Could biomass solve West Africa's chronic power shortages? [Business Africa]

- Biomass Resolution -

Ivory Coast is one of West Africa's major energy players, exporting power to Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina Fasso, Mali and Liberia.

And yet, businesses recently raised an alarm over an expected 200 megawatt shortfall in power between April and August this year.

Could alternative sources of power like biomass be the solution to chronic power shortages in the region?

- What if farmers didn't have to worry about the uncertainties of weather? -

Farmers in Mali are taking part in an insurance scheme that has the potential to revolutionise the way weather risks are managed in agriculture across the entire African continent. Deforestation and desertification in the Sahel are an enormous threat to agriculture since there are no forests to protect the fields, and the torrential rains wash away the fertile layer of the soil, while floods and drought destroy the harvest.

But what if farmers and their produce was insured against any such losses resulting from these natural factors that they can’t control?

- Cannabis-ness -

The business community in Morocco is set to reap big from a landmark bill that would legalize non-recreational uses of marijuana in the country. From businesses that create beauty products to textile industries and marijuana farmers themselves, the historic legalisation has the potential to transform the fortunes of many in the North African country.