The Government of Zambia is issuing international tender for oil exploration in 40 blocks in 10 provinces in the country, the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development revealed. According to the Minister of Mines and Minerals Development, Christopher Yaluma (photo), bids were issued after samples collected in 2007 confirmed traces of oil. He said initial geological surveys carried out in the...

Nigeria has chosen Mohammed Barkindo (photo), the former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), as the next secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), according to a government official. Barkindo had worked at NNPC up until 2010 and had served as the acting secretary-general of OPEC in 2006. “We are putting Barkindo...

The Ghanaian Minister for Petroleum, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah (photo), on Thursday revealed that the country will remain dependent on Nigeria to support the demand shortfall in its gas needs even though Eni’s TEN projects have been completed. The Minister said the two projects even if completed will add 60Mmscf of gas to the 120Mmscf currently being delivered by the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant,...

France-based digital communication agency Atnetplanet will open in May 2016 a subsidiary in South Africa. In the framework of its arrival in South Africa, Atnetplanet will invest in educational training. This year, it will sponsor the education of 2 South African students enrolled in the new WeThinkCode School in Johannesburg. The training will be carried out in partnership with Ecole 42...

Kenyan Energy Principal Secretary has said that the country might construct its own pipeline to convey oil from the northern Turkana region to a port at the coast, if the proposal to construct one with Uganda fails. “Whatever the outcome, we will build an oil pipeline, whether we are together with the Ugandans or not,” Jopseph Njoroge said. Kenya is currently contending with Tanzania to...

Ingenu and Koncar INEM have delivered an IoT connectivity solution to the Shell Nigeria pipeline facility to provide Digital Oilfield (DOF) capabilities, thereby saving the company over $1m in infrastructure investment. The Digital Oilfield solution grants pipeline surveillance and wellhead monitoring capabilities to distant infrastructure in the Niger Delta.  DOF solution includes IT...

In Tanzania, Swala Energy and Tata Petrodyne have announced that all measures have been put in place to commence drilling at the Kilosa Kilombero licence in Q3 of 2016 as the recent feasibility study revealed that major roads and bridges are suitable to move a rig. Swala said that the drilling which has been scheduled for September 2016 is currently in the contracting rig stage and site...

In Ghana, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) said it expected its National Fertilizer Subsidy Programme to benefit one million small farmers. According to Business & Financial Times which reported the information, this will be done through the “E-subsidy Management for Fertilizer” platform.   The government of Ghana has decided to resort to this solution after experimenting...

Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (ESSEC) which is considered as one of France’s and Europe’s best business schools will proceed to a multi-polar deployment in Africa, by opening two new campuses in Mauritius and Morocco, L’étudiant reported on March 29. The Moroccan branch which will be established in Rabat is dedicated to “Africa-Atlantic” while the...

In Zimbabwe, tobacco production should fall by 15% this season to 160 million kg. The fall is mainly due to the drought currently striking the region. According to experts, the climate hazard, resulting from the El Niño weather phenomenon, drove farmers to delay planting of tobacco, thus impacting production. Another factor explaining the probable drop in output is the number of tobacco...