Funds totaling €36.7 million have been awarded by Germany’s development bank KfW and the European Union. The project is set to be located in Boundiali, in the northern part of the Sub-Saharan country. Germany’s development bank, KfW signed two contracts yesterday with the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Ivory Coast for the financing of a 37.5 MW PV project in Boundiali Department, in the northwestern part of the Ivory Coast.

In principle, the meeting of Finance Ministers of the Franc Zone at the French Finance Ministry on Monday 8 October was a routine meeting, part of the established mechanisms to regularly review major economic and monetary challenges of common interest. However, coming on the eve of the autumn meetings of the IMF and the World Bank to be held in Bali from 12 to 14 October 2018, it took on a rather special importance.

Negotiations to determine the new framework between the ACP group and the European Union will take two years. Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey spells out the process, and what is at stake in these meetings, which are crucial to the future of both sides. (Interview by Guillaume Will-Raynal) On behalf of Togo, you are chairing the negotiations that will lead to a new ACP-EU partnership agreement to replace the Cotonou Agreement.

The EU and Somalia signed on 14 October an agreement to provide €100 million to the Somali budget over the next two and a half years. These funds will support the Federal Government's reforms to build a unified, federal state. Somalia is on a positive track towards stability and growth. The EU's move to budget support is a token of the partnership with Somalia to develop a viable federal system and fostering long-term recovery.

At their monthly meeting in Luxembourg earlier today the Board of the European Investment Bank (EIB) approved backing for EUR 6.67 billion of sustainable transport, urban development, water, clean energy and private sector investment across Europe and Africa. Companies across Europe and around the world will benefit from EUR 2 billion of new direct financing and support for investment through local partners.

Senior trade officials from the United Kingdom (UK) and Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) States met in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 6 to 7 September to continue discussions to maintain the current trade relationship between the UK and the ESA countries after the UK leaves the EU. The UK and ESA states from Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Zimbabwe were represented.

Today, on 10 October 2018, the European Commission welcomes a new high-level group of personalities from Africa and Europe convened by Friends of Europe, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and the ONE campaign to reflect on the future of EU-Africa relations. The meeting of the high-level group brings together current and former heads of international organisations and foundations, former presidents and prime ministers of African countries along with renowned experts.

The process leading to the post-Cotonou agreement in 2020 was launched last Friday in New York by the countries of the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) and the European Union (EU). At the meeting, Prof. Robert DUSSEY (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and African Integration of Togo) was appointed Chief Negotiator of the ACP Group.

The chief negotiator of the African, Caribbean and the Pacific countries has called for more imagination when looking to the future of EU-ACP relations. Robert Dussey is Togo's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and African Integration and Chief Negotiator of the ACP Group for the future of relations with the EU after the end of the Cotonou Agreement.

On Thursday 4 October, after presenting his credentials, the head of the European Union Delegation in Benin, Ambassador Oliver Nette, invited journalists to a lunch at his residence. It was an opportunity for him to discuss Europe’s new directions in its partnership with Africa, and Benin in particular, with members of the media.