Fred Dzakpata

Tullow Oil plc has announced that it has completed the refinancing of US$2.5 billion of Reserves Based Lending (“RBL”) credit facilities. The US$2.5 billion of credit facilities are split between a commercial bank facility of US$2.4 billion and an IFC facility of US$100 million. The fully committed facilities are revolving with a three-year grace period and final maturity of November 2024.

The President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has launched the Presidential Youth Advisory Group (PYAG) to provide insights and innovative solutions for job creation for Africa’s youth, as outlined in the Bank’s Job's for Youth in Africa Strategy. The Jobs for Youth in Africa initiative aims at creating 25 million jobs and impacting 50 million youth over the next ten years by equipping them with the right skills to get decent and meaningful jobs. It is currently the largest effort going on for youth employment in Africa today

The newly sworn in President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa is courting the international investor community to help his country.

The African Development Bank Group’s Board of Directors has approved a loan of €180 million to the Republic of Cameroon to finance the first phase of the government’s Competitiveness and Economic Growth Support Programme (PACCE). PACCE is the first of a three-year programmatic general budget support operations to be implemented from 2017 to 2019 in order to shore up public finances in the wake of dwindling oil prices exasperated by security and related humanitarian challenges within the country and across the CEMAC region.

The IMF has warned that Zimbabwe's economic situation remains very difficult. The fund's mission chief for Zimbabwe Gene Leon told Reuters news agency that immediate action was crucial to reduce the deficit, accelerate structural reforms and re-engage with the international community.

The AfDB Group's Board of Directors has approved a total AfDB loan of €98.06 million to finance a program of the regional airline, Air Côte d’Ivoire (ACI) to modernize and expand its operations. The loan consists of a €51.16 million sovereign loan, a €42.64 million private sector loan, and an African Development Fund (ADF) loan of €4.26 million.

Nigeria has set out its budget for 2018, aimed at helping the economy recover from its first recession in 25 years.

More than 800,000 companies in Nigeria, including government contractors, have never paid any taxes, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun has revealed. In a statement, she also said that only 14 million Nigerians, out of an economically active base of 70 million, paid taxes.

Guinea, Mauritania, Senegal and the Seychelles have informed the FiTI Secretariat of their desire to join the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI). On the model of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), FiTI is a code of conduct involving States, civil society, development partners and operators in the fisheries sector that provides for the publication of all national legislation on and all contracts related to the fisheries sector.

As the most robust economy in Central Africa, Cameroon, has in the past decade taken steps to further boost growth, making major advances in providing health, education, and clean water, and launching an ambitious infrastructure investment programme to become a middle-income country by 2035, according to the AfDB’s Cameroon Country Brief released on 2 November 2017.