Nigeria’s oil pipeline Trans Forcados is expected to load at least two cargoes of 950,000 barrels within this month, trading sources revealed. This will be the first cargoes to be loaded since November 2016. This comes a few days after other traders disclosed that Shell was conducting tests at the pipeline. Therefore, Shell may be part of those loading one of the two cargoes this month. Shell...

On May 11, about a hundred people from the Kiponda chiefdom in Kipushi, Katanga district, have led a protest at the Lubumbashi court. According to Radio Okapi who reported the news, the protesters denounced the “spoliation of their lands”. The protesters accuse the “municipal and customary authorities of Kipushi”, as well as the national cadaster office of selling their lands,...

In 2016, development aid from the French Development Agency (AFD) for Africa stood at €4 billion, up 25% compared to 2015. A performance which comes in a context where international aid for Africa is slumping. France’s contribution is spurred by major changes related to demography, society, ecology, energy, digital, technology, but also political changes. Out of the support from AFD to...

On May 11, the Nigerian parliament has approved the 2017 budget which stands at N7.44 trillion ($24.4 billion). This is about N1 trillion more the amount proposed by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 14, 2016, knowingly 7.3 trillion naira ($23.2 billion). With the budget passed, the government will be able to borrow 2.3 trillion naira which is to be used to plug its budget deficit which...

The United Nations said it is seeking further $900 million this year to resolve crisis in Somalia where more than 6 million people, including about 275,000 malnourished children, need humanitarian aid. This was revealed on May 11 by UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. “This morning, we presented the revised humanitarian response plan seeking an additional $900 million the end of...

In Morocco, starting from May 22, land owners will be notified via SMS of any operation related to their land title. The government thus decided to leverage on digital to end land spoliation in the country, announced the taskforce formed to draw urgent and efficient measures to deal with the phenomenon, at the end of a recent meeting. Entitled "Achkhbar titre" (which means ‘what’s up with my...

From 10% as its president previously announced, the Ivorian government has decided to cut its 2017 budget by 9% (FCFA54 billion), bringing it to FCFA6.447 trillion, amid global slump (about 35%) in prices of cocoa, the country’s main export. Besides the slump in prices of cocoa of which Cote d’Ivoire is the leading exporter, the revision of budget is also explained by a rising pressure from...

Lekoil Ltd, oil and gas exploration and production company which is very active in Africa, announced yesterday the lifting of the first crude cargo from its Otakikpo marginal field in Nigeria. The cargo was lifted by Shell Western Supply and Trading Limited, subsidiary of Anglo-Dutch oil firm Shell, in respect to an agreement signed in March between the two parties. Under the contract, Lekoil...

Since December 22, 2016, la Guinéenne de Large Bande has been awarded the ISO 9001:2015 certification for its management, operation and maintenance activities of the Africa Coast to Europe submarine cable landing station, becoming the 1st operator to be recognized for its strong internal governance and quality management standards in Guinea. “This ISO certification demonstrates GUILAB’s...

Silicon Valley’s tech giant, Google, through its chief executive for Nigeria, Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor (photo), asked the Nigerian government to reduce taxes and other fees involved in laying fibre optic cables. This should, according to her, boost technology industry in the country, Reuters reported on May 9. The executive said the industry’s development aligns with government’s...