Business

France Mobilises €23bn Private Capital For Investments In Africa

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu participated in the gathering, which observers described as a major diplomatic and economic engagement aimed at deepening Africa-France cooperation.

Published

5 months ago

May 13, 2026

OCHEFA

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•Photo: French President Emmanuel Macron attends the Africa Forward Summit 2026 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), in Nairobi, Kenya, May 12, 2026. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi.

French President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday France had ‌mobilised €23 billion ($27.01 billion) during the African Forward Summit in Nairobi for investments in Africa, to develop new partnerships in Africa after seeing its influence fade in former colonies in West Africa.

More than 30 African leaders, as well as heads of multilateral financial institutions and business executives from across Africa and France, are attending the Nairobi summit, the first France has held in an English-speaking country.

Macron said that rather than African leaders borrowing to fund infrastructure development, he supported creating a first-loss guarantee mechanism to de-risk investments on the continent and would lobby for the idea at the G7 summit next month.

The summit, co-hosted by France and Kenya, has brought together more than 30 African heads of state, global investors, financial institutions and development partners to discuss issues ranging from climate financing and energy transition to digital transformation and industrial growth.

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu participated in the gathering, which observers described as a major diplomatic and economic engagement aimed at deepening Africa-France cooperation.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted that African countries face borrowing costs that are twice as high on average as advanced industrialized economies.”That is not a market verdict on Africa. It is a verdict ⁠on the injustices of the system,” he told the summit.

Decrying what they say are biases against them that overstate the continent’s risk, African governments have called for changes to the methodologies used by credit ratings agencies.

Major agencies including S&P Global Ratings, Moody’s and Fitch reject ⁠accusations of regional bias, saying their ratings are based on globally applied, publicly disclosed criteria.

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Business

Naira Rates To Dollar , Pound, EURO… Monday, October 5

Published

2 days ago

October 5, 2026

OCHEFA

31 Views

Black Market Exchange Rates

₦1365DOLLAR (USD)

₦1820POUND (GBP)

₦1535EURO (EUR)

₦970 CANADIAN DOLLAR (CAD)

₦65 SOUTH AFRICAN RAND (ZAR)

₦350 UAE DIRHAM (AED)

₦190 CHINESE YUAN (CNY)

₦100 GHANAIAN CEDI (GHS)

West African CFA ₦2300CFA

Central African CFA ₦2200

Australian Dollar currency ₦850AUSSIE (AUD)

Official CBN Exchange Rates

DOLLAR (USD)₦1330.10

POUND (GBP)₦1759.58

EURO (EUR)₦1496.76

SWISS FRANC (CHF)₦1605.62

JAPANESE YEN (JPN)₦8.45

CFA FRANC (XOF)₦2.29

WEST AFRICAN UNIT OF ACCOUNT (WAUA)₦1801.60

CHINESE YUAN (CNY) ₦198.39

SAUDI RIYAL (SAR)₦354.25

SOUTH AFRICAN RAND (ZAR)₦79.91

Business

Diesel Costs Bite: LAMATA Accelerates Shift To CNG, Electric Buses

The move comes as diesel prices have more than doubled, rising from about N950 per litre at the beginning of the year to between N1,950 and N2,100 per litre, depending on the source.

Published

2 days ago

October 4, 2026

OCHEFA

43 Views

Lagos is accelerating its transition away from diesel-powered public transport as the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) begins phasing out diesel buses from its regulated fleet, amid a surge in diesel prices that has pushed operating costs sharply higher.

LAMATA is targeting clean-energy propulsion for 52 per cent of its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) fleet by 2050, with compressed natural gas (CNG) and electric vehicles (EVs) taking the place of conventional diesel buses under a policy that took effect at the beginning of 2026.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of LAMATA, Mrs. Abimbola Akinajo, disclosed this weekend, during the handover of 20 additional high-capacity CNG buses under the Presidential Initiative on CNG and EVs.

The latest delivery brings LAMATA’s CNG fleet to about 170 buses, following the deployment of approximately 150 CNG buses before the new vehicles were received.

The authority also operates high-capacity and medium-capacity electric buses.

Akinajo said some of the new CNG buses would be deployed on the busy Ikorodu–Tafawa Balewa Square corridor, where passenger demand remains high.

“We will only work with CNG or EV buses, and this has been the policy since the beginning of the year,” she said.

The move comes as diesel prices have more than doubled, rising from about N950 per litre at the beginning of the year to between N1,950 and N2,100 per litre, depending on the source.

For LAMATA, the shift is therefore not only an environmental policy but also a cost-management strategy aimed at shielding commuters and transport operators from the impact of rising fuel expenses.

Akinajo said regulated public transport fares had not been increased, partly because the lower operating costs of CNG and electric buses were helping to contain the pressure on operators.

“Regulated public transport fares have not increased, and these buses have helped us achieve that,” she said.

Diesel phase-outUnder the new policy, existing diesel-powered buses in the regulated system will be progressively replaced with CNG and electric alternatives.

Akinajo said the long-term direction was for the regulated system to ultimately operate an entirely electric fleet, while the broader clean-energy target provides a pathway towards reducing emissions from Lagos’ transportation sector.

Transportation remains a major source of emissions in the megacity, making the switch to cleaner buses a key component of Lagos State’s long-term ambition of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.