Swiss group Nestlé just started activities at its Nestlé Pure Life mineral water factory, in Abaji, Nigeria. The unit that was developed for N5.6 billion (about €25 million) will allow for the creation of 111 jobs and help the firm to position its production in the Northern and Western parts of the country. According to Commodafrica, the plant which is to cover 14.6 hectares will also...

Huawei is negotiating with Burkinabe authorities to deploy optic fiber across the country. This was revealed by a source within Burkina’s Ministry of Finance and Economy cited by info-afrique.com. A team of the Chinese group, led by its managing director visited the country to discuss modalities for the development of the National Backbone project. Estimated to cost over FCFA100 billion, the...

Africa’s electrification recently welcomed a new advocate, Africa Power Vision (APV). APV is a joint-venture established by the African Union Commission, the NEPAD agency, Nigeria’s ministry of finance, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank. It aims to boost the number of people that has access to power across the continent. “APV aims to achieve an 80%...

Standard Bank, Africa’s leading bank in terms of assets volume, mobilized one billion dollars on the international capital market, an official release announced. The South African bank’s bonds were overwritten since initial demand was $600 million. The loan will mature in three years and its rate is 1.2% higher than that of inter-bank loans within the London stock market or Libor....

Last month, Robex Resources processed at its Nampala gold mine 55 000 tons of ore. This volume exceeds preliminary targets by about 35%. Average production at the plant, which runs on a 24/7 basis, with an availability rate of 80%, was about 1,800 tons per day. The mine’s construction is currently at the final stage and the firm plans to reach a processing capacity of 4,000 tons/day. The...

Morocco has signed with Portugal an agreement for the feasibility study of its 1,000 MW interconnection program.  The connection project will allow the kingdom to boost its energy-related transactions with Portugal, and Europe also, thus improving its integration to the region’s power system. Morocco back in 1997, implemented a 700 MW interconnection program with Spain. The system was...

Eni has announced that it has concluded the drilling of the third gas well at its Zohr gas field in Egypt. The first estimates of the third deepwater well is bigger than the first and the second, with estimated reserves of 30tcf. According to a senior official from Eni, first production from the third gas well is very promising and Eni plans to commence the drilling of the fourth gas well in...

Cairn Energy has drilled the fourth exploration well in the current evaluation program offshore Senegal. According to joint venture partner, FAR Ltd, the SNE-4 well was drilled using the Ocean Rig Athena drillship. The appraisal well in the SNE field will help in moving ahead to confirm the commercial capability of the field. Situated 5km south-east of the SNE-1 discovery well, the well was...

Rockhopper Exploration PLC has announced the acquisition of a range of non-operated production and exploration interests from Beach Energy Ltd in Egypt under a revised agreement. Rockhopper, before now owns assets in the North Falkland Basin and in the Mediterranean region. The company said the assets will be procured from Beach Energy for $11.9 million in cash, to be paid when...

Niger’s sole refinery, Soraz has resumed operations after it was shut down due to a strike over working conditions and pay, a union official revealed. The strike which hindered the delivery of oil products from the plant for three days began last week Wednesday and ended during the weekend. The Soraz refinery, is a joint venture between China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and the Niger...