The death toll from devastating floods in Côte d’Ivoire has risen sharply to 59, more than four times the figure announced earlier on Wednesday, as rescue teams continue searching for missing persons.

Government spokesperson Amadou Coulibaly announced the updated casualty figure after a cabinet meeting, describing this year’s flooding as “particularly high.”

He said search and rescue operations were ongoing, warning that the number of fatalities could increase as emergency responders reach more affected areas.

Coulibaly also urged residents to comply with government safety directives and evacuate communities identified as high-risk flood zones.

Earlier in the day, authorities had reported 12 deaths before the toll rose significantly following updated assessments.

Minister of Social Cohesion, Belmonde Dogo, said persistent rainfall that began on the night of June 27 triggered severe flooding and landslides across the commercial capital, Abidjan, and surrounding communities.

The floods caused extensive destruction, with roads submerged, vehicles swept away, and several neighbourhoods inundated, according to images and videos shared on social media.

The disaster comes as several West African countries, including Nigeria and Ghana, battle severe flooding caused by heavy seasonal rainfall.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, Africa remains one of the regions most vulnerable to extreme weather events despite contributing only a small share of global greenhouse gas emissions.

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The World Bank has approved a $1.25 billion Development Policy Financing (DPF) loan for Nigeria despite growing public concerns over the country’s rising debt profile, while unveiling a new six-year partnership framework aimed at accelerating private sector-led economic growth and job creation.

The approval was announced on Wednesday following a meeting of the World Bank Board, which endorsed both the Nigeria Actions for Investment and Jobs Acceleration (NAIJA) Development Policy Financing operation and a new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) covering 2026 to 2032.

The latest facility comes amid widespread criticism from many Nigerians over the government’s increasing reliance on external borrowing and calls for greater accountability in the utilisation of previous World Bank loans.

According to the World Bank, the $1.25 billion loan will support reforms designed to strengthen Nigeria’s economic competitiveness, improve the investment climate, and stimulate private sector-led growth.

The institution said the financing would help deepen Nigeria’s capital markets, modernise regulations governing the digital economy and e-governance, advance power sector reforms, reduce trade barriers under the ECOWAS and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) frameworks, improve access to quality agricultural inputs, and strengthen domestic revenue mobilisation.

The bank noted that the financing forms part of a broader package of support combining policy-based lending with investments in energy, digital infrastructure, agriculture, social protection, and private sector development.

Alongside the loan approval, the World Bank launched its new Country Partnership Framework for Nigeria, which will guide its engagement with the country between 2026 and 2032.

Under the strategy, the bank aims to support programmes expected to provide electricity access to 32 million Nigerians, broadband connectivity to 58 million people, improved health and nutrition services for 40 million citizens, and increased agricultural productivity for 9.5 million farmers through better access to quality inputs.

The framework also seeks to strengthen human capital development while expanding investments in digital infrastructure and energy to stimulate economic growth.

World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Mathew Verghis, said the new partnership framework would focus on creating sustainable employment by enabling private sector investment.

According to him, recent macroeconomic reforms have helped stabilise Nigeria’s economy, but sustained improvements in living standards would require addressing structural constraints limiting business growth and investment.

The World Bank also disclosed that its private sector financing arm, the International Finance Corporation, and its political risk insurance agency, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, would play key roles in mobilising private investment under the new framework.

IFC Divisional Director for Nigeria, Dahlia Khalifa, said Nigeria’s long-term economic prospects depend on its ability to attract investment, improve productivity and unlock private sector job creation.

Similarly, MIGA Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Ed Mountfield, said the agency would expand the use of guarantees and political risk insurance to encourage investments in critical sectors, including infrastructure and financial services.

The newly approved facility is the second-largest World Bank loan granted to Nigeria under the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, following the $1.5 billion Reforms for Economic Stabilisation to Enable Transformation Development Policy Financing approved in June 2024.

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By: Dr. Abel Owotemu

Africa stands at a crossroads: home to the world’s youngest population, immense natural wealth, and vibrant entrepreneurial energy—yet burdened by repeated failures of collective action.

Against this backdrop, Dr. Abel Owotemu, today unveiled his new book “The Fragmentation Paradox: Why Africa Fails at Collaboration — The Pitfalls of Going Alone & The Perils of Going Together” the 2nd installment in the Paradox series to mark Africa Day celebrations 2026 in Abuja, Nigeria.

