Category: English

Source: APO

.

The President of the Republic of Seychelles, Patrick Herminie, met with a young performer Abdel Assary this morning following his victory at the inaugural “Battle of the Crown,” held on 23 May, at the ICCS last Saturday.

The President congratulated Mr Assary, describing his achievement as an inspiration to young people, particularly as a proud representative of La Digue. He noted that despite the challenges faced by small island communities, talent continues to shine through, and Mr. Assary’s success demonstrates that determination and creativity can lead to remarkable opportunities at a young age.

Mr. Assary, aged 15, enthusiastically shared his journey to victory required hard work and dedication. He said he is looking forward to travelling to London for his upcoming performance opportunity and is eager to represent Seychelles on an international stage, with the intention of raising the national flag high.

Also present during the exchange was the British High Commissioner, Mr Jeff Glekin. The President commended him for initiative and supporting the project by the British High Commission, noting that it has created valuable platform opportunities for Seychellois youth to showcase their talents and develop their creative potential.

High Commissioner stated that following the announcement for registration, more than 40 Seychellois registered to participate, and the panellists were highly impressed by the amount of exceptional musical talent in Seychelles. He outlined the structure of the contest, which progressed through several rounds before culminating in a final battle between six contestants, each delivering strong performances before a judging panel that included himself, UK artist Josh Daniel, and local artists Isham Rath and Taniah Decommarmond. He added that the experience also allowed him to engage more closely with Seychellois culture and work alongside local creative teams, from production crews to artists.

The Minister for Youth, Sports, Ms Kalsey Belle, also attended the meeting. She noted that the initiative provided an important opportunity for cultural exchange, particularly through exposure to different categories of British music that participants were required to learn and perform.

In closing, the President wished Mr Assary continued success, encouraging him to remain humble and focused. He also presented a token in recognition of his achievement and thanked the British High Commission for creating opportunities for young Seychellois talent.

Mr Assary will depart Seychelles on Sunday accompanied by his mother, as well as Seychellois artists Mrs Taniah Decommarmond and Mr Isham Rath. In London, Mr- Assary will showcase his talent at a VIP dinner attended by music executives and professionals from the creative industries, not only from the United Kingdom but also from around the world, reflecting the strong international appeal of London and the South by Southwest London platform. He will also take part in a public performance alongside Taniah Decommarmond and Isham Rath.

Second place was awarded to Lauren Leon, while third place went to Chloe Abrams.

The “South by Southwest London” platform is a major European music, film, and technology festival held in Shoreditch, East London. It brings together artists, innovators, industry leaders, and audiences, offering a space that fosters creativity and international collaboration.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of State House Seychelles.

Source: APO

.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), through its Technology, Innovation, Connectivity and Infrastructure Division (TICID), has officially launched a regional project titled “Fostering Digital Entrepreneurship Among Women in Africa”, aimed at strengthening women’s participation in the digital economy across Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Namibia, and the Republic of Congo.

The initiative responds to persistent structural barriers limiting women entrepreneurs’ access to digital skills, financial services, and online markets, while also addressing gaps in enabling policy and regulatory environments. It adopts a dual-track approach that simultaneously empowers women entrepreneurs and strengthens the capacity of policymakers to design inclusive and gender-responsive digital ecosystems.

The project is expected to directly benefit over 1,000 women entrepreneurs through digital literacy and financial management training, alongside more than 200 policymakers and government officials engaged in capacity-building workshops and regional policy dialogue. Across the four participating countries, the initiative will deliver eight national workshops, one regional training programme, a dedicated online learning module, and targeted study tours designed to strengthen practical skills, policy frameworks, and regional knowledge exchange.

A key feature of the initiative is the establishment of a multi-stakeholder coordination taskforce during a virtual kick-off held on May 18th, bringing together departments from across the ECA. The task force will ensure coordinated implementation, knowledge sharing, and alignment with national priorities across all participating countries, in close collaboration with implementing UN entities and national counterparts.

