ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, July 31, 2025/ — The African Development Bank’s 2025 Country Focus Report for Burkina Faso (www.AfDB.org), the national version of the African Economic Outlook, was officially launched on 18 July 2025 in Ouagadougou. The ceremony was chaired by Souleymane Nabolé, Technical Advisor, representing the Minister of Economy and Finance, in the presence of Daniel Ndoye, the Bank Group’s Country Manager for Burkina Faso. Run virtually, the session brought together more than 80 participants from the public administration, technical and financial partners, the research community and the private…
Month: July 2025
Petrofund Launches Flagship Scholarship to Empower Namibian Youth in Oil and Gas
WALVIS BAY, Namibia, July 31, 2025/ — Namibia’s Petroleum Training and Education Fund (Petrofund) officially launched its flagship scholarship program during the 2nd Youth in Oil and Gas Summit, reinforcing its commitment to building a highly skilled national workforce for the country’s burgeoning oil and gas sector. The new scholarship,the statement said, complements the Namibian government’s free tertiary education policy by fully funding undergraduate and postgraduate students in engineering, geosciences, paramedics and technical vocational training disciplines relevant to upstream oil and gas operations. Courses will be offered at accredited institutions…
Climate change is making Africa’s debt burden worse – new debt contracts could help
The Conversation First Published,July 30,2025 Author: Magalie Masamba(Extraordinary lecturer at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria) Many African countries are already struggling with heavy debt burdens. Climate change is making this worse. Africa contributes the least to global emissions but suffers the most from extreme weather, rising temperatures and drought. These disasters affect not just people’s livelihoods but also national revenues, making debt repayment harder. Yet traditional debt contracts don’t account for this. The link between these pressure points is becoming undeniable. As climate-related disasters worsen, debt-laden countries are left…
Libya Islamic Bank-Backbase Join Hands to Bring Digital-first Banking to Libyan Customers
Backbase, the global leader in AI-powered banking technology, has announced in Tripoli,Thursday,the recent successful platform launch of Libyan Islamic Bank (LIB), one of the country’s fastest-growing financial institutions. This achievement,the announcement noted, represents Backbase’s first platform launch in Libya, underscoring its commitment to expanding state-of-the-art, customer-centric banking across North Africa. From ambition to impact As a digitally focused bank, LIB set out to differentiate itself through an experience-led approach to banking. In collaboration with Backbase, the bank laid the groundwork for a customer-first operating model that is built for speed,…
Op-Ed: Financing Energy Access in Africa: Leveraging Fossil Fuel Revenues to End Energy Poverty (By NJ Ayuk)
NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber (https://EnergyChamber.org) In an emissions-focused world, do oil and gas revenues have a role to play in ending energy poverty in Africa? It may sound counterintuitive, but many would argue that they do, albeit as enablers of a future powered by alternative energy sources. The key lies in recognizing that Africa’s situation is unique, and solutions take time, building on what we have and what we can do with it. This means that, in working towards a just energy transition, the continent’s oil and…
Global Investment in African Gold Surges Ahead of African Mining Week (AMW) 2025
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, July 30, 2025/ — Africa – the world’s second-largest gold-producing region after China – is seeing a marked increase in gold mining investment in 2025. Driven by strong global demand, favorable prices and vast untapped reserves, international financiers are stepping up support for gold projects across the continent. In June, Canadian firm Asante Gold secured a $470 million financing package from Appian Capital and South Africa’s FirstRand Bank to expand the Chirano Mine and advance the Bibiani Project in Ghana – Africa’s leading gold producer and…
Chad and AfDB Join Hands for Affirmative Action on Circular Economy Transition for Resource Use Efficiency and Sustainability
Report: Mohammed Abu China and Europe has since been in the forefront of the global transition from the take-make-use-discard, wasteful linear economy which is unsustainable experts contend,to the emerging circular economy paradigm. Circularity principles is premised on the fact that, resources endowment is not infinite and thus,the need for resource use efficiency whereby nothing is wasted. From a circularity pespective,waste in whatever form be in biodegradable or none-biodegradable, shouldn’t be left to post an environmental hazard or burden whatsoever to humanity,but rather should be harnessed as raw materials to create…
“The Northern Ghana is a gem of untapped potential”-Charles Abugre
Dr.Charles Abugre,an International Development Economist,is also,a former CEO of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority(SADA) and Cotton Development Authority,Ghana. “The Northern Ghana is a gem of untapped potential” Address at the Northern Ghana Development Conference The Northern Ghana Caucus in Parliament Tamale Charles Abugre 21/07/2025 Salutations Naa Chairman, Naa Yab Nanton-Naa I am most honored and humbled by the opportunity given to me by the Majority Leader and members of the Caucus to be on this podium. Please accept my congratulations for this historic initiative. It was long in coming but…
1st Northern Ghana Dev’t Conference in Pictures
CIBAFI and The BIBF Sign MoU to Advance Innovation and Sustainability in Islamic Finance
In a significant move to foster innovation and sustainability in the Islamic financial services industry, the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI) and the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation and advance joint strategic initiatives an official statement disclosed in Manama,Bahrain,Sunday. The agreement underscores both institutions’ commitment to embracing modern tools and frameworks such as artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, and sustainability as key drivers of growth, resilience, and transformation within the sector. Dr. Abdelilah Belatik…