Day: June 2, 2024

The regional final of the Grands Débats Oratoires (GDO) du Nord took place this Saturday, June 1, 2024 in Gourcy. It was the Lycée Privé Saint Henri de Osso de Gourcy which won against the Lycée Privé Avé Maria de Yako.

Initiated by the Yam-Weekre Youth Association, the Grands Oratoires Débats (GDO) du Nord aim to contribute to the training of tomorrow’s leaders by promoting oratorical talents among school youth.

The final of the sixth edition of the GDO du Nord pitted the Lycée Privé Avé Maria de Yako against the Lycée Privé Saint Henri de Osso de Gourcy on Saturday June 1, 2024 on the subject: ‘Is artificial intelligence a threat to African culture? »

At the end of the very lively oratory contests, it was the speakers from the Lycée Privé Saint Henri de Osso who were able to convince the jury by defending their position according to which artificial intelligence would not be a threat to African culture.

This establishment, which is at its first participation, wins first place with a trophy, an envelope
of one hundred thousand CFA francs and gadgets.

The establishment also won the prize for best speaker of the debates which went to Abdoul Nassirou Kiemdé.

The latter obtains, in the same way as Charifatou Noungou, best speaker at the Lycée Avé Maria, a two-year scholarship at the IAM worth 400,000 francs offered by Ousséni Faïssal Nanéma, CEO of Group Nil.

For the president of the organizing committee Ali Nanéma, the final kept all its promises. This is why after thanking all those who worked for this success, he invited the winning team to get to work to worthily represent the Northern region at the national level.

On the sidelines of the debates, a public conference on the theme ‘Artificial intelligence and promotion of culture in Burkina; issues and perspectives for building a prosperous society’ and a shopping street kept the participants in suspense.

This edition, placed under the patronage of His Majesty Naaba Baongho de Gourcy, saw the participation of numerous representatives of the active forces
of the Northern Region.

As a reminder, Saint Henri de Osso succeeds the Lycée Municipal Toussaint Louverture de Yako, winner of the 5th edition.

Source: Burkina Information Agency

The administration of the ‘Manegba Schools’ school complex organized on Friday May 31, 2024 in Kombissiri, the closing of educational, sporting and cultural activities. Several students were awarded prizes and certificates awarded to certain supervisors and partners.

After Friday, May 31, 2024, the private school complex ‘Écoles Manegba’ in Kombissiri, Bazèga province, closed its educational, sporting and cultural activities.

For the general administrator of the “Manegba Schools”, Yambouliya Ousmane Dipama, the organization of the closing of the establishment’s activities is an opportunity, like every year, to reward the merits of primary, post-primary and secondary students and to motivate the management team for the work accomplished during the school year in the different areas of activity.

In sport, prizes were awarded to the winners of the Founder’s Cup in football and handball.

In culture, the best students who participated in the traditional and modern day competitions, in public speaking and crack
games organized within the establishment, were rewarded.

The various prizes won by the establishment which took part in the provincial and national competitions, namely the ‘School Arts Prize’ festival and the USSU-BF, were presented at this closing ceremony.

On the educational level, those in charge of the establishment awarded prizes to the first in each class.

With a view to encourage students to redouble their efforts, special prizes were awarded to students who improved by at least 2 averages during the year as well as to the best girls in the establishment in the number of 5.

The various prizes awarded consist of school kits and sums of money.

At this closing ceremony, certificates were given to certain supervisors and partners of the establishment.

As a reminder, the ‘Manegba Schools’ school complex created in 2016 has more than 420 students spread across the 3 levels of education: preschool, primary, post-primary and secondary.

Source: Burkina Information Agency

The Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. Mahaman Lamine Ali Zeine made this announcement during a press briefing that he hosted in the press room of Diori Hamani international airport in Niamey on his return, this Saturday, June 1, 2024, from Nairobi in Kenya where he took part in the work of the annual meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

In a presentation to the press, Prime Minister Zeine first recalled that ‘the annual meetings are very large meetings which allow all investors and institutions, both bilateral and multilateral, and all countries obviously to take part in it.’

