Oxfam published a new report on rising inequality in the Sahel. Beyond the many security, humanitarian and environmental challenges, the problems in the Sahel have their roots in the inequality and the strong sense of injustice among the region’s people, particularly young people. The report offers a series of recommendations in order to reduce inequality and deliver on the SDGs. They notably call upon Sahelian countries to uphold their commitments and allocate at least 20% of their national budgets to education and 15% to health. Moreover, the G5 Sahel should place more emphasis on development and governance. Read on

The Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research has launched an initiative to support entrepreneurs and start-up companies active in the fields of mobile health, pharmacometrics, innovative financing or digital humanities (knowledge transfer) in sub-Saharan Africa. More particularly, the Swiss Africa Business Innovation Initiative (SABII) aims to boost the entrepreneurial know-how and exposure of sub-Saharan graduate students. Read on

Switzerland is partnering with the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) to support the implementation of a regional financial inclusion strategy in the UEMOA area. The two partners aim to develop regional financial education programmes and targeted information campaigns, in particular for women, youth and rural populations. In particular, they plan to integrate financial education modules into school and university programmes. Read on

The economic outlook of West Africa is promising. Six West African countries [Côte d’Ivoire (3), Senegal (5), Burkina Faso (6), Ghana (8), Benin (9) and Guinea(10)] ranked in the top 10 in Africa in 2018 in terms of real GDP growth. The West African economy is projected to grow by 3.6% in 2019, slightly below the continental average of 4%. Read on