The taskforce also convened a technical follow-up meeting to discuss the way forward, and emphasized the importance of context-specific implementation, taking into account the socio-economic realities of the selected countries, as well as gender and youth considerations. They further underscored the importance of prioritizing the first activity under the project, a comprehensive assessment study to be conducted in each country over the next six months.

Implemented over a four-year period, the project is expected to achieve its intended results by 2029 as part of ECA’s broader efforts to promote inclusive digital transformation in Africa’s digital economy. By supporting women entrepreneurs and strengthening enabling policy environments, the initiative aims to contribute to more inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development across the continent.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

Source: APO

.

Ethiopian authorities have intensified their crackdown on press freedom in a cynical attempt to silence criticism in the lead-up to the country’s national election on 1 June, Amnesty International said today.

In recent months, Ethiopian authorities have launched a campaign of repression against independent media by arbitrarily arresting, forcibly disappearing and unlawfully surveilling journalists. Other journalists have had their accreditation  revoked, while several media houses have lost their licenses arbitrarily.

“Ethiopian authorities should reverse these increasingly authoritarian tendencies and immediately end this campaign of repression against the media. Ethiopia’s development partners and relevant regional and international human rights bodies must also speak out against the systematic dismantling of the country’s independent media as citizens prepare to vote”, said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.

Six media representatives interviewed by Amnesty International, who asked to remain anonymous due to fear of reprisals, reported that their coverage of the upcoming election has been severely affected by ongoing hostility against the media.

They said that journalists frequently self-censor to avoid reprisals by authorities. Two of them noted that their already limited pre-election coverage has been further hampered by a lack of transparency from the election board. Another told Amnesty International that almost all opposition politicians now fear speaking to the media.

“I had to drop a story because every quoted politician was anonymous, as they refused to disclose their identity for fear of reprisals for criticizing the government or the ruling party,” said one news editor interviewed by Amnesty International.

Several of the interviewees also told Amnesty International that the election board has imposed an “oath”, first introduced in 2021, as a precondition for official accreditation to cover the election.

The Ethiopian Election Board is an independent constitutional body established to conduct elections across Ethiopia’s federal and state constituencies.

This oath, which Amnesty International has reviewed, requires media organizations to comply with “ethical responsibilities and obligations set out in the directives for covering elections” and to acknowledge that it is against the law to publish “false information about the Board”.

The restrictions outlined in the oath contain words that can be broadly interpreted.

“Press freedom and the free flow of information are vital during elections. The oath required by the election board is clearly a tool for controlling what is discussed in public about the upcoming election and gives it the power to censor uncomfortable information or determine what is considered to be true or false,” said Tigere Chagutah.

In recent months, public statements by top government officials have framed critical and independent reporting as threats to national interests, a pretext that has been used to justify the ongoing crackdown on media freedom. Just two months ahead of the election Redwan Hussien, Ethiopia’s intelligence chief, and the prime minister’s advisor, Daniel Kibret, made this kind of statements, which have been echoed by officials from the country’s media regulatory body, the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA). Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has also frequently used rhetoric that frames the free press as a threat to national interests.

“A smear campaign against the media that frames independent journalism as a national threat, just weeks before the election, is an example of how authoritarian tendencies are taking root in Ethiopia and are being deployed to consolidate power”, said Tigere Chagutah.

Background

Over the past year Ethiopian’s media regulatory body, EMA, has arbitrarily suspended the registration of Addis Standard and Wazema Radio, while revoking the accreditation and licenses of Reuters journalists. The revocation of accreditation for the Reuters journalists was linked to the outlet’s coverage of a military base inside Ethiopia hosting the Sudanese armed group, the Rapid Support Forces.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.

Source: APO – Report:

.

The fifth edition of the African Development Bank’s (www.AfDB.org) Trade Finance Report paints a picture of resilient African financial institutions in the post Covid-19 years, despite a challenging global environment.

The 2025 Trade Finance Report, which provides an updated assessment of Africa’s trade finance landscape over the 2020–2024 period following the COVID-19 pandemic, was released on Wednesday, during the Bank Group’s 2026 Annual Meetings, taking place in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.