»I have just arrived from the annual meetings of the ADB, and to tell you that our country was validly represented at this great meeting and what should be broadly remembered at the end of this mission, we can say to this day that our country has fully summarized its cooperation with the entire international community, and this is the place to thank all those who contributed to it,’ indicated the Prime Mi
nister who noted that ‘despite the modesty of our means, we have able to cope with the clearance of arrears which constituted an obstacle for most of these institutions.

In response to a statement by the Beninese President referring to the refusal of the high authorities of Niger to receive his Minister who was on mission to Niger on the question of oil, Mr. Lamine Ali Zeine declared that “with regard to Benin, we We followed a conference where we drew 3 essential points including the refusal by President Tiani to receive the Beninese minister in charge of mines, bearer of a message.

For this case, specified Prime Minister Zeine, “the Beninese official was received by his Nigerien counterpart and that the Head of State, General Abdourahmane Tiani was not able to receive him due to a security meeting” while noting that Head of State Tiani nevertheless ordered the Minister of Health, who is also a member of the CNSP, to receive the message.

As for the second point, the Beninese president affirmed that ‘if th
e Nigerien borders remain closed, nothing could be done (the message addressed to the Nigerien president).

On the third and final point, Prime Minister Zeine points out that in this intervention, the Beninese President did not take into account the dismissal of our representatives to the port.

‘We have inspectors who were there, but the Beninese police were responsible for driving them out of the port,’ underlined the Nigerien Prime Minister.

Note that this press briefing took place in the presence of the Minister of Youth and Sports and the Minister for Finance.

Source: Burkina Information Agency

on Saturday June 1, 2024, in the courtyard of the house of Bittou’s wife, the Closing of the literacy activities of the AVORB association took place

The Association of Widows and Orphans of the Bittou region ( AVORB), closed the activities of its literacy centers on Saturday June 2, 2024 in Bittou.

For this year 2024, AVORB has opened 3 literacy centers in the Bittou health district, including 1 in the commune of Bané and 2 others for the benefit of the population of Bittou and internally displaced people.

According to the first head of this association, Maimouna Sawadogo, the objective of opening these centers is to promote national languages. For Ms. Sawadogo, it is about teaching residents of the centers how to read and write.

In total, the 2 literacy centers in Bittou registered 63 learners including 44 women, 12 men and 7 IDPs.

After 3 months of learning, she says she is satisfied with a result of more than 80% success and is ranked among the 1st provincially.

As a reminder, AVORB is an association
which carries out several activities including literacy with financial support from the national fund for literacy and non-formal education (FONAENF).

Source: Burkina Information Agency

Ouagadougou: The Circle of Researchers association (CDC) initiated training on Saturday at Josep KI-Zerbo University to strengthen the capacities of teacher-researchers, doctoral students and doctors on handling of ”Latex”, an ‘essential’ software in the world of research for the production of articles, dissertations and theses.

‘Latex remains today an essential software in the world of research in the context of the production of articles, the writing of dissertations and documentary production,’ indicated the manager in charge of research and training of the Association of Researchers’ Circles (CDC), Dr Bougouma Ali.

For Dr Bougouma, the ‘latex’ software offers many possibilities and advantages.

According to him, this software allows you to easily download documents and work without problems, with very high reliability and data security. For him,

‘So, this is why we wanted to initiate this training for our members and our supporters so that they can make it their own with a view to its use in the teac
hing of students and other training, he added.

For him, this training aims to equip them so that they can use it wisely with much more ease.

‘It’s a fairly effective and flexible tool in terms of use. You also do not need a license to use it. Your data is not elsewhere either. It’s just on your computers,’ added the trainer, Dr Ouédraogo Adama.

For Dr Ouédraogo, the software offers users a fairly simple ‘language’ to be able to write documents.

For him, it also makes it possible to have documents that are well presented, visible and accessible to all.

Source: Burkina Information Agency

Ouagadougou: The President of Faso Captain Ibrahim Traoré announced phase 2 of the war against terrorism in Burkina Faso which will consist of the development of the terrain with the establishment of adequate devices to counter the forces of wrong.

