Author: Nephthali Messanh Ledy

In Accra, on the sidelines of the high-level conference on the governance of critical minerals and conflicts in Africa, Dr. Badié Hima, founding director of the MAT laboratory, gives his analysis of the current issues on the continent. Former resident director of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Togo and Mali, and specialist in democratic governance, he warns of the central role that these resources now play in global power dynamics. For this Nigerian expert, critical minerals represent “the new face of global geopolitics” and expose Africa even more to economic, political, and security tensions if states do not strengthen…

Togo reaches a new milestone in the transit and logistics sector with the accession of the Professional Union of Customs Brokers (UPRAD) to the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA). For the organization’s president, Patrick Magnon, this advancement goes beyond the protocol: “Membership in FIATA is not an end in itself. It marks the beginning of a new stage,” he says in this interview with Financial Afrik. What does this membership represent for you, personally and for UPRAD-TOGO? First and foremost, it is a great source of pride, both personally and for the entire UPRAD-TOGO. But beyond pride, we…

The high-level conference on governance, critical minerals, and conflicts in Africa brought together diverse profiles on Monday, July 27, around the theme: “Africa at a crossroads: navigating global geopolitical competition in the era of critical minerals.” Discussions focused on how the evolving geopolitical competition is reshaping the political economy, governance landscape, and security architecture of the continent. According to all panelists and participants from across the continent, Africa finds itself at the center of a new global rush for its strategic resources, and its ability to benefit from this will depend on the quality of its governance and unity. Amadou…

From our special correspondent in Accra, Nephthali Messanh Ledy The works of the “high-level conference” dedicated to governance, critical minerals, and conflicts in Africa were launched on Monday, July 27 in Accra, Ghana, with a central question: can the mineral resources of the continent become a lever for shared development, or do they risk fueling new tensions? Several speakers have converged their analyses towards the same observation: the main issue is not the resource itself, but the conditions of its governance. Local transformation and regional integration Officially launching the works on behalf of Ghanaian President John Mahama, Augustus Tanoh, special…

Gathered in Cotonou during the General States of Insurance for All, stakeholders in the sector have made an observation: insurance still struggles to convince a large part of the African population. Guests on Financial Afrik TV, Guy Lawson-Body, CEO of Wafa Assurance Vie Côte d’Ivoire, and Yves Kessin, general agent of Wafa IMA Assistance for the CIMA zone, pleaded for a profound transformation of the relationship between insurers and insured, based on simplicity, proximity, and concrete proof of the service provided. Right from the start, Guy Lawson-Body recalled that the issue of trust is not a temporary one. “Consumer mistrust…

The General States of Insurance for All ended on July 8, 2026 in the economic capital of Benin with a historic decision: the adoption of a Pan-African Pact for inclusive insurance, accompanied by 23 resolutions and a “Cotonou Appeal”. Three days of intense reflection that aim to transform insurance into a real lever for development and protection of the populations of the continent. Facing the press, Mamadou Koné, President of the Federation of African National Insurance Companies (FANAF), highlighted the unprecedented approach that preceded the adoption of the pact. “We conducted a critical exercise by giving voice to users,” he…

“Togo, Congo, Chad… African states are accelerating the abolition of entry visas for continent nationals. This decision, far from being a mere announcement, could multiply commercial exchanges if applied with transparency, method, and rigor. The opening of African countries’ borders to holders of African passports is no longer just a rhetorical marker of pan-Africanism. It is gradually becoming part of public policies. For a long time, the countries that chose real openness were few. Benin, Seychelles, Gambia, and Rwanda have often been cited as pioneers, each in their own way. The new development is not so much the existence of…

At a time when the African continent is redefining the contours of its insurance industry, one conviction is clear: the sector’s takeoff will no longer be determined solely by penetration rates or technical portfolios, but by the speed at which a policyholder is compensated and the ability of companies to speak the language of mobile phones. Invited to the Financial Afrik platform in Cotonou (Benin) as part of the General States of Insurance for All, Saliou Bakayoko, former president of the Association of Insurance Companies of Ivory Coast (ASA-CI) and board member, shares the perspective of a veteran on over…

Forty years in the insurance industry, including twenty spent in international groups in Côte d’Ivoire, followed by twelve years at the helm of a company she founded herself before merging it with a leading player in the Beninese market. The journey of Evelyne Fassinou, chair of the board of directors of SUNU Assurances Vie Benin, is intertwined with several key stages in the structuring of the sector on the continent. As a guest on the Financial Afrik platform in Cotonou (Benin) as part of the General States of Insurance for All, she openly discusses the topic that now occupies her…

