During the sixth edition of the Tokyo International Conference for Africa’s Development (TICAD VI) recently held in Nairobi, Kenya, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the government of Japan signed a $3 billion agreement to boost growth in private sector and reduce poverty in Africa, over three years. The agreement which falls under the third phase of the Enhanced Private Sector...

Each year, sub Saharan Africa loses nearly $95 billion average because of gender inequality, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) revealed in a report published on August 28. “In itself, gender equality is a good thing really, but often, it’s only when money is mentioned that people say things like ‘oh my God, there will be consequences if we don’t do anything’,” said...

Preferring to borrow from the regional market as cost of international loans soared amid global strengthening of US dollar, Cote d’Ivoire has decided to issue no new Eurobond, Bloomberg reported on August 29, citing official sources. “We are planning on issuing FCFA550 billion ($938 million) on the regional market before the end of the year, in addition to the FCFA150 billion sukkuk issued...

Balaeim Petroleum Co. (Petrobel) has announced that it invested $948 million in oil and gas exploration, development and operations in Egypt during the 2015/16 financial year. According to Petrobel Chairperson, Atef Hassan, $426 million out of the $948 million-executed investments were injected into wells development works. He added that the company is always eager to increase...

Simba Energy’s exploration activities at Block 2A in Wajir County in Kenya, is currently at a standstill as locals have destroyed part of the working equipment being at the site while protesting against the ongoing work by the Company. According to the Company's Director, James Jenkins, they had suffered huge losses due to the conflict between Simba and members of the community.He said that...

In Kenya, the Lamu county and the National Land Commission clashed over a wind park project planned in the region. The clash results from both institutions approving the allocation of a 11,000 acres plot in the region to two distinct energy developers. While the county gave the permission to US company Cordisons International to build a 100 MW park, NLC gave its’ to Belgian Electrowind (which...

As part of a workshop launched on August 25, 2016 in Anosy, in the South-eastern part of Madagascar, technicians from the General Directorate of land services are offering a training session of procedures related to land for Malagasy lawyers. About a hundred members of Madagascar’s Lawyers Order working in the Analamanga region are taking part to the session. According to a statement relayed...

Angolan state oil company, Sonangol, has announced that Block 15’s output has reached 2 billion barrels ever since it began production in 2003, making it one of the most successful offshore oil concessions in West Africa.The block’s production is currently at about 320,000 barrels of oil per day. “Achieving these significant numbers is the result of seventeen commercial discoveries, which...

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has expressed its readiness to negotiate with other three countries sharing the Lake Tanganyika in order to discuss the methods of extracting oil and natural gas in the lake. This is a new development as Tanzania and DRC have been in disagreement over the proposal for both countries to issue a combined exploration licence for the lake. The two countries in...

Earnings from members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are expected to fall to $341 billion in 2016, according to U.S Energy Information Administration (EIA)’s price forecasts.The 14-member cartels’ net export revenue in 2015 was at $404 billion, a 46% decline from $753 billion earned in 2014 and is still expected to increase to $427 billion in...