General News
AfDB Doles Out $4.3Bn to Finance Clean Energy Projects in Africa

Between 2011 and 2012, the African Development Bank (AfDB) increased by a staggering 92% its investment in clean energy in Africa, according to a new report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
The publication looks at the clean energy transactions of 26 national and multilateral development banks from 2007 to 2012.
The AfDB now ranks 11th of out 25 on a list of development investors that is topped by Germany’s Kfw Entwicklungsbank, China Development Bank and the Brazilian Development Bank.
The AfDB’s investments had increased slowly but steadily from 2007 until last year, when they expanded exponentially.
Total AfDB investment in 2011 was only $769 million, as compared to $1.475 billion in 2012. In total, the AfDB has dedicated $4.3 billion to clean energy since 2007.
Kurt Lonsway, acting director of the African Development Bank’s Climate Change Department, expressed pride that, “in a few short years, the AfDB has become a major player in the global effort to develop clean energy. The need is particularly real in this region. Africa as a continent is in a distant fourth place behind Europe, Asia and Central and South America in terms of the total amount of clean energy investment. Thus it is crucial that the AfDB stay active in this area to keep the continent moving towards an environmentally sustainable future.”
As documented in the report, the African Development Bank has been, by far, the largest source of financing for the Africa region providing $4.3 billion of the total $14.7 billion invested by development banks in the region for clean energy projects since 2007. The World Bank Group was in second place with $2.9 billion.
In 2012, clean energy financing from development banks broke the $100 billion mark for the first time in history. The African Development Bank has been keeping pace with this investment trend, specifically, but also in general in terms of its work on the environment.
In May 2010, the AfDB created its Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department to bring these three interlinked disciplines under one operational unit to deliver tangible results for the Bank’s regional member countries.
In particular, the Department manages climate finance instruments for the Climate Investments Funds (CIF), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA). The significant additional resources brought by these funds totaling $1.2 billion since 2010 allows the Bank to support innovative operations such as the Moroccan Integrated Solar and Wind Energy Programs or the Geothermal Development Project in Kenya which would otherwise be too costly and risky to materialize in the short term. In addition to financing, the Bank provides technical support for accelerating green growth. Indeed, the African Development Bank’s 2013-2022 strategy has as its twin objectives inclusive and increasingly green growth.
In general, clean energy has enjoyed a big boost from development banks in recent years. Investments worldwide increased three-fold from 2007 to 2012, from $36.8 billion to $108.9 billion.
General News
OpenAI Sues Elon Musk Claiming Bad-Faith Tactics

OpenAI is suing Elon Musk over claims he has tried nonstop to slow down its business for his own benefit.

Elon Musk
The company accuses the Tesla boss of using “bad-faith tactics” against OpenAI to help him control cutting-edge AI technology.
Musk sued OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman last year in a bid to stop him from changing its corporate structure. Mr Musk co-founded OpenAI with Mr Altman but left several years ago.
Meanwhile reporters has approached his lawyer for a response to OpenAI’s lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday.
The countersuit opens up a new front in the high-stakes battle between two Silicon Valley heavyweights.
“Elon’s nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit,” “Today, we countersued to stop him.”
Last week, a federal judge in Oakland, California, set a March 2026 trial date in Mr Musk’s suit in a bid to fast-track the legal fight.
US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers previously declined to grant Mr Musk an injunction that would temporarily halt OpenAI’s conversion from a non-profit to a for-profit company.
She also said that she expected Mr Musk to give evidence in the case.
Musk alleges that OpenAI strayed from its founding mission as a non-profit to develop AI for the benefit of humanity and is therefore in breach of contract.
He left the company in 2018.
“This is about control. This is about revenue. It’s basically about one person saying, ‘I want control of that startup’,” said Ari Lightman, professor of digital media and marketing at Carnegie Mellon University.
Lightman said it has been a distraction from making AI safe and equitable.
“That takes a backseat with all this rigmarole over control and monetization,” Lightman said.
OpenAI claims Musk has “been spreading false information about us,” in a X post on Wednesday, adding “Elon’s never been about the mission. He’s always been about his own agenda.”
Musk’s xAI is a competitor to OpenAI, but has so far lagged behind. Last month, xAI aquiired Musk’s social media platform X formerly Twitter.
Musk claims the combined company, XAI Holdings, is valued at more than $100 billion.
In February, Musk made an unsolicited bid for OpenAI, offering to buy it for $97.4 billion, which Mr Altman rejected by posting: “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”
General News
FG Unveils e-Visa, Digital Entry Cards to Strengthen Border Security

In a major step toward strengthening border security and modernising travel protocols, the Federal Government has announced the introduction of automated landing and exit cards as part of its wider e-Visa solution. The new system, set to take effect on May 1, 2025, aims to eliminate travel bottlenecks while enhancing national security.
The initiative was unveiled during a joint press briefing held in Abuja on Wednesday by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo and the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
The ministers emphasised that the project is a collaborative effort involving key agencies, including the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), all of which will play a critical role in the rollout of the e-Visa and the new digital travel documentation.
“What we are doing here today is a further testament to the determination of this government to foster cooperation between key ministries that have mandates that overlap,” Keyamo stated. “Today is another example of that kind of cooperation and collaboration, and this has to do with the introduction of the e-Visa.”
Speaking on the importance of the new initiative, Minister Tunji-Ojo highlighted its significance to Nigeria’s security framework.
“This initiative has a very serious effect on our national security architecture. Prior to now, we have always had the exit and landing card in a manual way — travellers had to fill a paper form. But now the narrative has changed with the introduction of the e-Visa and automated exit and entry cards,” he said.
He explained that the process will now be completed digitally before boarding, with travellers required to fill out the landing and exit cards online and present them to airlines before being allowed to board.
“Nigeria is a country of 230 million brilliant people and we have to lead in terms of technology. In view of that, we are automating the visa process. The responsibility of coordinating and issuing regulations to the airlines lies with the NCAA,” Tunji-Ojo added.
“This shows our commitment to the protection of our country, to border security, and to ensure that our sovereignty as a nation is well respected.”
The interior minister further noted that the e-Visa system is designed not only to strengthen border controls but also to simplify entry processes for visitors.
“The e-Visa will make it easier for people to come into Nigeria while enhancing the security of our country,” he said.
General News
AFD Commits €3m to Africa’s Financial Inclusion

The Agence française de développement (AFD) is contributing an additional €3 million to the African Development Bank (AfDB)-managed Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI) to help accelerate financial inclusion in Africa.
The additional funding brings the total amount to €5 million, with the goal of assisting the ADFI partnership in catalysing digital financial solutions across Africa by increasing investment in scalable and replicable initiatives that provide access to credit and other financial services that promote investment and entrepreneurship in underserved communities.
Recent data from the AFD suggest that about half of the continent’s adult population, notably women, youth, farmers, small businesses, and rural communities, do not have access to digital financial solutions.
The ADFI, founded in 2019 by the AfDB, the Gates Foundation, and the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance, aims to accelerate the mobilisation of financial and human resources to align financial systems with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring that vulnerable populations, particularly those in climate-affected regions, have access to financial tools that will help them adapt and thrive.
Mohamadou Ba, head of the AfDB’s financial intermediation and inclusion division, commented: “Digital financial solutions are key to improving the quality of life of people in Africa and reducing the gender access to finance gap. We welcome the Agence française de développement’s renewed support of the catalytic role ADFI has been playing in accelerating greater access and usage of digital financial solutions and financial inclusion across the continent.”
Audrey Brule-Françoise, head of AFD’s financial systems division, added: “Developing digital financial services is a key pathway to reach financially excluded populations in Africa.”
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