International Monetary Fund 5IMF) said on March 3, 2016, it is in advanced talks with Tunisia over a four year $2.8 billion credit line to help support the country’s reform program. “Negotiations for a new IMF arrangement to support the government’s economic reform program are at an advanced stage,” IMF said in a statement, highlighting that a delegation it sent to Tunis held...

The Nigerian Government, plans to divide the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) into 30 independent companies within weeks, the Group Managing Director of NNPC revealed. “For the first time, we are unbundling the subset of the NNPC to 30 independent companies with their own managing directors. Titles like group executive directors are going to disappear and in their place you are going to...

In Algeria, Sonatrach has granted GJC a $339 million contract to help boost output at its oilfield in Hassi Messaoud. The scope of work under the contract includes the refurbishing and realization of a new system of production in Hassi Messaoud. Algeria has been affected by the global decline in oil prices and has fought to draw energy investments to help develop new fields and boost...

British diamond producer Botswana Diamonds and its joint venture partner Alrosa, plan on launching a $700,000 exploration programme in Botswana. Both partners will pay half the cost of the programme. The programme includes the drilling of one of its core holes to 300m and one or two large diameter holes, also at 300m on Botswana Diamonds’ PL 260 licence in Opara. Two or three more...

A study by Morocco’s National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) revealed that Morocco should establish an inter-profession for the leguminous industry. Scientists from this institution formed a consortium with scientists of the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Arid Areas, the Hassan II Veterinary and Agricultural Institute, the OCP Foundation and the International...

Oryx Energies has just commissioned the first Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinder testing and requalification plant in Tanzania. The country’s first, the plant ensures that the safety and integrity of Oryx Energies LPG cylinders are more easily checked at the regular intervals required to ensure they meet Tanzanian and international safety standards. Cylinders were previously sent to...

The Ivorian government just announced that the second edition of the International Trade Fair on Equipment and Technologies for Cashew Processing (SIETTA) would take place on 17, 18, and 19 November 2016. According to Bruno Nabagné Koné, spokesperson of government, the event will be held under the theme “Industrializing the local cashew sector for a new Ivory Coast”. “The fair...

On March 1, 2016, Advans Cote d’Ivoire held the second edition of its SMEs meeting, at its office in Abidjan. The theme of the meeting was “Financing Small and Medium Enterprises: Advans’ SME offer, more than an option, a solution”. At the meeting were present entrepreneurs, SME-supporting institutions, and Ministry for National Entrepreneurship, SMEs promotion and Handicraft; more than...

Construction of Batoka hydroelectric dam has doubled to $5 billion. “From the feasibility studies we are doing, we are now talking of about US$4,5 billion, and the appetite (to fund the project) is there,” said Munyaradzi Munodawafa, chief executive officer of Zambezi River Authority (ZRA), Zimbabwe-Zambia joint venture company in charge of managing the Zambezi River basin. With its...

Tunisian insurer AMI Assurances will launch in April a call for expression of interest for the selection of a strategic foreign partner, website ilboursa reported on March 2. The new partner should be known by October 2016. This partner will hold a 33% stake in the firm’s capital, post-augmentation. Founded in 2003, AMI Assurances, as it acquired a complete mastery of automobile risk and...