Séga Diarrah, president of the “Bi-Ton” Collective, which brings together some 60 associations to promote democracy and employment in Mali, recognises that the 27th Africa-France Summit, which was held in Bamako on 13-14 January 2017, was a success for Mali. Relations between France and Africa are nevertheless questionable. According to Diarrah, France continues to benefit from Africa, especially through its large companies that are active on the continent, without addressing Africans’ real concerns about co-operation. Read on

The President of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou, spoke at the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, on 23 September 2016, and began a diplomatic marathon including: a bilateral meeting with Ban-Ki Moon, a meeting about COP22 in Marrakech with Morocco’s Foreign Ministry Minister Delegate Bourita Nasser, and a special summit on Lake Chad. In his speech to the General Assembly, he called for change in global governance systems in order to achieve the sustainable development goals. Read on

On the sidelines of the OECD Africa Forum on 29 September 2016, the Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat (SWAC/OECD) and the OECD Development Centre had a working session with the ECOWAS Commission President Alain Marcel de Souza. The session provided an opportunity to present key priorities of OECD’s work with Africa and to listen to the expectations of the ECOWAS Commission, beyond its SWAC membership. Read on

The President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker announced the new European External Investment Plan (EIP) in his State of the Union speech on 14 September. The EU aims to encourage private sector investment in Africa and the EU neighbourhood. With EUR 3.35 billion from the EU budget and the European Development Fund, the Commission intends to mobilise, with guarantees of support, up to EUR 44 billion of investments. Read on