African leaders have reached an important milestone in creating a united African market with the launch of the operational phase of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on 7 July 2019 in Niamey, Niger. The 54-nation trade bloc will unite 1.3 billion people and create a USD 3.4 trillion economic bloc. It is the largest trade bloc to be created since the the World Trade Organization was founded in 1995. It is set to become the biggest integrated market worldwide uniting some 2.5 billion people by 2050. Read on

According to 2018 data from 30 member countries of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC), official development assistance (ODA) has fallen by 2.7% since 2017. However, ODA remains a crucial pillar of development finance, particularly in the Sahel and West Africa. In 2017, the 17 Sahel and West African countries received a total of USD 13.9 billion in ODA, representing 9.5% of all ODA given. Read on

The government of The Gambia hosted the 2018 edition of the Sahel and West Africa Week, which took place from 3-8 December in Banjul. Organised by the Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat (SWAC/OECD), this annual flagship event focused on food and nutrition issues in the Sahel and West Africa. It brought together some 300 food security stakeholders from every Sahelian and West African country as well as development partners. Read on

On 18 February, Adama Barrow was officially inaugurated as the third President of the Republic of The Gambia, timely coinciding with Gambia’s Independence Day. After more than a month and a half of uncertainty about the future of the country following President Yahya Jammeh’s refusal to recognise his defeat after the 1 December 2016 elections, he finally agreed to step down under the threat of ECOWAS soldiers and went into exile in Equatorial Guinea. This allowed Barrow, the victorious winner who was himself exiled in Senegal, to return to the country. The outcome of the Gambian crisis has provoked different reactions. Read on