An ambitious flagship project, the long-awaited construction of a trans-African gas pipeline connecting Nigeria via Morocco to Europe, might finally advance. The project was officially announced in December 2016 during a visit of King Mohammed VI to Nigeria. The 4 000 km pipeline will run along the Gulf of Guinea countries and will help create industrial hubs, and thereby will also boost regional economic integration beyond the energy sector. Read on

Opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo won Ghana’s presidential election on 9 December 2016 with 53.85% of the vote against incumbent President John Dramani Mahama who won 44.40% of the vote. The voter turnout was 68.62%. It was Akufo-Addo’s third time running for president in Ghana. “Ghana is open for business again,” was one of the newly elected president’s key messages. Indeed, President Akufo-Addo won the election with his promise of “Change: an Agenda for Jobs - Creating Prosperity & Equal Opportunity for All.” Read on

Food security in cities: Urban food insecurity is a real problem, the scale of which is likely to increase as urban populations expand. The problem is poorly documented, however, and its unique characteristics should be better taken into account in food and nutrition monitoring systems. Read on

The food economy - rural and urban, primary, secondary and tertiary, formal and informal - is much larger than the agricultural economy alone and has the potential to create more growth and more jobs. Since it focuses on the domestic market, which has a high growth rate, it is not as volatile and should be the keystone of economic policies. Cross‑cutting and multi-sectoral strategies are needed to enhance the food economy’s potential. Read on