Category: Africa
-
Uganda says seeking $500 mn loan from China for roads
Uganda says it has asked China for a $500 million loan to help build almost 600 km (360 miles) of roads in the country’s oil-rich west, amid criticism over heavy borrowing that has ballooned the country’s debt. Uganda has discovered an estimated 6.5 billion barrels of crude reserves on its Albertine rift basin along the…
-
Nigeria naira at six-month high on black market
The Nigerian naira gained 1.1 percent to a six-month high of 430 per dollar on the black market on Wednesday, traders said. The central bank has been intervening on the official market to try to narrow the currency spread with the black market rate, which was 520 to the dollar a month ago. The naira…
-
Nigeria: Oil Firm, Oranto Invests $500 Million in South Sudan Oil Block
Nigerian independent, Oranto Petroleum, said it is investing $500 million to develop South Sudan’s Block B3, launching a comprehensive exploration campaign starting immediately. The Ministry of Petroleum and Oranto Petroleum Company, South Sudan signed the exploration and production sharing agreement, EPSA, for the block last week in the capital city of Juba. The B3 area…
-
Kenya Power says 1m customers on prepaid meters are not paying
Electricity distributor Kenya Power says 940,668 customers connected to the national grid have not loaded their meters for months. This makes them “zero vend” customers, which refers to prepaid meters installed but have not yet purchased any tokens. Kenya Power acting managing director Ken Tarus on Monday attributed the idle prepaid meters to low consumption…
-
Treasury pushes Kenya into more debt with fresh Sh82 billion loan
The Treasury has taken yet another expensive short-term loan from a group of international banks, pushing Kenya further into debt. Reuters news agency reported that the $800 million (Sh82 billion) syndicated loan deal was signed last Thursday with a consortium of four banks including StanChart, Standard Bank, Citi and Rand Merchant Bank — and is…
-
Kenya:Inflation jump threat after maize flour price rebounds
Consumer price of flour has rebounded to Sh130 for a two-kilogramme packet after easing last month as food cost threatens to take inflation to a new short-term high. This comes as millers warn that the price will continue to rise in the coming days as maize supply in the market gets tighter. Inflation in January…
-
Zimbabwe: Govt, Firm Ink U.S.$7 Million Power Plant Deal
Government has sealed a $7 million agreement for the contractor at Tokwe-Mukosi Dam to start civil works on the planned mini-hydro power plant that will generate electricity at the recently completed dam. The agreement signed between Government and the Italian contractor Salini Impregilo will see the firm carrying out excavation works on the powerhouse, where…
-
Nigeria: Govt Commends Dangote Cement for Self-Sufficiency Feat
The Federal Government has officially confirmed that Nigeria has attained self-sufficiency in the production of cement and is now an exporter of the commodity, ascribing the feat to Dangote Cement which spearheaded the “backward integration policy” introduced by the government. The Minister for Solid Minerals Development, Kayode Fayemi, who led a government team to the…
-
Kenya:Parliament seeks stiff fines for rogue banks
Parliament is seeking punitive fines for bank executives who fail to disclose suspicious transactions in a fresh bid to block the flow of stolen taxpayers’ cash. Financial institutions are required to report all transactions above $10,000 (Sh1,030,000) to The Financial Reporting Centre (FRC), the state agency that tracks proceeds of crime, but many do not…
-
Egypt received two cargoes of diesel fuel from Saudi Aramco
Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla said on Sunday his country had received two cargoes of diesel fuel from Saudi Arabian state-owned oil company Aramco on Friday and Saturday. Molla was speaking at an energy conference in Cairo. Saudi Arabia agreed in April last year to provide Egypt with 700,000 tonnes of refined oil products…