As part of the VAM Gender & Markets Initiative, the WFP West Africa office published a new study on market conditions faced by women farmers and traders in two culturally similar yet administratively different areas: the Kano-Katsina region in northern Nigeria and the Maradi region in southern Niger. Read on

Food is particularly expensive for households in sub-Saharan Africa – relative to their incomes. Prices are 30-40% higher than in the rest of the world with comparable per capita GDP levels. In West Africa, markets provide at least two-thirds of household food supplies and households spend an average of 55% of their budgets on food. “Transforming the food economy is key to lowering prices,” explains Thomas Allen from the Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat (SWAC/OECD) in an article published on the OECD Development Matters blog. Read on

As of 1 January 2018, Mauritania is using a new series of polymer bills, and the currency was redenominated with 10 ouguiyas becoming one ouguiya. The former banknotes and coins will be progressively withdrawn and replaced until the end of June 2018. Many citizens expressed concern about losing purchasing power fearing a hidden devaluation. Read on

The 52nd ECOWAS Conference of Heads of State and government was held on 16 December in Abuja, Nigeria. This annual meeting was an opportunity for regional leaders to take stock of the West African regional integration process and to call for its acceleration by implementing regional infrastructure projects and improving the business environment in a co-ordinated way. Read on