The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide the East African Community (EAC) a five-year $194 million facility to foster economic integration and free movement of people and goods in the region. The agreement for the facility was signed on November 17 at EAC's headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, by the US embassy Charge d'Affaires in Tanzania, Virginia Blazer,...

Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari (photo), has pleaded with militants in the Niger Delta region to stop the act of bombing oil and gas pipelines which only assist in destroying the country’s ecosystem and economy. He urged the people of the region to take full benefit of the huge potential in agriculture adding that his administration was dedicated to doing everything possible to support...

Argentina is to receive two tankers carrying 3 million barrels of Nigerian and Angolan crudes to feed its domestic refining network, pushing the country’s imports close to 2015 level. According to data from Thomson Reuters, Argentina in 2015 received about six million barrels of imported crude, typically African medium and light grades bought by independent refiners on the open market. This...

In an effort aimed at ensuring the success of the deal to cut output next week, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has asked Iran to cut production at 3.92 million bpd. According to reports, several members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) met with Iranian officials on Friday, to convince the country to cut its oil production so as to...

Egypt’s Nooros field gas production is now almost at 900 million cubic feet of gas per day and expected to reach 1 billion cubic feet per day in Q1 of 2017, according to Eni. Eni began production at its Nile Delta offshore field Nooros in September 2015. It formerly said that it expected a peak production capacity of about 160,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2017. Egypt's oil...

Erin Energy in its Q3 2016 results and operational update announced that it is still on the lookout for farm-in partners for Kenya’s ultra-deep water offshore blocks, L-27 and L-28. The company says it has completed the interpretation of 2D seismic data acquired on onshore blocks L1B and L16, and has identified several potential leads to pursue. Erin continues to develop these leads and...

A consortium led by Saudi firm Acwa Power secured a contract to develop 170 MW of photovoltaic solar power plants in Morocco, under the Noor solar project. The projects comprised under the agreement are 70 MW Noor Ouarzazate IV, 80 MW Noor Laayoune and 20 MW Noor Boujdour plants. Power generated by these stations will be bought at 4.8 dollar cents per kWh. “With strength and determination,...

Thrice-listed mining firm Lucara Diamond has sold a 12 of its diamond totaling 1,098 ct, from its Karowe mine in Botswana. The firm said five of the diamonds have been sold for more than $2 million. It highlighted that a 224.5 ct type IIa stone was sold for $11.11 million, representing $49,497/ct, the highest average per carat sale price it recorded so far. Another 81.8ct stone...

Abdellatif Jouahri and Lucas Abaga Nchama, respectively governors of the Bank Al Maghrib (Central Bank of Morocco) and the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), recently signed a revised cooperation convention for banking supervision. The agreement aims to boost bilateral cooperation between the two lenders, mainly in regards to on-field control of the cross-border banks. The move comes amid...

Moroccan fund Ithmar Capital has announced in a statement published on November 16 it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the World Bank to launch the first pan-African green investment fund, the Green Growth Infrastructure Facility for Africa (GGIF for Africa). The MoU was signed at the Finance Summit held on the sideline the COP22 in Marrakech. Designed to support projects in...