Petroleum Ltd. SCS, an oil and gas exploration company, filed action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas on Jan. 8. Read More »

U.S.-based Mondelez International's Cocoa Life Sustainability program has assisted 76,700 farmers in nearly 800 communities since it began in 2012. The program covers the cocoa-growing regions of Ghana, Ivory Coast, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, India and Brazil. Mondelez reports that farmers in the Cocoa Life regions have experienced tripled incomes since 2009. Read More »

Nigerian and Saudi Arabian leaders met Tuesday to discuss strategies to stabilize the oil market in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. The meeting took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and was hosted by King Salman Bin Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia. Abdul-Aziz discussed the threat of terrorist acts in the region and ways to prevent them with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.  Read More »

GSMA Foundation and government officials from the U.K. have come together to make mobile technology more accessible to underserved areas. The initiative will be funded by the U.K.'s DFID. Technologies to be included in the program are those that can enhance natural disaster response as well as assist individuals with finding financial services, clean water and sustainable energy. Read More »

Azzad Asset Management expanded its offerings Tuesday with ethical trade financial opportunities for Asian and African clients through its Azzad Wise Capital Fund. It is estimated that the unmet demand for trade finance in Africa carries a price tag of between $110 and $120 billion. The majority of the fund is made up of sukuk and community development bank investments. Read More »

The inaugural meeting of the Continental Free Trade Area Negotiating Forum (CFTA-NF) took place in Addis Ababa at the African Union Commission (AUC) headquarters. The Continental Free Trade Area was established last June during the 25th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union. The target date for it to be completely operational is 2017. Read More »

The African Union Commission (AUC) and European Union (EU) partnered Wednesday to host a two-day workshop, where representatives from businesses and organizations with an interest in the energy sector began developing a cooperative framework for energy. The workshop is part of the AUC's Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL), Eastern and Southern Africa initiative. Read More »

Clavister recently entered into a distribution agreement with West African company Defis & Strategies Group. Defis & Strategies provides services for businesses in the West African nations of Burkina Faso, Togo, Senegal, Congo, Cameroon and Ghana. Under the terms of the distribution agreement, the company will sell and distribute Clavister’s NGFW and gateway security solutions. Read More »

To address the economic consequences of plummeting oil prices, Gene Leon led an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team on visits to Abuja, Nigeria, Dec. 14 to Dec. 17 and Lagos Jan. 10 to Jan. 25. The visits were part of a required 2016 Article IV consultation. Leon said the Central Bank of Nigeria, in an effort to protect reserves, had implemented foreign exchange restrictions. Read More »

The poor in Ghana and Tanzania will have better access to financial services through Financial Inclusion on Business Runways (FIBR), a new initiative of global consulting firm BFA and the MasterCard Foundation. This multi-million-dollar project will span four years and see financial experts gathering and digitizing data from business transactions in Ghana and Tanzania. Read More »

In an effort to streamline business operations, a BRC has been put in place for programs in Ghana that are funded by the Department for International Development (DFID). The DIFD is a United Kingdom-based governmental department that administers aid to nations overseas in an effort to promote sustainable development and stem poverty. In Ghana, DIFD funds the BEEP. Read More »

With its acquisition of 100 percent of the shares of Nigeria's FBN Microfinance Bank (FBN MFB), Letshego Holdings Limited of Botswana has made its first investment in West Africa. Letshego, which operates in nine nations throughout eastern and southern Africa, presently serves more than 265,000 customers. Company officials estimate Letshego will gain more than 385,000 customers. Read More »

In an effort to increase its presence in West Africa, Sony Music Entertainment has launched operations in Lagos, Nigeria. The new office will be the central location for Sony's planned expansion in West Africa. The company has also signed Nigerian artist Davido to a worldwide record deal. West African listeners can also hear musical offerings via MTN Nigeria's IMI. Read More »

Alepo has partnered with Africell to develop an all-in-one data monetization platform for customers in Sierra Leone, Uganda, the Gambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) using Africell's 3G and Planned LTE Networks. The companies entered into a multi-national contract to integrate Alepo's policy control solution with Africell's planned African LTE networks. Read More »

Fatima Haram Acyl took to the radio waves Friday to update Ethiopian Afro Radio 105.3 FM's listeners on the organization's initiatives and how they could get involved. Acyl spoke about the need to get industrialization moving forward, which would in turn decrease the continent's high unemployment rate. She pointed out that the continent has strong resources, both human and natural. Read More »

Officials from CFL will be at the CG-LA Infrastructure Conference, set for March 11 in Washington, D.C., to unveil an update on the high-speed rail project currently being developed in Ghana. The project commenced in 2015 at the behest of Rashid Pelpuo of the ministry of Public Private Partnerships. After a feasibility study, CFL began construction of the high-speed railway. Read More »

Stakeholders in Africa's mining sector are invited to attend the Mining Investment Africa 2016 Conference, which will take place June 7 to June 9 in Abuja, Nigeria. Last year, the conference saw an audience made up of geological surveyors and representatives. This year's event will feature keynote presentations, interactive panels, expert interviews and roundtable discussions. Read More »

A group of Saudi Arabian business people, led by Abdulrahman Al Zamil, recently visited Nigeria. The delegation met with Muhammadu Buhari, president of Nigeria, to discuss how to enhance economic cooperation and relations between the nations. Buhari pointed out that Nigeria offered a variety of incentives for foreign investors and encouraged the Saudis to research them. Read More »

Catchpoint Systems Inc. has expanded in the last quarter, adding more than 50 monitoring nodes. The new African nodes were installed in Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Botswana. With that expansion, the company operates more than 500 nodes all over the world. The new node coverage was necessitated by customer demand for better digital user features and usability. Read More »