The book confronts Africa’s paradox with clarity and urgency. Blending first‑hand observation with rigorous political economy analysis, Owotemu traces why ambitious projects—regional trade, shared infrastructure, collective security—so often falter.

He reveals how colonial borders, extractive institutions, elite capture, and external distortions undermine cooperation, while pan‑African rhetoric collapses under sovereignty anxieties and competing agendas. Far from despair or platitude, The Fragmentation Paradox offers a blueprint for reform, arguing that collaboration must be engineered through credible institutions, transparent financing, enforceable dispute resolution, and inclusive civic culture.

Case studies from regional economic blocks, the AU, Africa focused FI’s and AfCFTA illustrate both the pitfalls and the possibilities, making the book essential reading for policymakers, investors, leaders, and citizens who care about Africa’s future—not because it offers easy answers, but because it provides a clear diagnosis and a practical compass for building durable cooperation.

Dr Abel frames Africa’s challenge in stark financial and infrastructural terms: negative capital extraction of $400 billion annually.

Hidden inside that headline number are the building blocks of a different future. Roughly $275 billion is lost through profit shifting, $148 billion siphoned via corruption, and $90 billion drained through illicit financial flows.

Redirecting even a modest share of these outflows could transform the continent’s development ledger overnight—building thousands of schools and hospitals, electrifying cities with resilient grids, and seeding the startups and small firms that will define Africa’s twenty‑first‑century economy.

The book points to remittances as living proof of African commitment. More than $100 billion flows home each year, a countercyclical lifeline that sustains households, fuels local commerce, and demonstrates a deep, transnational willingness to invest back home.

Dr Abel argues that if diaspora transfers can be mobilized at scale for consumption and microenterprise, it can also be structured for systemic long‑term investment needs.

Repositioning Africa from a “global Africa” perspective, he contends, requires leveraging trade and services on the back of accessible migration within the continent. Key focus areas include clean and renewable energy, technology through AI and fintech, logistics and e‑commerce, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and social infrastructure development.

With growing AI adoption driving local manufacturing and interlinked infrastructure, Africa stands the chance of expanding its GDP fivefold annually from 2025–2030, and exponentially thereafter every year by tenfold with steady collaboration under AfCFTA—toward a $20–$22 trillion continental economy by 2050.

Speaking about the book release, Dr Abel emphasized that “Africa’s fragmentation is not destiny. With credible institutions, transparent financing, and inclusive civic culture, collaboration can be engineered. This book is a call to action for leaders and citizens alike.”

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Vice President Kashim Shettima has highlighted the Dangote Refinery as a key driver in transforming Nigeria into a net exporter of refined fuel, emphasizing the need for African nations to rely on homegrown solutions for economic growth.

Speaking at a High-level Accra Reset Initiative meeting during the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Shettima said Africa’s prosperity must be built locally, not imported from abroad. He described the initiative as a bold effort to reset African economies from “dependency to dignity, from aid to investment, from rhetoric to results.”

Shettima pointed out that decades of relying on commodity exports had left many African countries vulnerable. “Africa cannot rise on applause alone. We rise when we build,” he said. “After decades as a net importer of value, Nigeria is on the verge of becoming a net exporter of refined fuel, powered by Africa’s largest refinery in Lagos: the Dangote Refinery.”

He stressed that domestic productive capacity is essential to converting Africa’s population and natural resources into sustainable wealth. “Prosperity cannot be parachuted in — it must be homegrown and earned,” Shettima added, highlighting Nigeria’s market of over 200 million people as an example of latent demand that must be matched with local supply.

Shettima also pointed to technology, modular factories, artificial intelligence, and robotics as tools to help Africa industrialize faster than ever before. Citing 2024 data, he noted that Africans abroad sent home about $95 billion — more than 5% of Nigeria’s GDP — emphasizing that this is not charity but evidence of the continent’s untapped potential.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo also spoke at the forum, calling for African nations to rethink economic strategies, embrace industrialization, and create enduring domestic wealth.

The Accra Reset Initiative, Shettima explained, aims to inspire African leaders to take charge of their economic futures and build resilient, innovative, and interdependent economies.

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The United States military has drawn up contingency plans for potential strikes in Nigeria following a directive from President Donald Trump.

According to a report by the New York Times, the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) has submitted operational options to the Department of War at the request of Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The plans include three levels of engagement — heavy, medium, and light — designed to allow for a controlled escalation of U.S. involvement.

