The World Bank reports the African region will receive $45 billion of the $75 billion allocated for development purposes. It says other recipients will include small Pacific island states threatened by climate change and fragile countries in the Western Hemisphere, such as Haiti. [...] The fund, which runs from July 1 through June 30, 2020, also will support specific development projects in 82 additional fragile states, including Guinea, Nepal, Niger, and Tajikistan.

Angela Merkel has become the first German chancellor to visit Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries. She has promised money and military vehicles to help the country fight human trafficking and the militant threat. She is on the second leg of a three-country African tour which started in Mali and will finish in Ethiopia.

South Africa’s head of public diplomacy, Ms Clayson Monyela, told Al Jazeera that President Zuma’s visit to Nigeria will inject new life and energy into important strategic relationship between the two countries and resolve perceived tensions. She added that the visit will send a powerful political message across Africa.

Niger's president is pushing for the creation of multinational African brigades — notably with Libya — to boost border security in lawless zones where jihadist fighters roam. Mahamadou Issoufou says Niger is "no sanctuary for terrorists" but believes many jihadist fighters have taken refuge in the south of neighboring Libya after French forces ousted al-Qaida-linked militants from a teetering Mali earlier this year.

Bruce Wharton... said that by inviting the four presidents to Washington, the Obama administration is highlighting the importance of "holding credible elections, building strong democratic institutions and fostering economic development."