Ghana’s oil output is to reach 190,000 barrels per day by the end of 2016, Ecobank Research has revealed. According to the report, this output when achieved would make Ghana the 6th leading producer of oil in middle Africa. It added that the success of the increased production will be subject to the replacement of the turret bearing on the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah which will return production...

Oil workers under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) during a protest shut down business operations at the ExxonMobil office in Lagos over the dismissal of 145 workers. The workers, who are also members of staff of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, said they had shut down activities at the company’s Qua Iboe...

Toward the drive to achieve self-sufficiency by 2020, Egyptian oil companies have increased gas production from their respective assets. Companies such as Pharaonic Petroleum Company and North of Sinai Petroleum Company (NOSPCO) have succeeded in producing 110 Mmcf/d and 70 Mmcf/d of natural gas respectively. Pharaonic has completed the Phase 3 of its development operations for the Ras El Bar...

Borno State, a state in north-eastern Nigeria, has joined the league of oil-producing states in the country, with the discovery of crude oil after many months of exploration. This was disclosed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Jamila Shua’ra, during the agreement signing ceremony for joint venture, JV, cash call withdrawal and presentation of the petroleum...

Rand Merchant Investment Holdings, branch of Rand Merchant Bank Holdings, has considerably gained in importance in UK’s insurance sector. It has acquired 30% of Hastings, a British firm that sells motor insurance via price comparison websites. The deal is valued at about $634.61 million. RMI Holdings offered 255 pence maximum, for each Hastings share, representing a 15% premium on its...

The Nigerian government will, starting next year, halve its wheat imports, Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, announced. In this framework, the government will support sweet potato farmers so they can produce the crops throughout the year. According to the Minister, the quantities of sweet potato and cassava produced in Nigeria represent a true alternative to wheat flour and are...

French women and girl (15-35 yrs) clothing brand Jennyfer has opened its first store in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. In a statement, the brand said “collections offered in the new store will be the same as those sold in every other Jennyfer store worldwide, at affordable prices”.    Mainly present in North Africa where it has more than ten stores, Jennyfer’s arrival in Ivory Coast falls...

On the sidelines of a symposium organized in Dakar, Prof. Samir Amin said land grabbing contributed in a great part to African nations’ slow development. Denouncing a type of globalization that disadvantages “small” economies, the French-Egyptian scholar said Africa’s growth lies in farming which must be backed by solid land reforms. “The general development trend of capitalism is...

The European Union announced it would provide the Niger government a €470 million facility to support in efforts to implement reforms and bolster its capacities in education, nutrition, food security, etc. Besides this financing, the emergency trust fund for Africa has approved this year the injection of €140 million in nine projects in Niger. The European Union in a statement...

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...