De Beers Consolidated Mine, subsidiary of Anglo American, said it has generated $418 million in its tenth sales cycle for 2016, down from $470 million in the ninth. The firm has generated a total of $5.558 billion over its ten sale cycles. “We continued to see good demand for our rough diamonds in the latest sales cycle,” says De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver. De Beers...

Luanda is the most expensive city in Africa for expatriates in 2016, according to a survey released on December 14 by ECA International. Worldwide, Angola’s capital moved from the fifth position in this ranking last year to the second this year. In Africa, Luanda is followed by Kinshasa, capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is 10th worldwide. Next comes Khartoum (Sudan’s...

South African financial group Sanlam which owns a 30% interest in Saham Finances will acquire an additional 16.6% in the Moroccan firm. It will for the interest spend $329 million, valuing Saham Finances at about $2 billion. In a statement published on December 14, Saham Finances said it was pleased by the turn of event, mentioning a stronger partnership between the two groups, which...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $100 million fund to finance the Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI). The financing comes in $50 million of own funds and $50 million in senior convertible loan. It should according to the institution help provide power to about 3 million people in Africa. FEI is an energy fund established by the AfDB under its New Deal on Energy...

Some Japanese car makers are about to open in Algeria assembly units for utility cars and trucks, Japan’s ambassador to Algeria told the press, during a business club meeting regrouping investors from both nations. “Japan is really interested in investing in Algeria, in several of its sectors of activities. We already have car manufacturers such as Nissan and Suzuki who project to build car...

The Nigerian government scaled down its growth forecast for the economy for 2017, to 2.5%, from 3.02% earlier, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma, announced on Dec. 14. “We realized that it is not achievable due to the current economic recession,” the official said The Nigerian economy plunged into recession for the first time in 25 years, after its GDP decreased by 2.06%...

Belarus agricultural machinery manufacturer Minsk Tractor Works will built a plant in the Mpumalanga province, South Africa, 330km east of Johannesburg, the Belarus Industry ministry announced in a statement published on December 12. According to the memorandum of understanding signed by Minsk Tractor Works and South African authorities, the construction of the infrastructure will commence in...

Led by the Malagasy government from 2005 to 2015 to secure populations’ land rights, mainly customary, Madagascar’s land reform has yielded results. In fact, two studies providing an overview of the reform were recently published. “In 2005, they had been two innovations, and the idea was to better respond to the population’s need for tenure. The first step is decentralization: Here, the...

“It’s clear the transition to a clean energy future is inevitable, beneficial and well underway, and that investors have a key role to play,” said Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary General, welcoming a study according to which investment funds valued at $5.2 trillion decided to sell off their fossil fuel assets. Published by Arabella Advisors, a philanthropist company, the study shows...

Portuguese bank BPI announced in a statement that its shareholders (83.2%of votes) have approved on December 13, 2016, the takeover by mobile operator Unitel of its Angolan subsidiary, Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA). The move will see BPI sell 2% of its 50.1% stake in BFA, to Unitel which used to hold 49.9%. The mobile operator will thus be holding 51.9% of the firm’s capital while the...