Under the “heavy option,” the U.S. could deploy an aircraft carrier group to the Gulf of Guinea and use fighter jets or long-range bombers to strike targets in northern Nigeria. The “medium option” involves drone strikes on militant camps and convoys, while the “light option” focuses on joint operations supporting Nigerian forces against Boko Haram and other insurgent groups.

Military officials told the newspaper that the plans aim to neutralize Islamist militants, protect Christian communities, and end the prolonged insurgency in Nigeria’s north.

However, concerns have been raised about the feasibility of these plans, especially since U.S. forces vacated drone bases in Agadez and Niamey, Niger, earlier this year—facilities now occupied by Russian troops.

Last week, President Trump accused the Nigerian government of allowing the “mass slaughter” of Christians, labeling the country a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) and suspending arms sales and technical assistance to Abuja. The claim has been denied by Nigerian officials.

Trump, however, maintained that any U.S. action would be “fast, vicious, and sweet,” declaring that America would not “stand by while atrocities are happening.”

The U.S. House Appropriations Committee has backed the president’s stance, describing Nigeria as “the most dangerous nation on Earth to follow Christ” and urging stronger action against religious persecution.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s government continues to reject accusations of religiously motivated killings, insisting that ongoing insecurity stems from terrorism, banditry, and communal conflicts rather than targeted persecution.

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Global Tensions Push Oil Prices Higher

The U.S. military’s recent attacks on Iran have deepened tensions in the Middle East, putting global oil markets on edge. Brent crude has already surged 20% in the last month.

JP Morgan warns that oil could hit $130 per barrel if the crisis worsens. This scenario could have a major impact on Nigeria’s economy largely in a positive way.

Last weekend, the U.S. bombed three nuclear facilities in Iran. President Donald Trump called the strikes a spectacular military success. But for oil markets, they signaled growing instability. Brent futures jumped over 9%, reaching $78 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also climbed to $75. Brent later crossed the $79 mark, its highest in months.

Nigeria Gains from Oil Price Surge

If oil hits $100 per barrel, Nigeria will earn about 33% more than its 2024 budget benchmark of $75. This means more dollars for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), stronger external reserves, and a firmer grip on the naira. It also boosts Nigeria’s image among investors.

The country is already feeling the benefits. Crude oil now trades above the government’s benchmark. Reforms made over the last two years—such as fuel subsidy removal and FX market liberalisation—have reduced leakages and increased fiscal space.

Naira Shows Stability in Both Markets

Despite past volatility, the naira has been stable in 2024. Officially, it trades at about ₦1550 per dollar. On the black market, the rate hovers between ₦1580 and ₦1600 with a spread of less than 3%. This tight spread limits round-tripping and helps build investor confidence.

Foreign capital is returning. Capital imports rose by 200% in Q1 2024, hitting $3.4 billion. The capital market also saw stronger foreign inflows last year  up 137% to ₦400 billion — and the trend is continuing in 2025.

Higher Prices, But Risk Remains

Even with the good news, analysts warn of risks. The global shift to safe-haven assets during times of conflict could trigger capital flight from emerging markets like Nigeria. If global interest rates stay high due to inflation fears, money could move out of Africa and back to the U.S. or Europe.

Can Nigeria’s rising oil earnings offset this possible capital outflow? Many experts think so  especially with the country’s improving credit ratings.

Global Institutions Show Confidence

In April, Fitch Ratings upgraded Nigeria’s foreign-currency credit rating from ‘B-’ to ‘B’, citing better policy direction and economic reforms. The World Bank also raised its 2025 growth forecast for Nigeria to 3.6%, above the global average. These upgrades reflect optimism about Nigeria’s progress.

Moody’s had raised concerns about declining oil prices and high inflation. But the recent oil rally has eased those fears, especially with inflation also showing signs of slowing down.

FX Reforms Drive Inflows

Beyond oil, Nigeria’s FX market reforms are making a difference. The CBN is working with international money transfer operators (IMTOs) to boost remittances. It is also pushing local manufacturers to add value to exports  and reduce reliance on imports.

CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso recently said Nigeria could learn from China by focusing on export-led growth. He urged businesses to explore global markets in sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, and the creative industry.

Cardoso noted the creative sector alone could bring in $25 billion annually. Music, film, crafts, and digital exports all have potential to earn Nigeria more dollars.

