The Ghanaian Government has vowed to work towards ensuring that the dismissals by oil firms in the country which is caused by the drop in crude oil prices does not affect Ghanaian workers unjustifiably. According to the Petroleum Minister, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, although government acknowledges that these job reductions are required, caution should also be an important factor. “What...

At the end of 2014, the international debt of sub Saharan Africa (South Africa excluded) reached $402 billion, an update published by World Bank revealed. This volume exceeds that of Middle-east and Northern Africa ($187.8 billion) but is still lower than that of developing countries ($5,393 billion). Though making only 24.5% of national gross income, the sum, over the period considered,...

Mauritian state-owned firm, Air Mauritius announced published a release on February 11 stating it has generated €7.22 million pre-tax profits during the first nine months of the 2015-2016 fiscal year ending on March 31st, for a loss of €8.95 million over the same period the previous year. This performance is mainly due to the rebound in the firm’s activities during Q3 2015....

DRC has finally decided not to revise its 2002 mining code. The government made the announcement during the Mining Indaba Forum in Cape Town and directed toward the mining industry. The decision resulted from complaints regarding an increase of tax and royalties, adoption of tax on super profits, consolidation of tax base of mining companies and increasing royalty rates. Many changes that these...

Kenyan electricity exports to Tanzania and Uganda have almost doubled in 2015 compared to the year before. Indeed, the nation has sold the two countries 46.6 million kW in 2015 against 26.9 million kW in 2014, official statistics reveal. This was possible because of the entry into service of new geothermal power stations which added 280 MW to national grid during second half of 2014. Moreover,...

In Cote d’Ivoire, Marcel Dezogno, a journalist, was arrested and put in custody at the military prison of Abidjan on February 8, 2016. He was arrested for having his phone ring during a court audience at military tribunal of Abidjan in the framework of the case of murder of former president, the late Robert Guéi. Tribunal’s president, Tahirou Dembelé, said the journalist disturbed the...

In Tunisia, biologic agriculture is booming. Truly, land dedicated to bio-agriculture will rise to 400,000-500,000 ha this year from 100,000 ha the year before; as for output it should reach 265,000 tons per annum. The country, second in terms of land dedicated to bio-agriculture behind Uganda, export most of its output. Indeed, about 80% of bio-output in Tunisia is exported. Germany is the...

Nigerian Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun (photo), plans to travel to Beijin next week to negotiate a $2 billion loan from the Chinese import-export bank (Eximbank of China) after postponing plan to reach out to the Eurobond market, Reuters reports on February 11, citing official sources. “The finance minister, in the company of the central bank governor, is scheduled to be in China...

Zenith Bank UK, the British subsidiary of the Nigerian bank Zenith Bank Plc, officially landed at the Dubai International Financial Center, official sources told Ecofin. This initiative is part of the firm’s strategy to position itself on the international market and cover more customers. “Dubai is an important strategic market for Zenith Bank and our international customers based at DIFC....

The South African assets management firm Investec Asset Management just announced the closing of its new private equity fund directed towards sub Saharan Africa at $295 million. Named Investec Africa Private Equity Fund 2 (IAPEF), the fund targets investments ranging from $15 to $40 million, greater than closing of its predecessor, Investec Africa Private Equity Fund,...