The President of Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traoré had direct exchanges with the Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland (VDP) on war tactics in the second phase of the fight against terrorism.

During the discussions which took place on May 23, 2024 in Ouagadougou, the president invited the VDP to leave their various communes to defend lines by putting in place adequate devices to corner the terrorists.

The Supreme Chief of the Armed Forces also gave advice and guidance to enable the army’s auxiliaries to protect themselves in order to best lead the fight against terrorism.

Referring to cultural potentialities, he invited them to draw from the cultural substrate strategies to lead the struggle well.

Head of State also called on the VDP to abandon manipulation
and avoid spreading information on social networks, which is detrimental to their security and that of the population.

For the success of the operation, Captain Traoré announced recruitment in the army in which VDPs will take part.

Source: Burkina Information Agency

Ouagadougou: Niger, which has started to sell its oil itself, will experience a significant increase in its gross domestic product, to 10.6% in 2024, according to an announcement from the International Monetary Fund in mission to Niamey.

In a statement on Saturday June 1, 2024, during a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister of Niger, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, the head of the Fund’s mission to the Niamey authorities, Antonio David, announced double-digit growth of Niger’s GDP which stood at 4.2% in 2023.

‘Economic growth slowed down (…) in 2023, mainly due to the effects of sanctions, as well as a relatively unfavorable agricultural season’, observes Mr. David Antonio.

According to him, ‘the economic outlook is favorable in the short and medium term. Real GDP growth is projected at 10.6 percent in 2024 due to the start of oil exports and the resulting knock-on effects on the economy, the lifting of sanctions, as well as the expected increase in agricultural production”. ‘

The latter two factors should al
so contribute to containing inflationary pressures in 2024,’ he adds, while warning that ‘nevertheless, this positive outlook is subject to risks, particularly those related to the security situation and vulnerabilities to climatic shocks

. percent of GDP, was slightly higher than the program target partly due to the fall in the level of revenue,’ regrets the head of the mission of the Breton institution Wood, while remaining confident that ‘the trajectory of the deficit will be controlled to enable compliance with the authorities’ commitment to achieving the WAEMU regional convergence criterion of 3 percent of GDP by 2025.”

‘Due to the sanctions imposed after the events of July 26, 2023, Niger has accumulated external and internal debt service arrears,’ explains the expert who also mentions that ‘the Nigerien authorities are continuing laudable efforts to fully pay off these payment arrears.

Financing of more than 43 billion CFA francs has been announced.

This visit by the IMF team, which began on May 20
, is sanctioned by an agreement concluded between the Nigerien authorities and the IMF team, at the service level on the fourth and fifth reviews of Niger’s economic program supported by the extended credit facility and on the first review of the program supported by the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, according to information provided by Mr. Antonio.

The figures he put forward concerning this financing are around 43 billion and more than 100 million CFA francs.

‘The staff level agreement will be subject to approval by the IMF Management and Board of Directors. The Council meeting is scheduled for July 2024.

The completion of the FEC reviews would allow the disbursement of 19.7 million SDRs (approximately 26.1 million US dollars [approximately 15.7 billion CFA francs, editor’s note], or 15 percent of Niger’s quota) for cover external financing needs. In turn, the completion of the first review of the FRD would allow the disbursement of 34.2 million SDRs (approximately 45.3 million US dollars [more
than 27 billion CFA francs, editor’s note], or 26 percent of the Niger quota).

‘The program supported by the Extended Credit Facility aims to strengthen macroeconomic stability and lay the foundations for resilient, inclusive and private sector-led growth,’ he explains before adding that ‘most of the quantitative objectives at the end of June, the end of December 2023 and the end of March 2024 were achieved, despite the difficult context that Niger faced last year.

‘However, a delay was recorded in the implementation of certain structural benchmarks, in particular that relating to the adoption of the oil resources management strategy,’ underlines Mr. Antonio.

The head of this IMF mission informs that his delegation meets more officials from Niger in addition to Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine.

