The official celebration ceremony took place on 10 January in the capital city of Burkina Faso at the International Conference Centre of Ouaga 2000. The group welcomed the presence of President Alassane Dramane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire, the current chair of the UEMOA’s Heads of State and Governments Conference. In terms of challenges, he highlighted the low rate of intra-community trade; the large number of border controls, delays and illegal imposed levies; the distortion of competition; and difficulties of some companies in gaining access to markets within the union. At the end of the ceremony, the two presidents inaugurated the new UEMOA administrative complex, located in Ouaga 2000. Read on

Fiscal policies may reduce inequalities in Togo, but they impoverish the poorest households. These key findings come from a new OECD study on the impact of fiscal and social protection policies on inequalities and poverty in that country. Read on

Six West African microfinance networks joined forces to create a new regional institute, the Financière de l’Afrique de l’Ouest. Based in Dakar, the new financing institute will start with 4.5 million clients and 800 points of sale. Read on

The fourth high-level meeting on “Peaceful transhumance and livestock mobility in the Sahel and West African coastal countries” was held by ECOWAS from 27-29 September 2017 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Livestock ministers from across the region endorsed the funding modalities to establish the Regional Investment Programme for Livestock Development in Coastal Countries (PRIDEC), targeting the livestock sector of five coastal countries (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo). PRIDEC is designed to complement the Regional Support Project for Pastoralism in the Sahel (PRAPS). Read on