African Development Bank (AfDB) just committed to providing a $549 million credit line to 14 countries from Eastern and Southern Africa. The grant will be used to effectively fight El Niño-induced drought. Clearly put, the funding will impact 36 million people who need food assistance. Out of the $549 million grant, $5 million will be invested in emergency aid while $361...

Kenya Airways will cut about 600 jobs as part of its restructuration plan to restart making profit, the company said in a statement published on March 31. “We will embark on a restructuring process that will result in approximately 600 members of staff being declared redundant or redeployed elsewhere,” the company said. The company currently employs about 4,000 people according to its...

Airtel started building a $10 million data center in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital city. According to Dapo Olasope, director general of the telecom firm, the infrastructure, for which first plans were developed in June 2014, aims at improving quality of communication provided to consumers. The Airtel data center is an extension of its network infrastructure to bring it to the same...

The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) on Monday announced that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will be allocated 41.73% for the supply of petrol in Q2 of 2016. Lanre Oladele (photo), the Head of Corporate Services in a statement, said that NNPC has 41.73% of the overall allocation, while the remaining Oil Marketing Companies has 58.27%. The statement said...

Kosmos Energy has obtained majority rights to one of the oil blocks in Sao Tome and Principe's exclusive economic zone. The company, secured a 65% interest in Block 12, while the remaining interests on the block are owned by Sao Tome and Principe's National Petroleum Agency and Equator Exploration. Kosmos’ acquisition of a 65% interest signifies that the company now has interests in four of...

Tullow Oil has prolonged the adjournment of oil and gas production at its Jubilee field in Ghana and anticipated exports to resume this week. According to the company, all prearranged maintenance which began in March 20, are expected to be concluded by April 5. Hence, oil and gas exports from the field will resume on April 9 as soon as new offloading measures has been put in place at the...

In its recent forecast, global network Carat, space purchase and media counseling specialist, confirmed trends given by ZenithOptimedia, Publicis’ media agency. Carat is owned by Dentsu, Japanese advertising firm, and Aegis Group, British advertising and market studies group. Carat increased its ad-spend forecast by 4.5% to $538 billion in 2016 compared to the previous year. Two weeks...

In a statement published on March 31, International Monetary Fund (IMF) scaled down Nigeria’s growth forecast for 2016 to 2.3%, from 3.2% last February amid oil price slump. In 2015, Africa’s top oil producer recorded an economic growth of 2.7%. “Key risks to the outlook include lower oil prices, shortfalls in non-oil revenues, a further deterioration in finances of state and local...

Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta said about 1.2 million Kenyans were added to the national grid. In his State of The Nation Address, he said it was possible by adding new capacities. “This has enabled us to connect many more Kenyans to the national grid. In the last 12 months, we have connected an additional 1.2 million Kenyans to electricity in their homes and places of work,” he said....

In a statement published on March 31, African Development Bank (AfDB) said it granted Kenya a credit line of $228 million to rehabilitate 172km of road between Ahera (South-East of Lake Victoria) and Isebania, near the Tanzanian border. The project will help ease trade between Kenya and Tanzania, and reinforce the Sirrari corridor which links South Sudan to Tanzania, via Kenya. Once the...