Countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), represented by the Ministries of Energy, validated on 4-5 June 2015 in Dakar, Senegal,  the regional Policy to mainstream gender in all energy programmes, projects and initiatives implemented in the Member States, including large scale energy infrastructure projects and investments.

This took place during the 2-day regional gender and energy workshop organized by the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) and the ECOWAS Department of Social Affairs and Gender.

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) will assist in tackling the prevailing food security and poverty challenges in São Tomé and Príncipe with a combined loan and grant of US $19.5 million approved by the Board of Directors on Wednesday, June 10, 2015 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

The US $16 million African Development Fund (ADF) soft loan and the US $.5 million grant from the Global Environment Facility/Least Developed Countries Fund will be used to finance phase two of the country’s Infrastructure Rehabilitation for Food and Nutrition Security Support Project (PRIASA II).

The Director of the African Legal Support Facility has called on international investors to secure business transactions that will be fair and balanced for company shareholders and stakeholders in government. He also said that a major contributor to the exorbitant cost and protracted nature of many African energy projects in Africa is inefficiency at the negotiating table caused by the fact that investors and government are not consistently speaking the same language or the lack of quality advice during negotiations of transactions.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) approved USD 35 million in funding to improve climate resilience to be channeled through the African Development Bank for programs in Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, Zambia, in addition to one which spans several countries. The announcement was made at the recent 48^th session of the GEF Council Meeting during which the largest GEF work program in its 23 years of history – USD 709 million – was endorsed.

The African Development Bank launched on Tuesday, June 9, its report, Payment for Environmental Services: A promising tool for natural resources management in Africa, the first of a new AfDB-Climate Investment Funds knowledge series.