Alongside the major debates surrounding the adoption of the Pan-African Inclusive Insurance Pact, held from July 6 to 8, 2026, Financial Afrik brought together, on the same panel, three actors committed to the development of microinsurance on the continent: Joël Bamogo, President and CEO of Yelen Capital Group in Burkina Faso, Dr. Andrew Gwodog, founder and CEO of Samb’a Assurances in Gabon and Cameroon, as well as Chaka Sougué, CEO of SIM Assurance in Ivory Coast. Through the discussions, a consensus emerged: in order to reach populations historically excluded from traditional financial systems, microinsurance appears to be one of the…

Cotonou, July 8, 2026 – After three days of intensive work in the Beninese capital, the General Assembly of Insurance for All has resulted in the adoption of a pan-African pact for inclusive insurance. Composed of 23 resolutions including a “Call from Cotonou”, the document aims to be a true roadmap to transform African insurance. In front of the press, Mamadou Koné, President of the Federation of National African Insurance Companies (FANAF), and Hervé Tchiakpé, President of the Association of Insurance Companies of Benin (ASA Benin), first recalled the symbolic and political significance of the approach. According to Mr. Koné,…

The General States of Insurance for All, organized by the Federation of African National Insurance Companies (FANAF), opened on Monday, July 6 in Cotonou, with the ambition of making inclusive insurance a major lever for social protection and economic resilience in Africa. Over three days, insurers, regulators, public authorities, and technical and financial partners must reflect on ways to expand access to insurance for populations that are still poorly or not covered. At the opening of the event, Nicolas Yénoussi, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy and Finance, in charge of Finance and Microfinance of Benin, noted that the…

In Cotonou, the first General States of Insurance for All have highlighted a strong conviction: the future of the sector will not only be played out in trading rooms or company offices, but at the heart of villages, markets, artisan workshops, and on the mobile phones of millions of Africans. Invited to the Financial Afrik platform, Hervé Tchiakpe, president of the Association of Insurance Companies of Benin (ASA Benin), advocates for a profound transformation of the industry, centered around education, digitalization, and a collective commitment from states. According to him, the first challenge is to change the perception of insurance,…

A discreet but crucial lever for development financing, insurance is once again at the forefront of international donors’ priorities. Present at the first General States of Insurance for All organized in Cotonou, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a branch of the World Bank Group dedicated to the private sector, clearly states its ambition: to accelerate insurance inclusion in Africa by combining financing, technical assistance, and structural reforms. As a guest on Financial Afrik’s special program, Vincent Arthur Floreani, IFC Country Manager in Benin, details the institution’s strategy and the prospects of a sector that is still largely underexploited. For the…

Appointed President of the Senegalese Federation of Insurance Companies (FSSA) in March 2026, El Hadj Amar Kébé takes the helm of a sector that shows brilliant financial health but remains confronted with a structural paradox. As the Managing Director of AXA Senegal, he inherits a market that has become the second largest in the CIMA zone after Ivory Coast, with a historic turnover of over 300 billion FCFA in 2025. However, despite this remarkable progress, the insurance penetration rate hovers around 1.5%, revealing the immense gap that still separates insurers from the majority of the population. In this interview with…

In a Burkina Faso facing a particularly demanding security and economic environment, the insurance sector is gradually adapting its model to continue protecting businesses, households, and investments. For Salifou Traoré, president of the Professional Association of Insurance Companies of Burkina (APSAB) and general manager of SanlamAllianz Burkina, the future of the industry lies in a combination of digitalization, innovation, and inclusive insurance. As a guest on the Financial Afrik platform on the sidelines of the first General States of Insurance for All organized in Cotonou, the Burkinabe leader painted a picture of a sector called upon to play an increasingly…

At a time when Africa is seeking to build more resilient social protection systems and better mobilize its domestic savings to finance its development, insurance appears as a lever that is still largely underutilized. Despite steady growth in the sector, the average penetration rate remains below 1% in the CIMA zone, leaving hundreds of millions of Africans, especially those in the informal sector, without real coverage against life’s uncertainties. It is in this context that Financial Afrik interviews Mamadou Koné, President of the African National Insurance Companies Federation (FANAF), on the sidelines of the first General States of Insurance for…

Cotonou. As the first General States of Insurance for All conclude with the adoption of the African Pact for Insurance for All, Dr. Crépin Gwodog, founder and CEO of Samba Insurance, defends a conviction: the real challenge of African insurance is no longer to improve existing products, but to change the paradigm. For this former Gabonese minister, with twenty-five years of experience in the sector, the future lies in inclusive insurance designed for the economic and social realities of African populations. A graduate of the International Institute of Insurance (IIA) and after a career in several companies in the CIMA…

Cotonou. On the sidelines of the General States of Insurance for All (July 5-8, 2026), Financial Afrik brought together two prominent leaders in the sector: Eudoxie Douya, president of the Association of Insurance Companies of Cameroon (ASAC), and El Hadji Amar Kébé, president of the Senegalese Federation of Insurance Companies (FSSA). Through their discussions, a common observation emerged: without more accessible, transparent, and tailored health insurance to the realities of African households, trust between the populations and insurers will remain fragile. The two leaders also praised the initiative of the Federation of African National Insurance Companies (FANAF), which aims to…

