The government of Togo announced that the draft proposal for the land regulation was discussed at the council of ministers held on December 20, 2016. The discussions aimed to insure that the bill, which is to be examined by the parliamentary, is reviewed to “insure that its components meet international standards”. “The main texts constituting the backbone of the actual land regulation...

Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) granted $993,000 to power developer Earth Energy Co Ltd for preliminary works for the development of a 20 MW biomass gasification project. The funding will allow the Ugandan company to conduct preliminary studies such as technical and environmental feasibility studies as well as assess the project’s social impact. The infrastructure, which will...

Nigerian fintech Paystack which focuses on facilitating digital payment announced the closing of fundraising operation to launch its activities in Nigeria. Through the process, the firm raised $1.3 million which it will use to build its team of engineers in Lagos, boost its marketing and sales operations, and accelerate product development and customers’ integration. Funds were obtained...

Kenya launched on December the construction of a cruise ship terminal at the Port of Mombasa to boost tourism which represents about 10% of its GDP. “We are very keen on improving our port in this area to attract more passenger vessels and fully exploit the great potential that exists in our Blue Economy,”  said Mombasa seaport’s managing director, Catherine Mturi, Reuters...

In Nigeria, financial transactions conducted via the Internet reached N12.36 billion ($39.5M) in October 2016 alone. This is a true record taking January 1, 2010, as reference, statistics from the Central Bank show. Over the first ten months of 2016, these transactions amounted to a total of N101.9 billion (319.18 million). This is far above 91.8 billion generated in 2015 and twice more than in...

France and Senegal signed on December 21 loan agreements for €195 million which are to be invested in the regional express train project (TER) that must link Dakar to the new Blaise Diagne de Diass international airport. The loan agreements of the Treasury and the French Development Agency (AFD) were signed on the sidelines of a visit of Senegal’s President, Macky Sall, to France....

Canadian-based TransGlobe Energy in its update on Egyptian assets for the fourth and last quarter in 2016, announced that the North West Gharib (NWG) development plan for the NWG 3, NWG 16 and NWG 38 area was approved in early December. The company said it completed the NWG 3 Early Production Facility (EPF) in mid-December and targets first production from NWG 3 at an estimated preliminary rate...

Aminex has announced the commencement of drilling on the Ntorya-2 appraisal well in the Ruvuma Basin in Tanzania. “We are delighted to have commenced the drilling of the Ntorya 2 appraisal well in the Ruvuma Basin. Aminex is one of the few oil and gas companies actively drilling in East Africa and this a very exciting time for the Company,” Jay Bhattacherjee, CEO of Aminex said. The...

Sonatrach has concluded a partnership agreement with Total to carry out a feasibility study as part of the construction of a giant petrochemical complex. The agreement was signed between the Director General of Sonatrach, Amine Mazouzi and Total’s CEO, Patrick Pouyanné. After the signing ceremony of the document, the two sides agreed to strengthen their partnership in the hydrocarbon...

A committee set up by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to monitor the compliance of members and non-OPEC members with the global pact to cut oil output, are to meet at the beginning or in H1 of January, according to Kuwait's oil minister. “We will meet in January with OPEC and non-OPEC countries and we will coordinate over the method in which (compliance with) the cut...