The Pan African banking group Ecobank Transnational Incorporated end the first nine months of the year 2015 with positive net income of $305.66 million, a figure which however registers a decrease of 5% compared to the performance of this indicator, achieved during the same period in 2014 ($324.45 million) "The operating environment in sub-Saharan Africa has been difficult during the...

The Congolese opposition called, on 27 October, for “civil disobedience until the withdrawal” of the new constitution adopted during a referendum organised on Sunday 25 October, considering the results of this vote has “null and void”. The Republican Front for the Respect of the Constitutional Order and Democratic Change (FROCAD - Front républicain pour le respect de l'ordre...

The Indian conglomerate Tata Group announced, on 26 October, having started negotiations with the Ivorian government for the construction of a 5-star hotel in Abidjan and the delivery of 500 buses to Société de Transport Abidjanais (SOTRA). The CEO of the Indian group, Cyrus Mistry, made this announcement in Abidjan, following a meeting with the Ivorian Prime Minister, Daniel Kablan...

Sasol has announced that a planned shutdown at its Synfuels operation affected production in the last quarter towards the end of September. The company’s Synfuels business produced 8million bbls of refined product in Q1 2015 while on  30th of June 2015, it produced 32.9-million bbls. According to Sasol, a planned shutdown at its Natref refinery will affect full year volumes. In Q1...

Circle Oil has discovered gas at the Caid El Gaddari-13 (CGD-13) exploration well on the Sebou Permit, onshore Morocco. The CGD-13 well which was spud on 8th of October, reached a TD of 871m on 17th of October ahead of schedule. The discovery consisted of gas-bearing Miocene sandstones in a structurally elevated position east of the CGD-1 well and west of the CGD-9 well. The...

The list of companies vying to secure term contracts for the sale and purchase of the Nigerian crude oil grades have now increased to 278 including companies like Italian Oil giant Eni, India’s national oil company, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Forte oil, Eterna Plc., Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Ltd and MRS. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had in August published...

The Gabonese Ministry of Petroleum and Hydrocarbons has today appointed CGG as technical consultant to assist with the promotion of its 11th Licencing Round with focus on five deepwater blocks. The round is to be opened for five months starting on the 27th of October 2015 and bids can be submitted from the 15th of February 2016 onwards and by no later than 31st of March 2016. Prequalification...

The government of Angola has appointed a team to assist in reorganising the oil sector and state owned Sonangol as it grapples with the fall in the price of crude oil. The team is to include the minister of state, minister of petroleum, minister of finance, the governor of the central bank and officials of Sonangol, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos declared in a statement. Oil production...

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara was re-elected at the end of the first round of the presidential election of 25 October for a new term of five years, the Independent Election Commission (CEI) announced on 28 October. Mr Ouattara, 73 years, garnered 83.66% of votes. He is largely ahead of Pascal Affi N’Guessan, representing the Front Populaire Ivorien (FPI) founded by ex-president Laurent...

Remi Depoix, president of French firm Céréalis which is specialized in the trading of grains, revealed that the firm exports around 200,000 tons of its wheat to Cameroon each year. This represents about 20% of Céréalis’ sales revenue, he says in an interview to the daily l’Economie. Clearly put, out of approximately 200 million euros (131 billion CFA Francs) it makes yearly in Central...