With Nubian and Wadi pulling out from Egypt’s project to build renewable energy plants, a total of 19 developers have abandoned the initiative. The two firms were awarded contracts to build a 50 MW and 20 MW solar power plants, respectively, Daily News Egypt reports. Egypt’s renewable energy purchase progam was launched in 2014 and its goal was the development of 4,300 MW of solar and wind...

Leapfrog, a private equity firm focused on Africa and Asia, has acquired majority stake in Kenyan firm Goodlife Pharmacy. The deal is to date the most important ever sealed in the East African drug sales sector. The company will pay Catalyst Principal Parters $22 million for the stake. The latter seals here its first capital exit from its Catalyst Fund I East African focused private equity...

Tunisia aims to increase renewable share in its energy mix to 30% by 2030, from 3% currently, thus reducing its dependency on gas from which it gets most of its power at the moment. To this end, the Société Tunisienne de l’Electrcitité et du Gaz (STEG) will build many renewable power plants. The projects include a 10 MW photovoltaic power plant which will be established in Tozeur, by 2017....

In Q3 2016, unemployment is South Africa soared 1.6% compared to the same period in 2015, standing at 27.1% of active population, the country’s highest level since 2003, data released on Nov 22 by the national statistics office (StatsSA) shows. At the end of September 2016, out of the 8.1 million jobless South Africans, 5.9 million were actively seeking jobs while 2.2 million of them...

 Mauritius expects lychee output this year to be twice more than what it recorded last year. Kreepallo Sunghoon, secretary of the small farmers association of Mauritius, expects an output of 13,000-15,000 metric tons, against 6,000 tons in 2015. According to the official, between 6,000 and 7,000 tons of lychees will be directed to the local market while 800 to 1,000 tons are to be exported...

From €8.4 billion this year, France should provide 9.4 billion in 2016 to Africa via the Public Development Aid (APD). Despite the slight increase, the sum is lower than at the beginning of the five-year term of current president, François Hollande, Coordination du Sud said. According to the organization, France injected last year “only 0.37% of its wealth into APD, down from 0.7% it...

Morocco ordered American tech firm Harris Corporation which also operates in the defense sector for advanced electronic warfare suites This was revealed by defense-focused website, FAR-Maroc.  The cost of the system was however not disclosed. AIDEWS as the system is called helps detect, jam radar signals of anti-air defense land-air missiles and of air-air missiles of air fighters. It will...

To conserve biodiversity and enhance socio-economic growth, governments of sub-Saharan Africa must consider a priority the management of their land resources, said environmental experts at the end of the 10th meeting of ministers of natural resources of East and Southern countries in Kigali on November 21 and 22. “The two-day ministerial conference provided a platform for engagement among...

State-owned Ethiopian Sugar Corporation should soon sell its 75% stake in the Beles sugar project, to Turkish company Bedisa Group, for $1 billion. Agreements related to the transaction should be signed by the end of the year, according to Binai Boran, Bedisa’s President. Located in the Amhara region, the Beles sugar project will require a $1.4 investment and will be developed in...

The Chairperson of the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC), Mustafa Sanallah (photo), has revealed that Libya’s oil production fell almost by 70 thousand barrels per day (bpd) due to electric and power issues. Sanallah had recently announced that an explosion, believed to be caused by an electric issue, occurred at the control room of the Laheeb oil field on Tuesday. According to Sanallah,...