Focus Turns to Telecom Sector

Nigeria is also targeting the telecom sector to reduce dollar outflows. The CBN is encouraging telecoms to start local production of hardware like SIM cards, cables, and towers. Last week, Airtel’s CEO met with CBN officials and asked for support to produce essential parts in Nigeria.

Reducing telecom imports could save significant FX and create local jobs.

Analysts Remain Optimistic

Dr. Muda Yusuf, head of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), says the oil rally will boost Nigeria’s stock market and overall economic outlook. He noted that crude remains Nigeria’s largest FX earner and accounts for a large share of government revenue.

He said:

“Rising oil prices will improve Nigeria’s fiscal balance. It will help reduce the budget deficit and attract more investment in the oil and gas sector.”

Budget Goals Within Reach, But Production Is Key

With oil prices rising, the Federal Government’s target of ₦19.5 trillion in oil revenue for 2025 looks more achievable. But one challenge remains production.

Nigeria currently produces about 1.5 million barrels per day (mbpd). Experts say boosting output is the next big hurdle. To succeed, the government must address oil theft and insecurity in the Niger Delta.

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Lagos State, Nigeria’s economic nerve centre, is now generating more power off-grid than the entire country’s national electricity grid, according to a newly released infrastructure report by the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC). The revelation throws into sharp relief the growing disconnects between energy demand and supply in Africa’s most populous nation.

The State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report 2025, obtained on Monday, describes a continent facing a deepening energy access crisis. While global development institutions aim to connect 300 million sub-Saharan Africans to electricity by 2030, the report warns that current trajectories may leave access levels virtually unchanged.

In Lagos alone, off-grid power generation is estimated to exceed 19 gigawatts (GW) a staggering figure compared to the national grid, which struggles to consistently deliver between 4 and 5 GW. The findings underscore a broader continental trend: Africa’s largest economies are increasingly powered not by central utilities but by private, embedded, and self-contained energy systems.

A Continent Powering Itself, But at a Cost

The AFC highlights the paradox of this “off-grid boom.” On one hand, it demonstrates market adaptability and private sector resilience; on the other, it reflects institutional failure and the erosion of public infrastructure.

“In Nigeria and South Africa, a growing share of electricity is now generated outside central grids,” the report notes. “From households relying on petrol generators to industrial clusters building their own gas-fired plants, the shift is accelerating and so is its cost.”

This decentralised growth is not limited to Lagos. Across Nigeria, erratic public supply has pushed homes and businesses into energy self-sufficiency. Among large industrial users, captive power plants on-site facilities often powered by diesel or gas—have become the norm. These installations range in capacity from 20 MW to over 200 MW, particularly in energy-intensive sectors such as cement, mining, and manufacturing.

South Africa tells a similar story. A 2022 policy reform lifting licensing restrictions on embedded generation triggered a surge in private investment. Installed capacity jumped from just 23 MW in 2019 to 4.5 GW by 2023, with over 1 GW of solar power added in 2024 alone.

A Symptom of Systemic Failure, Not Progress

While the numbers may suggest progress, the AFC report offers a sobering perspective: the widespread turn to self-generation is not a sign of prosperity but of desperation.

“Going off-grid is rarely a low-cost solution,” it states. “It is a last resort.” A 2019 study by the Energy for Growth Hub found that self-generated power in Nigeria and South Africa costs twice as much as grid electricity and up to four times more in Ethiopia. The economic implications are profound: higher production costs, reduced industrial competitiveness, and increased reliance on fossil fuels.

Moreover, official energy statistics fail to fully capture the extent of the transformation. International databases often focus on solar installations popular among residential and commercial users but thermal generation from diesel and gas remains the dominant form of self-generation, particularly in heavy industry.

Africa’s ‘Low-Energy Trap’ and the Risk of Stagnation

The report paints a stark picture of Africa’s energy trajectory. From 2013 to 2023, electricity generation across the continent grew by less than 2% annually, far below the 2.42% population growth rate and 3% economic growth rate. For the first time in two decades, per capita electricity consumption is declining, indicating not just stagnation, but regression.

In 2024, Africa added just 6.5 GW of utility-scale power a third of India’s additions and dwarfed by the 48.6 GW deployed in the United States. Without radical acceleration, the report warns, Africa risks being trapped in a “low-energy equilibrium” a state where electricity connection rates improve, but the quality, quantity, and reliability of power remain inadequate for economic transformation.

This energy paradox is particularly painful given Africa’s vast untapped resources. The continent boasts the world’s largest undeveloped hydropower reserves, significant geothermal potential, and receives among the highest levels of solar irradiation globally.

