German firm Siemens and Spanish wind energy giant Gamesa merged their wind power divisions to produce a global wind energy giant. The merger’s product has a turnover of €9.3 billion for a pre-interest and pre-tax profit of €839 million, an order backlog valued at around €20 billion and 69 GW of installed plants worldwide. The new company will allow both firms to save up...

In Algeria, according to statistics published on June 20 by Algerian customs, there was a deficit of $9.8 billion in the trade balance in 2016’s first five months, against $7.23 billion over the same period the year before. The deficit was mainly due to oil export earnings falling by 37% as global oil prices slumped significantly. Exports, including oil which makes 92.96% of...

AIM-listed Petra Diamonds has recovered at its Cullinan mine in South Africa a 121.6 ct white diamond. The company said the stone, which has an exceptional color and clarity, will be sold alongside other high-quality stones in 2016’s last call to offer which is actually ongoing in Johannesburg. The new discovery follows the sale by the company of the last Cullinan Dream on June 9. The stone...

Netherland could lose its position as global leading flower seller, as African producers now prefer selling their output directly to their customers rather than use the logistics platform, FloraHolland. 50% of flowers sold around the world passes through this platform and last year, it generated around €4.6 billion. Lucas Vos, CEO of FloraHolland noted that sales conducted by members of...

Mining firm Perseus Mining said it will raise AU$102 million (about $76 million) to finance its Sissingué and Yaouré projects in Cote d’Ivoire. Of this sum, AU$61 million (about $40 million) will be raised by placing 122 million shares at AU$0.5 a share while the rest will be obtained through an open offer. The company also indicated that it would use $40 million from the...

After slumping by about 30% the day before, the naira has gained 0.7% on dollar for the second day of trading without a peg, as decided by the Central Bank. This is subsequent to the Central Bank who on Monday washed out more than $4 billion to clear pent-up demand for foreign currency, according to Lagos-based trading platform FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange. On the bonds and securities...

Pan-African group Ecobank is looking to get rid of its unprofitable units in order to focus on more promising markets, Reuters reported on June 20, citing Ecobank’s chairperson, Emmanuel Ikazoboh. “The business model whereby we are just expanding and posting our flags (in different countries) has to be reconsidered,” said Ikazoboh indicating that the bank ranks the 36 countries where it...

The Ivorian government has revealed that it plans to sell all its 17,922 shares in the Nouvelle Société sucrière de la Comoé (SN Sosuco), Burkina’s leading sugar producer. According to APA, the Ivorian ministry of trade, through its privatization committee, has recently launched a call for tenders for these shares. Without disclosing the reasons behind the sale, sources with knowledge of...

In Angola, Sonangol has announced that it has discovered gas reserves in the offshore Kwanza basin. According to the company, the gas reserves could total 813 million boe in block 20/11. The company said Block 20/11 held an estimated 313 million barrels of condensate and 2.8 Tcf of gas, Reuters reports. In 2015, Sonangol secured a 40% participating interest in Blocks 21/09 and 20/11 owned by...

FMC Technologies, Inc. has announced that it has concluded its first subsea tree constructed in Nigeria for Total’s Egina Project, situated 150 km off the coast of Nigeria. “This new subsea services base is a cornerstone of the ongoing offshore campaign, and as such, is a major contributor to the Egina Project in general which will add 200,000 barrels of oil per day to Nigeria’s production...