Fighting food insecurity, Niger’s authorities announced they were in talks with Saudi firm Al Horaish for Trading & Industry regarding the sale of 120,000 hectares of agricultural lands situated in the Diffa region, in the eastern part of Niger. Disapproving the project, the civic society said it equals to grabbing agro-pastoral lands which happen to be vital to local communities. The...

On August 18, 2016, various non-government organizations for human rights defense, gathered for a press conference, accused the mining firm AngloGold Ashanti Goldfields Guinea (SAG in French) of land expropriation from the Siguiri prefecture, Upper Guinea. This was reported by news website Guinee58.com. The NGOs which include Same Right for All (Mêmes Droits pour Tous, MDT) blame the local...

The President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama (photo) has revealed that the Jubilee field together with the achievement of first oil at the Tweneboa, Enyenra, Ntomme (TEN) field, have made Ghana become the Petroleum and Energy hub in the West African sub-region. According to him, the TEN field will produce around 76,000 barrels of oil per day and 15 million standard cubic feet of gas. He added...

Sonangol has announced that it has postponed construction works at the Lobito Refinery and the Ocean Terminal at Barra do Dande in order to reexamine the project. According to the company, these projects are of great importance to the country but the suspension is necessary because of the problem facing Angola’s oil sector, which needs a full assessment of its development, phasing and...

Sterling Energy has announced that the operator of the Odewayne Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), Genel Energy, has been awarded 2 years extension to the current periods of the PSA by the Government of the Republic of Somaliland. Under the PSA, the third exploration period will now expire by November 2, 2018, fourth period (which is optional) will expire by May 2, 2020, fifth period (optional)...

BP plans to commence the Phase 1 of development on the northern Alexandria concession and West Mediterranean deep water by Q3 of 2017, with a production capacity of 450 million cubic feet of gas per day. According to a source from the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co (EGAS), the development project has an estimated $11.3b in investments and has been predicted to hold total reserves of 5,000...

In Egypt, Apache Corp., has revealed plans to invest more and sign new contracts for exploration in the country in the coming period. This the company revealed during a meeting with Egyptian Prime Minister, Sherif Ismail and the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El-Molla. Apache’s CEO, John Christmann (photo), said the company had been operating in Egypt’s research and...

Over the past 10 years, US-exports to Morocco have tripled in volume since 2006 when the two nations signed a free-trade agreement. This was revealed in a study conducted by the International Trade Administration (ITA), the US State department in charge of international trade. In fact, according to statistics from the institution, American exports amounted to $482 million from 2003 to 2005...

In Kidal, Mali, 1,500 homes have been provided solar kits, as part of a solar energy project funded by UN’s mission to Mali (MINUSMA). The implementation of this project for the electrification of rural areas was carried out by NGO AFORD (Association for Training, Research and Development). “Families that received the kits are extremely happy, not only because they were given light but also...

The US and Cote d’Ivoire reinforced their cooperation by signing a contract related to modern aviation. US ambassador to Cote d’Ivoire, Terence McCulley, and Ivorian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Albert Toikeuse Mabri signed on August 16, 2016, the “Open Skies” Agreement which aims to boost trade relations in commercial aviation between the two countries. The agreement which is...