In a statement relayed by the Agence de Presse Africaine, Ivorian Minister of Construction and Urbanization, Mamadou Sanogo (photo), announced that over the past four years, the number of single windows for land has passed from 1 to 73. This, as result of a strict implementation of the land reform by government. “Prefects are now effectively able to sign definitive acquisition permits (ACD)...

In Kenya, outlook for 2016-17 coffee output is extremely gloomy as a result of drought that has hit the country in recent months. The drought, which was induced by the La Niña weather phenomenon, delayed rains in the 2016-17 agricultural season and also led to a delay in the flowering of coffee trees, due to higher temperatures mostly. “Rainfall between November and January has been poor,”...

Public Prosecutor of Libreville Court of First Instance, Steve Ndong Essame Ndong, issued a statement dated January 5 which explains evictions from Angondje and Bikele, last December. On August 10, 2016, the official says, the government, through the Ministry of Urban Planning and Housing, addressed the Libreville Court a request to evict all illegal occupants of social housing of Angondje and...

Angolan firm Catoca Mining Society (CMS) produced in 2016, 7.2 million ct of diamonds, counting all its activities in the nation, its Managing Director, Sergei Amelin, said. He highlighted that the global slump in prices of diamonds did not allow the company to achieve its initial forecasts. The output achieved by the firm which mines 75% of Angola’s diamond includes Catoca kimberlite, as...

From January 7 to 12, China’s minister of foreign affairs, Wang Yi, will be on official visit in five African countries. These are: Madagascar, Zambia, Tanzania, Congo Republic and Nigeria. According to the official’s spokesperson, Gene Shuang, who made the announcement, “China's diplomacy is rooted in strengthening relations with developing countries, including those in Africa” Xinhua...

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced the commencement of exploration activities in the Gongola Basin as part of drives to further boost the nation’s oil resource base. “Aside increasing the nation’s oil and gas reserves to 37 billion barrels of oil and 192 trillion cubic feet of gas respectively, the Corporation has also commenced exploratory activities in the...

Nigeria has recorded the biggest oil production drop amongst the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), according to Industry sources. The West African country in December recorded an output drop of 200,000 barrels to 1.45 million barrels per day. This is even as OPEC’s crude production dropped by 310,000 barrels a day, as unexpected disruptions in the country...

In Ghana, the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) is expected to start processing crude oil from the Tweneboah Enyerra Ntonme (TEN) field from Friday, January 6, 2017. This was declared by the Managing Director of TOR, Kwame Awuah Darko, who sees the development as historic. According to Darko, he is optimistic that the company will process the one million barrels of crude oil it acquires from the...

A technical commission of the Wilaya Chlef, Northern Algeria, is presently going round to identify abandoned or underutilized agricultural lands, El Watan reports. The commission will subsequently produce a report which will be used by local authorities to optimize agricultural output in the Wilaya. “The lands will be recovered and re-awarded under an agricultural development operation. They...

To support the efforts of Ivorian authorities to secure agricultural land, the European Union (EU) announced in a statement to the Agence Ivoirienne de Presse that it would allocate FCFA3.3 billion to the State budget. This funding is part of a CFA27 billion pledge from the EU to Cote d’Ivoire in December 2015 as Neven Mimica, European Commissioner for International Cooperation and...