This is particularly the case of Mr. Bakary Yaou Sangaré, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Soumana Boubacar, Minister Director of Cabinet of the President of the National Council for the Protection of the Fat
herland (CNSP), the Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister, responsible for Finance, Mr. Moumouni Boubacar Saidou, the national director of the BCEAO, Mr. Maman Laouali Abdou Rafa, as well as representatives of the private sector and development partners.

Source: Burkina Information Agency

Ouagadougou: The Minister in charge of Communication Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo regretted this Sunday evening on national television that Côte d’Ivoire is a rear base to destabilize Burkina Faso, which in his opinion , is not likely to consolidate relations between the two countries.

The Minister of State, Minister of Communication, Culture, Arts and Tourism Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo was the guest this Sunday evening on the program “Sur la brèche” on national television.

He noted that “since the advent of MPSR 2 of Captain Ibrahim Traoré (September 30, 2022), no communication or action on the ground has been carried out by the government in the direction of the deterioration of relations with the Ivory Coast>>.

However, he estimated that “if this country (Ivory Coast) becomes the rear base of all those who tried to destabilize Burkina Faso, who take refuge in Ivory Coast and continue to carry out actions in a manner ostentatious without being disturbed>>, it is clear that.

For sev
eral months, a Front for the Defense of the Republic (FDR) opposed to the Transition has been formed in Côte d’Ivoire with journalist Inoussa Ouédraogo as spokesperson.

This front has since multiplied very critical statements towards the regime of President Ibrahim Traoré.

For Minister of State Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo, for the government. ‘It looks like a comedy orchestrated from Ivory Coast by individuals who share their bitterness, their frustrations,’ he said.

He revealed that certain members of this Front “attempted approaches hoping for folding seats but these approaches did not succeed”. He expressed “feelings of compassion” for FDR spokesperson Inoussa Ouédraogo whom he described as “a sacrificial sheep”.

Source: Burkina Information Agency

Ouagadougou: The Minister in charge of higher education, Professor Adjima Thiombiano, gave clear instructions on Friday to those responsible for the structures of his department in order to move the lines.

According to the head of the department in charge of higher education and research, the slowness and sometimes laxity in the processing of many files are felt in the accomplishment of the ministry’s missions.

To resolve this difficulty, Professor Adjima Thiombiano during discussions with officials of his ministry this Friday, May 31, 2024, gave instructions to the latter to meet the expectations of users of the ministry.

For this, he invited them to be more committed and self-sacrificing in order to achieve good results.

While welcoming the efforts and sacrifice made by those responsible for the structures, the minister indicated that his department has initiated a new dynamic and everyone must work to move the lines.

‘Reform, innovate, dare to take risks,’ the minister advised his colleagues, before d
eploring the absence of reforms in many structures.

‘You must be bold, seek structural solutions and clearly assume your responsibilities,’ he maintained.

At the university level, Adjima Thiombiano insisted on the standardization of academic years before the end of 2024.

Thus, each university president has been instructed to do everything possible to achieve this objective by putting in place an effective monitoring system.

On social works, he instructed those in charge of the National Center for University Works (CENOU) and the National Fund for Education and Research (FONER), to take initiatives to improve the living and study conditions of students. .

In terms of governance, the minister also called on those responsible to reduce operating expenses.

Source: Burkina Information Agency

Rabat – His Majesty King Mohammed VI sent a congratulatory message to Italian President Sergio Mattarella on the occasion of his country’s National Day.

In the message, HM the King expresses His warmest congratulations and His best wishes to Mattarella and the Italian people.

“The time-honored Moroccan-Italian friendship, which is almost two centuries old, is a source of great pride for both our countries. It attests to the vibrancy and durability of our special, constructive cooperation,’ emphasizes the Sovereign.

HM the King also took the opportunity to reaffirm His determination to continue working with the Italian President to strengthen bilateral relations in all sectors, serve both peoples’ common interests and promote solidarity and closer ties between peoples in the Mediterranean basin.

Source: Agence Marocaine De Presse