Yet these resources remain largely stranded hemmed in by poor infrastructure, limited investment, and inconsistent policy frameworks. “Abundance has become a constraint,” the AFC report concludes.

The roadmap out of the current impasse is clear but politically and financially demanding massive investment in grid infrastructure, targeted policy reforms, and a renewed commitment to regional energy integration. Without this, energy self-sufficiency will remain the domain of the privileged and the powerful, while the broader economy continues to suffer under the weight of unreliable supply.

As urbanisation and industrial demand intensify across the continent, the choices before African governments have never been more urgent or more binary.

Either scale up and modernise public energy infrastructure or continue down a path of fragmented, unequal, and expensive self-generation that hampers economic growth.

“Self-generation may keep the lights on,” the report notes, “but it cannot power a continent’s future.”

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This was disclosed in a statement by the AIHS Coordinator, Festus Adebayo, who emphasized the need to equip young industry leaders with the tools, knowledge, and ethics necessary to thrive in today’s real estate landscape.

According to Adebayo, the initiative aims to gather over 140 promising CEOs across African countries for a capacity-building program that will focus on global best practices, innovation in real estate development, ethical standards, and navigating challenges such as financial crime in the sector.

“We want to have a program for over 140 CEOs for the purpose of capacity building,” he said. “They will be taught how to operate with a high level of professionalism and ethics. We’ll expose them to modern trends in real estate development, just as it is done in advanced economies.”

He added that the forum will also serve as a powerful platform for networking, collaboration, and peer learning, helping young leaders strengthen their roles in shaping the future of Africa’s housing sector.

“The idea is to update them on the latest developments in the sector, create room for interaction, connection, and growth. It’s another step in building the next generation of real estate giants,” Adebayo noted.

The Africa International Housing Show remains the continent’s largest housing and construction event, drawing stakeholders from across the globe, including policymakers, developers, financiers, and innovators.

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“There is nowhere else in the world that can match the return on investment that our continent offers,” Elumelu, 61, wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday.

He emphasized that Africa’s economic rise must be inclusive, ensuring that its people benefit equitably from the continent’s natural and technological wealth.

“Traditional trade models have too often excluded or marginalized Africa,” he noted. “Now is the time for the world to partner with Africa for mutual and lasting benefit.”

The entrepreneur, known for championing “Africapitalism”, a philosophy that places the private sector at the heart of Africa’s development—highlighted the continent’s young and rapidly growing population, coupled with a $3.4 trillion market, as key drivers of opportunity.

“Africa has the youngest population in the world,” Elumelu wrote. “By embracing Africapitalism, we emphasize the critical role of the private sector, particularly entrepreneurs, in driving economic and social development.”

His remarks come at a time when Africa’s economic trajectory is gaining global attention. The African Development Bank projects that the continent’s GDP will expand at an average of 4% annually over the next decade, fueled by entrepreneurship, technological innovation, and intra-continental trade. Internet penetration reached 45% in 2023, sparking a digital revolution that is reshaping commerce and connectivity.

A cornerstone of Africa’s economic transformation is the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a landmark agreement designed to integrate the economies of 55 nations into a single market of 1.3 billion people. The International Monetary Fund estimates that AfCFTA could increase intra-African trade by 52% by 2025 and contribute an additional $450 billion to the continent’s GDP by 2035.

What to know

According to Elumelu, entrepreneurship remains central to this vision. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for approximately 80% of employment across Africa, while the agricultural sector is poised to become a global leader in food exports. The continent’s burgeoning tech scene is also drawing investor interest, with African startups raising a record $5 billion in 2022, underscoring the rapid expansion of financial technology, e-commerce, and digital solutions.

However, Elumelu cautioned that unlocking Africa’s full potential requires targeted investments in infrastructure, digital connectivity, and energy access. The continent’s youth—more than 60% of whom are under 25 represent an unparalleled reservoir of talent, yet many face high unemployment and limited access to capital. Women entrepreneurs, in particular, continue to encounter systemic barriers to financing and market participation.

“To fully leverage technology, we must address the digital divide,” he said. “Investments in broadband infrastructure, digital literacy, and cybersecurity are critical to ensuring technology drives equitable growth.”

Elumelu also highlighted his foundation’s efforts in supporting an estimated 21,000 African entrepreneurs, who have collectively created more than 1.5 million jobs across all 54 African countries.

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