The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), along with its partners, is seeking $545 million to help those fleeing conflicts in Nigeria and the Central African Republic (CAR). Liz Ahua, UNHCR's regional refugee coordinator for Nigeria and CAR, said both areas are facing violence on a daily basis, including incidences of suicide attacks and indiscriminate killings. Read More »

Cummins has entered into a deal that gives BIA the rights to distribute its engines, generators and filtration units throughout numerous countries in Africa. Under the agreement, the Belgium-based company is now the official distributor of Cummins industrial engines and generators in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, the Congo, the DRC, the Central African Republican and Togo. Read More »

Human rights in Africa was the focus at the African Union (AU) Executive Council's 28th Ordinary Session Wednesday. Discussions focused on human rights in relation to the Agenda 2063 framework, with a special focus on women's rights. The AU is also operating an overarching theme "2016: African Year of Human Rights with Particular Focus on the Rights of Women." Read More »

A high-tech teaching regimen developed by the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is helping students in Gambia perform better on standardized tests. Since 2012, CTL has been working with the Gambia MoBSE to see if a program that successfully improved student performance in math and science in New Jersey would have the same impact on students in West Africa. Read More »

Pope Francis and Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe recently met to establish as well as maintain security and peace in Sub-Saharan Africa. The meeting included Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and the secretary for Relations with States. The world leaders agreed that there are currently good relations between Togo and the Holy See. Read More »

Sage gathered more than 700 of its business partners together for its first Business Partner Conference in South Africa Wednesday. Taking a significant step forward in becoming a worldwide market leader for uniting payroll, accounting and payment systems, the conference included a variety of presentations from Sage CEO Stephen Kelly and Safe International President Ivan Epstein. Read More »

African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and Egypt's SOBEK Trade and Investment Chairperson Manal Abdel Moneim signed a Memorandum of Understanding Jan. 19. The MOU is for the development of a Pan-African agribusiness holding Company and was inspired by the African Union's annual themes from 2014 and 2015 and the African Agribusiness Strategy. Read More »

The ACEP recently praised the decision of His Excellency the President to analyze the money value within the AMERI Deal by making financial models. The goal of the models and analysis is to create a guide that guarantees the money value for future negotiations in gaining access to power. The ACEP encourages the president to make sure that this model and analysis are accurate. Read More »

The Commissioner for Trade and Industry of the African Union Commission (AUC) held a media event Thursday to emphasize Africa's need for structural transformation. African leaders are concerned that if the nation does not industrialize, it will be unable to keep up with the worldwide market. This makes structural transformation a significant component of Africa's development. Read More »

Asanko Gold Mine has produced its first gold as the newest gold mine in Ghana. Phase one of the mining project has produced 400 ounces of gold with the entire operation beginning a month ahead of schedule. Asanko's flagship project is the Asanko Gold Mine. The company aims to ramp up to a steady production rate of 190,000 ounces per year in the second quarter of 2016. Read More »

Gayle Smith, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator, will head the U.S. delegation attending the 26th Annual African Union (AU) Summit. The purpose of the summit is to bring together representatives of local economic communities, senior government officials, the private sector, civil society organizations, invited dignitaries and international media. Read More »

The Economist will hold its 11th annual Nigeria Summit from March 7. The event will look into the economic and social progress made by the West African nation, including the past nine months under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari. Discussions will also be held on the opportunities and challenges facing Nigeria and how they will shape the country for years to come. Read More »

MTN Group and mobile marketing company BigTime recently signed a two-year partnership to provide MTN customers with a variety of phone-based marketing opportunities. MTN reaches more than 233-million customers across 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. BigTime will provide mobile subscriptions and value-added services, including smart apps and text alerts. Read More »

The ICD of the Private Sector and the BCEAO announced an agreement Monday that will support financing for small and medium businesses in the West African Economic and Monetary Union. ICD will help create a Sharia-compliant investment fund capitalized at up to $30 million, with the goal of attracting additional investment and growing the fund as large as $100 million. Read More »

The British High Commissioner to Nigeria Paul Arkwright concluded his first trip to Kano State Thursday. Arkwright met with numerous leaders, including Executive Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and Kano Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi II. Among the topics discussed were U.K. involvement in Kano State and northern Nigeria, the Nigerian economy and work being done in the state by the U.K. DFID. Read More »

West African Resources Limited recently released the results of RC drilling at its M3 prospect in Burkina Faso. While previous drilling has extended shallow oxide gold mineralization at the M3 eastern zone, follow-up drilling has confirmed gold mineralization in the area. Oxide mineralization from M1 and M3 are expected to continue to show similar metallurgical characteristics. Read More »

The African Union (AU) Commission will host a luncheon Sunday to honor all who helped end the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The event will recognize the roles that different stakeholders played in defeating the epidemic centered around the West African nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. These stakeholders included the governments and citizens of the affected nations. Read More »

IMF Deputy Managing Director Min Zhu landed in Botswana Monday to attend regional conferences. While in Botswana, Zhu will deliver a keynote speech at a conference in Gaborone focused on the challenges small- and- middle-income countries are facing in sub-Saharan Africa. Zhu will meet with President Ian Khama and officials. Zhu will also deliver a keynote speech in Ghana. Read More »

President Barack Obama's Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA) launched a mission to gather facts on commercial opportunities and challenges in Nigeria and Rwanda. Members of the council, which is chaired by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, are traveling to the African countries to enhance economic engagement between the United States and Africa. Read More »

Multi-platform production and distribution company Natcom entered into a deal with MK Productions Wednesday to provide major mobile operators in Africa access to its healthy living content. Consumers throughout the continent, including those in Nigeria, will be able to watch short-form videos on numerous health-related topics, including fitness, nutrition and wellness. Read More »