The report examines trade finance from a bank-intermediation perspective, filling important knowledge gaps while introducing new dimensions such as digitalization and environmental sustainability. It also, for the first time, quantifies the contribution of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) to trade finance on the continent.

Presenting the report, Anthony Simpasa, Director of the Macroeconomic Policy, Forecasting and Research Department at the African Development Bank, said unmet demand for trade finance declined by nearly 10% between 2019 and 2024, supported by strong interventions from multilateral development banks, governments, export credit agencies, and global banks. These interventions were critical in sustaining trade flows, with estimates suggesting that, in the absence of DFI support, the annual trade finance gap could have exceeded $100 billion during the 2020-2024 period.

“Renewed geopolitical tensions and disruptions to global supply chains and trade flows could reverse post-pandemic progress in narrowing the trade finance gap. For instance, tighter correspondent risk appetite could widen the trade finance gap to $86.6-$102.6 billion by 2027 under a moderate to severe scenario. This is at least 17.7 % above the 2024 level, potentially erasing a decade of gains,” Simpasa cautioned.

The report launch event was attended by policymakers, private-sector leaders, Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), Financial Institutions, and trade finance experts from across the continent.

Some highlights of the report:

• The unmet demand for trade finance in Africa ranged from $74 billion to $92 billion in 2024. The estimated gap of $ 74 billion represents 5.4% of the region’s total merchandise trade value in 2024.
• African trade remains underserved by commercial banks. Over the five years of the study, commercial banks intermediated an average of 23% of Africa’s total trade, down from 40% during 2011-19.
• Between 2020 and 2024, intra-African trade accounted for 34% of total bank-intermediated trade, representing an 89 percent increase above pre-pandemic levels (2011-2019).
• Foreign exchange liquidity shortages have become the primary barrier limiting banks’ growth in trade finance. About 36% of banks cited limited foreign exchange liquidity as the primary constraint to their trade finance growth between 2020 and 2024, compared with 18% in the 2015-2019 period.
• The adoption of digital trade finance solutions by banks remains low, primarily due to high implementation costs and inadequate technological infrastructure. Only 28% of the banks surveyed reported having adopted digital tools or platforms for their trade finance operations.

In a short panel discussion following the launch, Didier Acouetey, Senior Advisor to African Development Bank President Sidi Ould Tah for the Private Sector, Francisca Tatchouop Belobe, Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals for the  African Union Commission, Admassu Tadesse, Group President and Managing Director, Trade and Development Bank; and Mehdi Tanani, Regional Director for Central Africa, Proparco, discussed the report’s findings, noting opportunities and challenges to unlocking sustainable bank-intermediated trade finance in Africa.

 Although trade finance remains a major constraint for most of Africa, exciting innovations are gaining ground, such as digitization, guarantees and asset management initiatives to expand the trade finance asset class and related offerings to the market, Tadesse said. “This should be advanced further by new systemic initiatives such as New African Financial Architecture for Development (NAFAD) and related thrusts such as derisking and smart partnerships that should multiply the impact of African capital and unlock more global capital,” he added.

“NAFAD gives us, for the first time, a coherent continental framework to close the trade finance gap — not project by project, but systemically. That is the shift that changes everything for African SMEs,” Acouetey noted.

Commissioner Belobe called for eliminating the ‘missing middle’ in African banking. “SMEs are too large for microfinance, too small for corporate banking, but far too commercially important to be left outside the trade finance system. It is time for commercial banks to treat SME trade finance as a deliberate, core business line, not a residual activity,” he said.

“Africa will not close its trade finance gap by adding constraints, but by building a more resilient, more digital, and more sustainable trade finance ecosystem — one that protects SMEs against global shocks while accelerating the continent’s economic integration,” Tanani said.

The African Development Bank and other DFIs have played a significant role in reducing the trade finance gap in Africa. Development finance institutions facilitated about $32 billion in trade finance annually between 2020 and 2024, accounting for about 3% of Africa’s total merchandise trade on average over the same period.

