Three projects financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) for US$121.4 million in 2010-2011 are starting to provide Cameroon with more reliable electricity supply, the bank said.

Although Cameroon has suffered power supply for years, it has the second-largest hydroelectric potential in Africa and the 18th worldwide with an estimated 23,000 MW hydroelectric production capacity.

In a statement given on Thursday, AfDB said the Lom Pangar storage reservoir project was complete, although the dam’s generating plant was still under construction. Two other power plants, Kribi and Dibamba, had begun working to strengthen the country’s generating capacity.

In November 2011, The African development bank awarded $62.9 million for the construction of Lom Pangar in the country’s eastern region and a 30 MW hydroelectric generating plant still under construction at the base of the dam. Lom Pangar will provide electricity to 150 locations and significantly reduce power cuts.

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Zimbabwe expressed concern over the United States’ ban placed on its diamonds to prevent it from being imported over concerns of forced labour.

The US Customs and Border Protection banned targeted products from China, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This has risen suspicion of the blockade being an extension of Washington DC’s trade war with China.

The US said that they issued a Withhold Release Order of the artisanal rough-cut diamonds from Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond field due to evidence of forced labour and the US law prohibits importation of goods made with forced labour.

The Secretary of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Mr. Nick Mangwana responded, “There is virtually nothing like this in our diamond industry. Zimbabwe is replete with a highly qualified labour force which is neither forced nor compelled at any point along the mining and processing value chain.”

He pointed out that Zimbabwe …

Smile Train, the world’s leading cleft organization, announced their partnership with the West African College of Surgeons (WACS) to launch the Smile Train-WACS Cleft Surgical Certification. The Certification will grant 6 surgeons per year over the next five years the opportunity to specialize in cleft care across West Africa.

The one- year Post-Graduate Program will commence in February 2020. WACS will identify accredited centers to serve as training sites in Nigeria, Ghana and French West Africa. The Certification is open to applicants in all West African and CEMAC zone countries with priority being given to trainees from countries without significant Smile Train presence.

Smile Train empowers local medical professionals with training, funding, and resources to provide free cleft surgery and comprehensive cleft care to children globally.

Speaking during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Smile Train Program Director of West and Central Africa, Mrs. Nkeiruka Obi noted …

A report released at the African Green Revolution Forum in Accra finds that millions of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) rarely are dependent on big multinationals for their raw materials but directly rely upon millions more smallholder farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The report finds that, overall, only about 20 percent of the volume of food consumed in Africa fits the conventional notion of subsistence agriculture—food consumed directly by the farming households that grow it.

“All this represents a profound turnaround from mere decades ago, ” said Dr. Thomas Reardon of Michigan State University, a lead author of the report. “There has been a ‘Quiet Revolution’ in agrifood private sector value chains linking small farmers to burgeoning urban markets and growing towns in Africa. This has spurred farmers’ participation in food and farm input markets.”

SMEs provide a range of services, from transport and logistics to the sale of inputs such …

Global consultancy Palladium has announced its first impact investment fund to bridge the financing gap for small businesses in sub-Saharan Africa.

The “Palladium Impact Fund I” is expected to raise USD 40 million to provide much-needed capital for SMEs in emerging markets. The fund, which will focus on agribusiness value chains and off-grid clean energy in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya, aims to alleviate poverty and economically empower over 500,000 rural households. It intends to create at least 3,500 full-time jobs, of which 60 percent will be for women.

Investors will include foundations, family offices, pension funds, and institutional investors. Palladium will manage the fund, anchored by a $5 million investment of its own capital. The new fund will make debt and mezzanine investments of between $250,000 and $2 million into small companies.

Andrew Tillery, Head of Impact Investments at Palladium, said, “Fifty-four years of experience has taught Palladium that for …

PIDG company, the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) has announced that it has arranged the long-term debt finance for a €305 million new port development by Gabon Special Economic Zone Ports (GSEZ Ports) at Owendo, Gabon.

In addition to its sole mandated lead arranger role, EAIF is lending the company €40 million over 15 years, on a first ranked basis. GSEZ Ports is EAIF’s first project in Gabon. It is the largest industrial-scale infrastructure public-private partnership yet seen in the country. Financial close was achieved on 26 July.

The African Development Bank (AfDB), which led the structuring of the finance, is also lending €40 million. The new funds will refinance the project, releasing money for the largest shareholder to reinvest in other infrastructure projects in Africa, some in Gabon. 75% of the capital for the port project is shareholder equity.

GSEZ Ports has been awarded a 30-year concession to build …