Sunday, December 1African Digital Business Magazine

Mali News

Mali News

Ethiopia News, Guinea News, Main, Mali News

African Growth and Opportunity Act eligibility requirements under review in three African countries

By Virusha Subban, Partner and Head of Indirect Tax, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg On 2 November 2021, US President Joe Biden announced that three African countries would be terminated from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade preference program, unless they took urgent action to meet statutory eligibility criteria by 1 January 2022. The three countries listed were Guinea, Mali and Ethiopia. The US administration cited unconstitutional changes in governments in Guinea and Mali and human rights violations in Ethiopia, due to conflict in the country, as reasons for the termination. The statement announced the intention to provide all three countries with a clear benchmark and pathway towards reinstatement so that valued trading partnerships could be resumed. AGOA eligibility c...
African News, Burkina Faso News, Main, Mali News, Niger News

The Sahel faces further destabilisation from the jihadi gold rush

Africa’s Sahel, a region separating the Sahara Desert to the north and savannas to the south, is notorious for widespread poverty and persistent conflict. In fact, Western Sahel, especially Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, is the most unstable area on the continent. For years, terrorist attacks have been a frequent occurrence but recently the region has been facing a new threat - a wave of extremist violence targeting gold mines. Groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State have been taking over gold mines and becoming increasingly involved in the informal gold trade. ‘More than 2m people are involved in small-scale mining in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger’, reported the International Crisis Group. As the NGO explained, ‘in total they dig up 40-95 tonnes of gold a year, worth some $1.9bn-4.5...
How Optimized Energy Management Delivers Reliability, Efficiency and Sustainability at the Fekola Mine in Mali
Energy, Mali News

How Optimized Energy Management Delivers Reliability, Efficiency and Sustainability at the Fekola Mine in Mali

Op-Ed By Luke Witmer, General Manager, Data Science, Wärtsilä Energy Storage and Optimization Since B2Gold first acquired the Fekola gold mine, located in a remote corner of southwest Mali, exploration studies revealed the deposits to be almost double the initial estimates. A recent site expansion has just been completed, and while the existing power units provide enough power to support the increase in production, the company sought to reduce its energy costs, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and increase power reliability. The addition of a 35MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) plant and 17MW/15MWh of energy storage to the existing 64MW thermal engine plant was decided. This new energy mix is anticipated to save over 13 million litres of fuel, reduce carbon emissions by thirty-nine thousand tons pe...
Hybrid solutions are the most effective way to deliver reliable clean power to remote off-grid mining operations in Africa
Burkina Faso News, Energy, Green Energy, Mali News, Tanzania News

Hybrid solutions are the most effective way to deliver reliable clean power to remote off-grid mining operations in Africa

Op-ed by Tarik Sfendla, Market Development Manager, Africa chez Wärtsilä Energy Business The energy markets are undergoing a massive transformation as governments around the world transition away from fossil fuels towards the integration of renewable energy. This trend is clearly visible in the mining industry as demonstrated by recent power projects in South America and in Australia. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, in 2018, mines purchased 1 GW of renewable energy generation assets; this amount tripled to reach approximately 3.5 GW in 2019, 90% of which consist of hybrid solutions. Electricity demand for the mining industry is expected to increase significantly in the coming years as increased mine depth, harder rock and greater water desalination needs lead to higher energy in...
Sidney and Bernice Clyman – African Art collection
Art, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon News, Ghana News, Mali News, Nigeria News, Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Republic of the Congo

Sidney and Bernice Clyman – African Art collection

There are many ways to collect ancient and historical pieces of art. One of the most famous ways to collect art pieces and show off your wealth is to go to an auction house. Auction houses not only have the most unique collection of items but it is also a place where an individual can feel the thrill of competing against others to purchase any item. Due to the progress of online activities auctions managed to make its way to the online market. Sotheby's is one of the largest and fourth oldest auction companies in the world. With the website “www.sothebys.com” anyone can have the experience of joining the online auction hosted by Sotheby's and browse through their exciting collection of art pieces. On 30 June 2020 9:30 AM EDT African Art from the collection of Sidney and Bernice Clyman was...
Tapping into Digital Technology Platforms  to Increase Agriculture Productivity in Africa
Agriculture, Main, Mali News, Nigeria News, Senegal News, Zambia News

Tapping into Digital Technology Platforms to Increase Agriculture Productivity in Africa

by Johan Burger Introduction Africa is a bit of an anomaly as far as agriculture is concerned. On the one hand, it has 65% of the world’s available uncultivated arable land, and it has the potential to feed the world. However, a country such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has the potential to feed Africa’s 1.2 billion people, struggles to feed its own population of about 70 million. On the other hand, the continent is a net importer of food to the tune of US$41 billion annually. This figure is set to grow to US$110 billion by 2025 should nothing change. We also find that the average age of farmers in Africa is about 63 years, and 85% of farming activity takes place on smallholder plots of 2 - 3 hectares each. At the same time, the youth of Africa are fed-up with the p...