First Independent Mena Newspaper
The Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM), West Africa’s regional stock exchange, has reached an unprecedented market capitalization of about $21.2 billion, marking a milestone for the eight-member West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Announced on Wednesday (15 Oct), the BRVM’s market cap has soared 29.13% since the end of 2024, with a remarkable […]
France has deepened its military ties with Ghana through a four-day joint naval exercise, as Paris pivots towards coastal West African nations after military setbacks in the Sahel. The French amphibious assault ship LHD Tonnerre docked at Ghana’s Tema Port on September 30, for the exercise, aimed at improving maritime security and operational coordination in […]
The European Union has announced a €545 million ($638 million) initiative to accelerate Africa’s transition to clean energy, aiming to expand electrification, modernize power grids, and improve access to renewable power across nine countries. Unveiled by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the Global Citizen Festival in New York, the funding forms part […]
Ghana has joined a growing list of African nations cooperating with the United States in its controversial immigration enforcement policy, accepting 14 West African deportees recently removed from the U.S. President John Dramani Mahama confirmed that the arrivals — mostly Nigerians and one Gambian — landed in Accra and were swiftly assisted in returning to […]
Despite impressive strides in mobile network expansion across Sub-Saharan Africa, a new GSMA report reveals that millions remain offline — not due to lack of coverage, but because of high device costs and digital illiteracy. The paradox lies in progress: while 75% of newly connected global areas last year were in Sub-Saharan Africa, the continent […]
West Africa faces a deepening humanitarian crisis as the fallout from armed conflict in the Central Sahel region continues to spill into neighboring Gulf of Guinea countries, according to a new UNICEF report. In the first half of 2025, escalating violence in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger has displaced more than 515,000 people into coastal […]
Ghana’s Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) has initiated consultations with Morocco to study the North African Kingdom’s pioneering regulatory framework for medical and industrial cannabis, signaling Ghana’s commitment to developing a robust legal infrastructure for its emerging sector. During recent discussions in Accra, a delegation led by Brigadier General Maxwell Obuba Mantey met with Moroccan Ambassador […]
Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has appointed two serving ministers to take on additional roles following the deaths of Defense Minister Edward Kofi Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed in a helicopter crash, in the Ashanti Region last Wednesday. Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson will serve concurrently as acting Minister of Defense, while […]
A surge in cocoa smuggling across West Africa is undermining the economies of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, the world’s top cocoa producers, amid record global prices exceeding $10,000 per ton. The illicit trade, driven by price disparities and weak enforcement, is costing both countries hundreds of millions in lost revenue and threatening the stability of […]
Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has raised the red flag following revelations of $2.1 billion in suspicious cryptocurrency transactions across West Africa in 2024, according to a study by the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA). SEC Director-General, Emomotimi Agama, speaking at the recent West Africa Compliance Summit in Cape […]