Kenya Power (KPLC), Kenya’s power utility, received from the Standard Chartered Bank a Sh50 billion (around $500 million) funding which came in two tranches. The first, $346 million was guaranteed by the World Bank and is repayable over 10 years. The second, $149 million is repayable over 7 years. Each of these tranches has a 2-year grace period. Proceeds of these loans will be...

Communication satellite services provider Intelsat SA signed with Gondwana International Networks subsidiary AfricaOnline, a partnership agreement to provide broadband internet service across sub-Saharan Africa. While Intelsat will provide satellite services via its Intelsat 28 satellite, AfricaOnline will provide ground support and network management services from Hartebeesthoek in South...

Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) has announced that the Volta River Authority’s (VRA) debt for the supply of lean gas for power generation is currently more than $350 million. According to the Chief Executive Officer of GNGC, George Ajah-Sipa Yankey, as a result of the arrears, the company was unsuccessful in paying back the Chinese Development Bank loan facility it acquired for the...

Uganda is currently in negotiations with a consortium spearheaded by South Korea's SK Engineering regarding the development of a crude oil refinery in the country, with an investment of $4 billion.The group includes SK KBD Global Investment Partnership, Private Equity Fund, China State Construction Engineering Co-operation, Haldor Topsoe and Maestro Oil and Gas. This decision is coming...

Egypt’s Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) has completed the drilling of the fourth well in Zohr gas field in Mediterranean Sea, the Company’s Chairman revealed. According to Mohamed El Masry, EGAS is dedicated to the drilling schedule of Eni. He added that the conclusion of drilling works at the fourth well will fast track the coming on stream of the Zohr gas field in 2017 with a capacity...

Egyptian Petroleum Minister, Tarek El-Molla (photo), has announced that the country has reduced the debts owed to International oil companies (IOCs) from the $3.5 billion in 2014 to $3.4 billion in 2015/16. The Minister also announced that Egypt took delivery of crude oil and natural gas from the foreign partners worth $5.4 billion during 2015/16. He said Egypt paid the...

In Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari has restructured the board of directors for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). According to a statement issued by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, Maikanti Kacalla Baru (photo) will replace Emmanuel Kachikwu as the new Group Managing Director of NNPC while the latter will remain on the board as...

In Mali, telecom operator Orange just reinforced its farmers-focused added value services offer. After launching in July 2013 Sénèkela, a phone support service related to agriculture which provides prices of commodities in agricultural markets, the operator now launched “Sandji”. Another service which is as useful as the former and which provides people from rural zones rain forecasts for...

LSE-listed miner, Petra Diamonds sold the 121.26ct white diamond that it recently discovered at its Cullinan mine in South Africa, for $6 million. The stone, with exceptional clarity, was sold in Johannesburg during the company’s sales session held in June. It was bought by a joint-venture comprised of Nemesis International and Golden Yellow Diamonds. Last month, the firm sold its...

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu started today a four-day tour in Africa to find new commercial partners. Uganda is the Prime Minister’s first destination in Africa since 1994 when Yitzhak Rabin was in Casablanca. There, Mr. Netanyahu will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Entebbe raid in which his older brother, the Colonel Jonathan Netanyahu, lost his life. At the time,...