Cotonou, July 7, 2026. On the sidelines of the General States of Insurance for All, Mamadou Faye, founder and CEO of La Sénégalaise de l’Assurance Vie, discusses one of the main challenges facing the sector: reconciling the regulator’s protection requirements with the need to innovate to expand access to insurance. A former supervisory commissioner of the Inter-African Insurance Markets Conference (CIMA), the body that harmonizes and supervises insurance regulations in 14 French-speaking African countries, he argues for an evolution of the regulatory framework to better meet the realities of African households, especially those operating in the informal sector. Without questioning…

Just hours before kick-off between Argentina and Cape Verde at the Miami Stadium, the match between the defending champions and the revelation of the group stage promises to be unbalanced on paper. On the economic field, the difference is even more staggering. Two heavyweights… very unequal. On one side, a South American powerhouse of 46 million inhabitants, with a GDP estimated at around $687 billion for 2026, according to the IMF. On the other side, an Atlantic archipelago of ten islands populated by 530,000 people, with a GDP peaking at around $3 billion (a gap of $684 billion). In other…

The process of listing Cameroon Airports (ADC S.A.) on the stock exchange has reached a new milestone. Gathered on June 24, 2026 in Kribi in the south of the country, the company’s administrators, advisors involved in the operation, and officials from the regional financial market reviewed the progress of the file. Following this workshop, the...

The European Central Bank (ECB) could raise its key rates again as early as July 2026 if inflation were to spread beyond the energy sector, said Pierre Wunsch, a member of the Governing Council of the institution and governor of the National Bank of Belgium. A prospect that, if confirmed, could have direct repercussions on...

Yves Nanan officially took over the position of Secretary General of SUNU Bank Togo on June 15, 2026. This change marks a new milestone for the banker, who is considered a veteran in the Togolese banking sector. Indeed, the new Secretary General is not a stranger to the industry. He has climbed the ranks at the former Banque Togolaise pour le Commerce et l’Industrie (BTCI) – now IB Bank after its acquisition – where he has successively led marketing and communication, operations and organization, and finance and administration. His arrival is part of the new structure of SUNU Bank Togo,…

While inflation fell to 0.0% on average in the West African Economic and Monetary Union in 2025, the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) estimates, in a report published on Wednesday, June 24, that several countries in the area remain more vulnerable than they appear to a resurgence of price tensions. In its annual...

In its report presented at its monetary policy meeting on June 23, 2026, Bank Al-Maghrib paints a picture of the Moroccan banking sector caught between two almost contradictory dynamics: on one hand, a strengthening demand for financing with the recovery of activity; and on the other hand, liquidity tensions that continue to intensify due to...

Senegalese architect Pierre Goudiaby Atepa defended, on June 12, 2026 in Lomé, a disruptive approach in urban design. At the heart of his keynote at the 2nd edition of the BOAD Development Days, titled “Designing new cities: making sustainability the standard and not the exception”, a conviction emerges: faced with demographic pressure, capital saturation, and massive housing needs, West Africa must think of its future urban centers as integrated, productive, and resource-efficient projects from their inception, and not as improvised extensions of existing cities. For the architect, the issue is not only real estate or architectural: it is economic, land-related,…

The 2nd edition of the BOAD Development Days, under the theme “Building the future of UEMOA: financing sustainable, inclusive housing that drives energy sovereignty,” opened on Thursday, June 11 in Lomé. At the podium, the President of the West African Development Bank (BOAD), Serge Ekué, the Togolese Minister Kodjo Adedze, and the Ivorian Minister Moussa Sanogo converged on a common urgency: to make housing a strategic lever for regional development. “The bomb or the asset” Opening the proceedings, Serge Ekué painted a striking picture: the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) will surpass 300 million inhabitants by 2050, with…

Effective as of Monday, May 18, 2026, the measure signed by the President of the Council, Faure Gnassingbé, allows any national of an African state to enter Togolese territory without a visa for a stay of thirty days. Lomé thus becomes the fifth capital on the continent to reach this milestone. The announcement came at...

Senegal, Togo, and Benin officially launched a free roaming system on Friday in Lome, aimed at significantly reducing roaming fees between their territories. This advancement is seen as both technical, economic, and political, serving a more concrete digital integration in West Africa. A new milestone has been reached in the construction of the West African digital market. Gathered in the Togolese capital on the sidelines of the 23rd General Assembly of the Association of Telecommunications Regulators (ARTAO), which includes the 12 ECOWAS countries, the three AES countries, and Mauritania, the telecommunications regulators of Senegal, Togo, and Benin officially announced on…