Category: INTERNATIONAL
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Egypt: IFC Board Approves Investment in World’s Largest Solar Photovoltaic Generation Park in Egypt
The Board of Executive Directors of IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, approved on July 20 an investment of $635 million that will help construct, operate and maintain up to 11 solar power plants in Egypt. The combined capacity of the plants amount to 500 megawatts. This will be one of the largest…
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Nigeria: Retirement Savings Account Holders Rise By 96,346
The total number of persons with Retirement Savings Account (RSA) in Nigeria increased by 96,346 to 7,589,936 workers under the contributory pension scheme as at the second quarter of 2017, compared with 7,493,590 registered in the first quarter of the year. They country’s total working population stood at 69,470,901 as at the fourth quarter of…
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Nigeria: Rice Importation Down By 80% – Osinbajo
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has said Nigeria’s rice importation has dropped by over 80 per cent and that the country would be self-sufficient next year. Declaring open the 16th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC), Africa Region yesterday in Abuja, Osinbajo said the feat was achieved based on the collaborative efforts…
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Kenya: Processors avoid duty-free milk import window
The high cost of powdered milk in the international market has seen processors stay away from importation even after a duty waiver, forcing the government to extend the window by two months. Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett says the extension is to allow processors seek competitive prices in alternative markets and ship in the 9,000…
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Kenyan products blocked as Tanzania ignores trade truce
The long-running cross-border trade spat between Kenya and Tanzania has resumed barely four days after the two countries signed a pact removing restrictions that had cost traders billions of shillings by the time it was resolved last Sunday. The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) yesterday said Tanzania had maintained a number of restrictions that existed…
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MTN shares take a 7% dive as trading update disappoints
The cellphone operator has returned to profit, as it puts its enormous Nigerian fine behind it, but investors seem to have been hoping for a stronger rebound. MTN’s share price fell 7% to R110.08 on Thursday morning after it said it expected to report on August 3 that headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the…
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How will Eskom spend all the extra money it wants South Africans to pay?
Outa wants to know how the utility got around SAP software to rack up R3bn in irregular expenditure, as the utility seeks a 20% tariff increase from Nersa. Eskom wants consumers to cough up more for electricity‚ but a lobby group has raised questions about how the power utility has spent hundreds of billions in…
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Tanzania: Acacia Shares Fall to 3yr Low As Row With Tanzania Grows
Acacia Mining shares plunged to a more than three-year low yesterday after the Tanzania government demanded the company to pay almost $190 billion (Sh424 trillion) worth of unpaid taxes and fines. The London Securities Exchange (LSE)-listed equities tumbled as much as 17 per cent yesterday morning after it said it had received a series of…
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South Africa’s maize estimate up 2%
South Africa will harvest 15,969 million tonnes of maize this season, the biggest crop on record after improved weather conditions across the maize belt boosted yields, the government’s Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) said on Wednesday. The estimate is up 2 percent compared to the CEC’s June forecast of 15.6 million tonnes. The previous record harvest…
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New oil reserves to account for 4% of Ugandan economy
Uganda’s new-found oil reserves may account for as much as 4 percent of its economy annually in coming years if managed well, the International Monetary Fund’s country chief says. IMF Mission Chief for Uganda Axel Schimmelpfennig writes in a blog post that the country also needs some strategic infrastructure investment and better debt management. Uganda’s…