Attacks by militants on oil installations reduced Nigeria’s production by 10%, last month, thereby causing a decline in the monthly production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Bloomberg reports. Nigeria’s output dropped by 160,000 bpd to 1.45 million while OPEC’s overall crude output dropped to 32.71 million bpd in May, from 32.83 million in April. The...

Petromin Corporation has announced that it intends to invest $28 million in the Egyptian market, to increase its network of fuel stations and service centers as well as build a pioneering lubricants blending plant.The Saudi Arabia’s leading lubricants and automotive services company, is estimating to establish 1,000 new jobs in Egypt by 2020. In the past one year and half, Petromin has...

Private wealth in the Africa-Middle East region has increased by 2.7% in 2015 to $8 trillion according to the “Global Wealth 2016” report published on June 7 by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), an American strategy consulting firm. Private wealth which includes all financial assets of households, property excluded, thus grew relatively less than in 2014 (3.8%) as commodity prices plunged...

Malawi will be driven to take drastic measures to avoid suffering famine as it is currently stricken by drought. In fact, due to drought, the country which used to export grains is now forced to import a million ton of maize (ten times more than usual) to satisfy local demand. In the country, the recent harvest represents 40% of the previous one. It thus has to turn to the international market...

Reserve currency has decreased by $6.1 billion over the first five months of 2016 to $136.9 billion, Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal announced on June 5. . After rising steadily since 2006, the reserve currency of the northern African country has been slumping continually since 2014 as a result of a fall in the prices of oil and gas and imports soaring sharply. Oil and gas...

Miner West African Resources announced that it has completed fundraising (announced last A pril) of $12.5 million to finance an intensive drilling program at the Mankarga-1 prospect of its Tanlouka gold project, in Burkina Faso. To raise this sum, the firm placed 70,200,000 ordinary shares at $0.125 a share to both local and international investors. The intensive drilling program...

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the government has awarded to a Chinese consortium Busanga’s 240 MW hydropower project. Though it was not revealed, the project could cost $660 million according to what the China-Congo cooperation said last year. Construction is expected to last 5 years. The power generated by the plant will be mostly sent to the China-Congo mining company...

The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) said it needs $100 million to implement close to 138 new electrification projects in the country. These projects, according to Zesa’s spokesperson, Fulard Gwasira, will lead to 102,000 people being added to the national power grid. “The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) is looking at increasing revenue...

Mining firm Hummingbird Resources raised a total of $67 million to begin construction of its Yanfolia gold mine. The firm will use the money to complete detailed technical studies and order long-lead delivery equipment for the construction. The firm raised this sum by placing 103.69 million shares and subscribing to 104,690,000 shares at 22p a share. Moreover, Hummingbird mentioned a...

Qatar Airways plans to buy between 25 and 49% of Royal Air Maroc (RAM) as it wishes to expand in Africa, The National reported on June 5, citing one of the firm’s executive. “The acquisition will require a significant improvement to the airline’s Casablanca base as Africa is in a great need for a major airport hub in the continent,” said Akbar Al Baker, CEO Qatar Airways. According to...