The presidential and legislative elections in Burkina Faso, initially scheduled for 11 October but postponed as a result of a failed coup d'état, will be held on 29 November, two candidates in this election announced on 13 October at the conclusion of consultation between all the actors of the transition. "29 November has been chosen by all the actors involved in the political arena for the...

FAR Limited and its JV Partners Cairn Energy, ConocoPhillips and Petrosen are to use the Ocean Rig Athena drillship to drill FAR’s prospective Offshore Senegal Blocks which is to start next week. The drillship which is in Angola is expected to start preparing to move to Senegal in few days. FAR’s drilling program to be managed by ConocoPhillips, comprises three wells including two...

The Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury Henry Rotich has de-emphasized concerns over Kenya losing the Hoima-Lokichar-Lamu crude oil pipeline deal with Uganda. This was subsequent to reports that Uganda had signed an agreement with Tanzania to examine options for a pipeline from Hoima to Tanga Port of Tanzania. The president of the two countries had met In August and had agreed on the...

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced that it will reopen the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) on Thursday, Reuters reports. Kachikwu had during his official visit to the refinery on the 3rd of September announced that the refinery stopped production temporarily due to lack of maintenance. Emmanuel Kachikwu today also revealed to the parliament that the...

With a total amount of $18.3 billion, France was the leading country for foreign direct investment in Africa in 2014, we learn from from a report published annually on the issue by the Financial Times. This amount represents 21% of the $83 billion injected into countries in the region by non-resident investors, whether they are African or not. As surprising as this may seem, Greece in...

On the fringes of the World Post Day which was celebrated on 9 October 2015, Moez Chakchouk, CEO of the Tunisia Post Office, revealed big changes scheduled for this sector by end 2015. First of all, approximately 120 post office branches will be linked to internet through optic fibre. The subscribers to the post office will then be able to access many services on internet such as package updates,...

Circle Oil plc, has carried out a test on a flow of 8 million standard cubic feet of gas on the primary Main Hoot target of the exploration well Ksiri West-a (KSR-A) on the onshore Sebou permit. The British oil and gas company announced the result in an update, on 13 October, on this well in which prospective areas for gas have been identified. Main Hoot was perforated in the interval between...

The European Union (EU) and Tunisia have officially begun, on 13 October, negotiations on a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement (ALECA). The launch of the negotiations between the two parties, linked since 1995 by an association agreement, was attended by the European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström, who is visiting Tunis, and the Tunisian minister of Trade, Ridha Lahouel. 70%...

In Algeria, the sugar monopoly could soon be a thing of the past. According to Bakhti Belaib, minister of Agriculture, the start of new refineries would provide a means to reach the end of Issad Rebrab's private monopoly. The minister who was visiting the "big Oran sugar plant" of the Berrahal group, indicated that the country would soon welcome 4 refineries and that 6 Algerian investors would...

Pharaonic Petroleum Company S.A.E has awarded Subsea 7, a subsidiary of Subsea 7S.A a project (worth between $50 million and $150 million) to develop the East Nile Delta Phase 3 Project (END-3) offshore Egypt. END-3 which is to be at a depth of approximately 80 to 90 metres, entails engineering, procurement and fabrication of stiff spools, installation of 8 km of umbilical and subsea...