Ghana’s Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper (photo), on Tuesday revealed that the country is currently going over its budget for 2016. According to him, the Ghanaian government is observing oil prices and will submit a revision to the Parliament if the oil prices in the global market continues to fall. “We are weighing options and scenarios and may go to cabinet and parliament to revise the...

Cerealis, one of Tunisia’s major salty snack producers did not renew its liquidity contract with Axis Capital on the Tunis Stock Exchange. It should be recalled that a liquidity contract is an agreement through which, a listed company provides a stock exchange intermediate, liquidities and part of its shares, in return for the intermediate acting as a buyer or a seller of the company’s...

All eight members of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) will issue 3,409 billion FCFA ($5.8 billion) of debts in 2016 against 3,304.3 billion FCFA in 2015, regional agency for debt planning UMOA-Titres announced on February 9. From this amount, FCFA920 billion will be raised during the first quarter, the same source added. Cote d’Ivoire, WAEMU’s economic powerhouse plans...

Petronas has entered into an agreement with Sudan for the purchase of the country’s local crude oil. The agreement was signed within the context of the Ministry of Oil’s policy which is aimed at providing local crude oils to boost the capacity of the refineries. Present at the signing ceremony were Minister of Oil, Mohammed Zayed Awad, State Minister for Oil, Mahmoud Abdul-Rahman as well as...

Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) on Tuesday announced that it has entered into a heads of terms with Quantum Power for the construction and operation of the LNG import facilities at Tema. According to GNPC, the project is to have an annual capacity of about 3.40 million tons of LNG (500 Mmscf/d of gas), using a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) anchored 12km offshore...

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has mandated five international banks to arrange a $150 million loan, Reuters reported on February 8 citing sources close to the case. The mandated banks are Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Citibank, Emirates NBD, JP Morgan and Standard Chartered Bank. The loan is to be used for the general corporate purposes of the financier of development projects including...

In South Africa, Associated British Foods who holds a 51.35% stake in Illovo Sugar said it wishes to buy the rest of sugar producer. This offer comes as Illovo’s share, over the past year, lost about half of its value due to the severe drought that South Africa currently faces. ABF’s offer is 20% higher than Ilovo’s share average value over the last three months says John Bason who heads...

Norwegian investment fund Norfund plans to invest in the renewable energy and finance sectors in Ghana in the framework of its expansion strategy in West Africa, Bloomberg reported on February 7 citing one the firm’s executive.   “Norfund started looking at opportunities in West Africa during the second half of last year. We’ve already identified two opportunities in the...

The International Energy Agency in its monthly market report revealed that the oversupply in the global market will be higher in H1 of 2016 than initial estimate, escalating the risk of more price falls as Iran and Iraq boost production while demand growth reduces. According to the Agency, supply is likely to surpass consumption by 1.75 million bpd, compared to an estimate of 1.5 million in...

Circle Oil in its operational and financial update announced that in conjunction with Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM), it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SBS Porcher in Morocco.  The MOU allows Circle oil to sell the gas found during the Sebou drilling campaign. Under the agreement, a new pipeline extension about 15-18 km will be built to...