In Libya, forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, who is against the country’s UN-backed government, on Sunday seized key oil ports, pushing the North African country towards a bigger conflict over oil resources and hindering efforts to resume production. According to Ahmed al-Masmari, a spokesman for Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), the forces took control of Es Sider, Ras...

The South Sudanese Government plans to set up a new oil facility in the oil-rich Unity state before end of the year, Petroleum Minister, Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth has revealed. According to the Minister, ever since conflict broke out in the country in December 2013, South Sudan has only been producing 130,000 barrels of oil per day. This new facility is to be controlled by the Dar Petroleum...

In its Aviation Price Index study, online travel agency kiwi.com ranked Algeria 8th in countries that offer the cheapest flight rates. To produce the study, Kiwi analyzed the rates of more than a million international and national flights to gather data on 75 countries, with as main criteria, the average cost of a plane ticket for a 100 km distance, in low-cost and full-service. It thus...

Kenya’s state owned National Oil Corporation (NOC), is expected to begin 2D seismic survey on Block 14T in October as search for the location to set up camp is ongoing. Situated in the Magadi Basin south of Block 10BB within the tertiary rift sedimentary basin in southern Kenya, the 2D seismic comes after previous activity which includes a 20,000 line km of Full Tensor Gravity Gradiometry...

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank’s arm for private sector, announced in the past six days, that it would inject $395 million in two projects developed in West Africa. First, the institution will pour $195 million into the expansion of the Tema harbour, 30 km from Accra, Ghana’s capital. It will be IFC’s most significant port investment and commitment in an...

After a 40-year break, German car maker Volkswagen will restart assembling cars in Kenya. The Wolfsburg-based group announced on September 7 that it would establish an assembly unit in Thika (40 km North-East of Nairobi), to serve all East African nations. The news came through the Managing Director of Volkswagen South Africa, Thomas Schafer, after meeting with Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s...

In Uganda, the head of the State House Land Department, Gertrude Njuba, proposed amendments to the land Act which will tighten laws against land grabbing. Beyond simplifying expropriation procedure for stat use, the government of Uganda wishes for control of laws and land agents to be strict in order to discourage land grabbing. “In some countries like Tanzania, land belongs to the state, but...

The Central Bank of Ghana has approved interest payments for money deposits related to virtual wallet service, offered by telecom operators. Subsequently, MTN Ghana quickly relayed the news to its Mobile Money users. Users concerned are the ones that deposited cash between January 1 and June 30, 2016. Interests will be paid in two tranches for each of the first two quarters. Those for the first...

Mining firm Kodal has expanded its zone of exploration in Mali, by acquiring the Kolassokoro permit, which is known to be lithium-rich. The permit is adjacent to the Madina project, provides the firm a 500 km² area with high-quality lithium. The move is part of Kodal’s strategy to identify profitable opportunities for minerals of value in West Africa. “Lithium has become a huge investment...

In Gabon, the candidate to the presidential elections and rival of Ali Bongo, Jean Ping, finally addressed the Constitutional court of Gabon rejecting official results that proclaimed Bongo winner. Ping up till now refused to resort to legal ways, estimating that the Court was already in favor of Bongo. He however changed his mind accepting the recommendation of the International Community....