In Nigeria, the Odu’a Group of Companies in partnership with Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD) has revealed plans to spend N12 billion ($32.5 million) to revive its textile mill in Ado Ekiti, converting it into an industrial park. Adewale Raji (photo), the GMD of Odua conglomerate, said on the occasion of the announcement: “In this partnership, ABUAD is 60 per cent shareholder...

Royal Dutch Shell has on Wednesday announced the commencement of gas production from the second phase of the Gbaran-Ubie project in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The Phase 2 follows the success of Phase 1 of the Gbaran-Ubie integrated oil and gas development commissioned in June 2010. According to Shell, the project would reach peak production of around 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in...

Nigeria is partnering with China to address the importation of substandard products into the country, an official said Monday. Addressing the press in Abuja, Ye Shuijin, President of China Chamber of Commerce Nigeria (CCCN), confirmed that most of the fake products imported into Nigeria were not made in China. He said the CCCN and the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) had put measures in...

Ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Tunisia sovereign rating to B1 from Ba3, putting the country’s debt in the “Highly speculative” category. The agency said the country lack strong tax reforms and delayed in implementing recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), amid persistent external imbalances. Moody’s also said the downgrade could be extended further if the country...

Upon the completion of construction works for the 275MW Soubré hydropower dam next October, the Chinese firm Sinohydro could build three other similar dams, in the country. The infrastructures should be located in Gribo Popoli, Louga, Boutoubre, (all across the Sassandra River) and produce respectively 112MW, 280MW and 156MW of electricity. According to Bloomberg which reported the information...

President of the Cameroon’s business owners association (ECAM), the former insurer talks here of the change that ICT’s increasing use by firms could bring about in his country, and Africa as well. You recently organized in Douala, Cameroon’s economic capital, a workshop baptized “Assurtech”. What do you aim to achieve through this event? The main goal of Assurtech is to stimulate...

From March 21 to July 22 this year, trade volume between Nigeria and Iran recorded a 69% growth, Mahmood Haji Yousefipoor, the Head of Nigeria department at the Trade Promotion Organization, revealed on Monday. According to him, the volume of exports from Iran to Nigeria in those four months stood at $3 million, an increase of $1.2 million compared to the same period last year. “The...

A Nigerian Businessman, Pat Utomi, is currently developing the first $135 million agricultural commodities exchange in the country. The exchange called Integrated Produce City Ltd. will be located near the southern city of Benin. The project will have storage facilities, including refrigerated warehouses, and host processing plants, once completed by the end of 2018. Among products to be...

In an open letter sent to the president of Madagascar on August 17, the Tany group exposed its concerns about land grabbing by foreign investors in the country. For the civil society group, whose objective “is to support the development of Malagasy farmers and citizens and defend their lands and natural resources”, it is urgent to boost land tenure and establish a stricter framework for land...

The Pakistani government has revealed plans to enter into a multi-billion dollars supply deal for the importation of Liquefied natural gas from Nigeria. According to a Pakistani newspaper, the Tribune Express, a draft agreement will be presented by the government to the cabinet for approval before signing the deal with Nigeria to import LNG. This will be followed by the signing of commercial...