According to World Bank, Sub Saharan Africa will record in 2016 a growth of 3.3%, slightly higher than previous year’s 3%. This is far from 6.8% recorded in 2013 and 2008. “Plunging prices of commodities, oil’s mainly, as well as weak global growth, in emerging economies especially are behind the lackluster performance,” the institution said in its statement. Asides oil producers that...

The Energy and Water Regulatory Authority (EWURA) in its recent publication has decrease the price of petrol and slightly increased that of diesel and kerosene. According to the Director General of EWURA, Felix Ngamlagosi, the retail prices for petrol has reduced by 4.57% while diesel and kerosene increased by 2.02%, and 2.45%, respectively. He stated that compared to the publication released...

The prices of crude oil on Tuesday rose beyond $43 a barrel, its peak level so far in 2016, driven by hopes that oil producers this weekend will arrive at a decision to ease the oversupply and a weak US dollar. Several members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) including non-members such as Russia are meeting in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday to agree on a production...

The declining prices of oil in the global market has been is a blessing to Tanzania, which saved $728.2 million on oil alone in one year. According to data from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) the amount spent on the importation of crude oil reduced by 20.7% at the end of the year. The country imported oil of about $3.525 billion during the year ending January 2015 but it reduced...

The Ministry of Petroleum on Tuesday promised to allow British Gas Group (BG), to export liquefied gas via the infrastructure of the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Petroleum Operations (ADCO), Energy Egypt reports. This is coming after BG a subsidiary of Shell, told the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) that works will restart on the 9B phase of the Burullus field if it was permitted...

The Egyptian Oil Ministry has revealed that the memorandum of understanding between Saudi Aramco and the country’s SUMED pipeline operator is able to transform the Sidi Kerir port on the Mediterranean coast into a regional center for the sale of Saudi crude to Europe. The agreement is to boost the capacity of Saudi oil transported via the SUMED pipeline from the Ain Sukhna terminal on Egypt's...

In an interview with African Manager, Nizar Bouguila, CEO of Tunisie Telecom, said Watani, a new mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), would soon enter Tunisia’s telecom market. The new operator, who has no frequency spectrum licence or network infrastructure, will sign an agreement with Tunisie Telecom to rent its radio network and market its services under its own brand. Watani which will...

ASX-listed diamond mining firm, Kimberley Diamonds started open-pit mining operations at its Lerala diamond mine in Botswana. The news was released as the firm projected first production and retrieval of first diamond for this month and sales in June. It said construction for its processing plant is progressing well despite recent delays caused by rains. The infrastructure was to be completed...

The Volta River Ahtority of Ghana (VRA) and China’ Shenzhen Energy Corporation (SEC) will develop a coal plant with a global capacity of 2,000 MW. Located in Ekumfi Aboano, the infrastructure will cost about $1.5 billion. Construction will start by Q2 2016 and will be funded by China-African Development Fund. Jacob Brown Yawson who is in charge of VRA’s technical services revealed...

Nigerian Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, confirmed news about Panda bonds mentioned by Reuters last month. He said his country, Africa’s top GDP ranked economy, plans to issue Panda bonds (issued and subscribed in Yuan Renminbi, China’s currency) to plug its budget deficit. “The opportunity now, with the renminbi being a reserve currency, we are looking obviously at the lowest cost of...