The African Development Bank’s Trade Finance Program was established in 2013, with an inaugural survey conducted in 2014. Since 2014, AfDB has produced 4 periodic surveys, including two country-specific reports on Kenya and Tanzania.

Read the full report here (http://apo-opa.co/49tkhrq).

– on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

Editor’s Note:
A previous version of this press release, issued on 27 May 2026, erroneously stated “89 percentage point increase” in the subheading, instead of 89 percent.

Contact:
Amba Mpoke-Bigg
Communication and External Relations Department
Email: media@afdb.org.

Source: APO

.

The global artificial intelligence race is rapidly becoming an energy race. As companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Oracle expand hyperscale data centers to support AI workloads, electricity has become one of the industry’s biggest constraints. Across the United States and Europe, tech firms are now signing long-term power agreements, financing dedicated generation assets and partnering directly with energy companies to secure reliable supply.

That same model could soon reshape Nigeria’s gas industry. AI data centers require enormous and continuous power loads. Unlike traditional cloud infrastructure, AI-focused facilities operate at significantly higher rack densities and consume vastly more electricity due to GPU-intensive computing. In March 2026, Google announced plans to commit 2.7 GW of power capacity for a major AI-related data center project in the U.S. – roughly equivalent to the electricity demand of two million homes.

This shift is forcing technology firms to think like energy companies. Last month, Microsoft, Chevron and Engine No. 1 signed an exclusivity agreement to build 2.5 GW of gas-fired generation in West Texas to support Microsoft’s AI expansion. The economics are straightforward: without reliable electricity, AI infrastructure cannot scale.

Nigeria offers a compelling solution. The country holds more than 200 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves – the largest in Africa – yet remains underpowered and digitally underserved. At the same time, Nigeria’s digital economy is expanding rapidly, fueled by a population expected to exceed 400 million by 2050, rising internet penetration and accelerating cloud adoption.

“No one questions Microsoft’s balance sheet. That changes the financing equation for Nigerian gas,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “For the first time, African gas projects can potentially be underwritten by companies whose energy demand is as large and as strategic as entire industrial sectors.”

The missing piece is infrastructure. Africa currently accounts for just 0.6% of global data center capacity despite representing nearly 20% of the world’s population. Nigeria is now attempting to close that gap. According to industry estimates, the country had 21 operational data centers by early 2026, with nearly one billion dollars in new AI-ready facilities under development.

Critically, many of these projects are already converging around gas-powered infrastructure.

In March 2026, Tetracore Energy Group announced plans for a $400 million, 20 MW gas-powered data center in Ogun State in partnership with Huawei and Inspirive Technologies. The facility will be supported by a dedicated 100 MW on-site gas-fired power plant – a model increasingly viewed as necessary in markets where grid reliability remains inconsistent.

Historically, financing domestic gas infrastructure in Nigeria has been difficult due to concerns around payment security, offtake risk and inconsistent industrial demand. Hyperscale technology firms change that equation. Long-term gas supply agreements backed by investment-grade global companies could provide the predictable revenue streams needed to unlock financing for pipelines, processing facilities and embedded generation projects.

Instead of waiting for nationwide grid reform, Nigeria could see the emergence of privately financed gas-to-power corridors anchored by data centers, industrial parks and cloud infrastructure campuses.

Beyond energy, large-scale hyperscale investment would accelerate fiber deployment, strengthen cloud sovereignty, support fintech expansion and reduce reliance on overseas data hosting. It could also position Nigeria as West Africa’s primary AI and digital infrastructure hub at a time when global technology firms are searching for new growth markets.

Importantly, gas offers something renewables alone currently cannot guarantee for AI infrastructure in emerging markets: stable baseload power. While solar and battery systems will play a growing role, hyperscale operators prioritizing uptime and latency continue to favor dispatchable energy solutions for mission-critical facilities.

As discussions intensify around the upcoming AI and Data Center Track at African Energy Week 2026, one message is becoming increasingly clear: the future of African gas may not only be industrialization or LNG exports. It may also be powering the global AI economy. And in that future, Big Tech may become one of Nigeria’s most important energy partners yet.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.