First Independent Mena Newspaper
Nigeria’s and South Africa’s senior government officials have urged African countries to boost collaboration, rather than compete with one another, and work together to improve air connectivity, which would in turn boost tourism and economic growth. Speaking during the recent African Tourism Ministers Dialogue in South Africa’s port city of Durban, the country’s Minister of […]
ECOWAS Countries involved in the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline are expected to sign a final investment decision in 2025, according to Morocco’s oil and mines authority ONHYM. Speaking at a forum in Rabat, head of development at ONHYM recalled that the pipeline will cross 13 countries and stretch over 7000 kilometers. The cost of the pipeline […]
First Nigerian oil has arrived at the Beninese oil terminal of Sémè Kraké using the Niger-Benin pipeline, with experts hailing the launch of this platform because it signifies Niger’s emergence as a key player in Africa’s oil sector. The recent inauguration of the oil export platform in the town on the border between Benin and […]
Following a recent string of military coups, retaliatory sanctions, and withdrawal of its member states, it became clear that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) lacks authority, legitimacy, and effective sanction and intervention instruments, and thus, as observers warn, it must either reform or decline. Once considered Africa’s most institutionally developed regional organization, […]
Trade between Nigeria and neighboring Niger has bounced back since the West African bloc ECOWAS lifted sanctions on the latter coup-hit country, just as the president of the ECOWAS Commission admits Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso’s withdrawal will cost the regional bloc as much as US$1 billion. In January 2024, the three countries led by military […]
Despite the recent decision by the ECOWAS to lift its sanctions imposed on Niger, the stalemate between the regional bloc and the three coup-hit Sahelian countries of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger lingers on. Observers and analysts have pondered if the relations between the three junta-ruled countries and the Economic Community of West African States […]
The expectation for an ECOWAS single currency to be launched by 2027 is no longer realistic, according to the director-general of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ), Olorunsola Olowofeso, who imputed the delay to the inability of all the WAMZ member states to meet all the required criteria. “The quest for a single currency by […]
Senegal’s delayed presidential election will be held on 24 March, the country’s President Macky Sall has announced, following weeks of political turmoil and violent protests calling for an immediate vote. Senegalese voters should finally head to the polls at the end of March, following a string of announcements by the president and government on Wednesday, […]
Germany, which currently chairs the Sahel Alliance, a key development body in the conflict-torn region, makes efforts to boost trust in state structures in countries such as Burkina Faso also by showing its willingness to interact with the post-coup regimes. Burkina Faso and Benin are part of a trip to the Sahel region by German […]
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has so far failed to boost Africa’s global trade participation that still stands at a mere 3%, according to a new report that assessed the progress in regional integration in the continent. African countries continue to conduct a greater volume of trade with countries beyond the continent rather […]