South African wine output is set to drop by 15% to 9.48 million hectoliters this year. This situation is due to drought that has been hitting the Western Cape, Bloomberg reports. According to VinPro (an association of 2,500 wine producers), although this drop in production could raise wine price by 8-11% on the domestic market, the warm temperatures would help boost wine quality....

On 9 May 2018, the Ivorian Council of Ministers approved a CFA27.4 billion loan agreement granted by the International Development Association (IDA). The amount will be used to finance the rural land tenure national program, Agence Ivoirienne de Presse (AIP) reports. “This highly anticipated project strengthens institutional capacity required to support and implement the national program...

Randgold Resources rescinded the joint venture agreement clinched with Cradle Arc on Kossanto West gold project in Mali. The information was unveiled yesterday May 9 by Cradle Arc. By withdrawing, Randgold transfers its 65% interest in the project to Cradle Arc which now becomes the only shareholder. “Randgold has been an excellent JV partner to Cradle Arc over the past two years and...

Rwandan capital Kigali will host the 8th edition of the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) next September 3 to 7. This event will focus on ways to achieve development targets, taking full advantage of small-scale agriculture and agribusiness. It will gather nearly 2,000 delegations including financial institutions, civil society leaders, businesses and administrators. For the record, during...

In Burkina Faso, cotton producers expect to achieve a record production of 836, 000 tons at the end of the 2018-19 season. With this step the country hopes to reposition itself as the African leading cotton producer after being overrun by Mali this season. “We can’t let it go this way. We refuse to be fall to the second place,” Tahirou Fofana, a producer, told RFI. In this...

Angolan national airline TAAG, seeks a $ 952 million recapitalization from the government to repay part of its debt, the company’s Board chairman José Kuvindua said last May8. According to his comments relayed by Macauhub, the outstanding debt amounts to $ 1.063 billion. Furthermore, in order to enable the company to continue operation and facilitate its expansion program,...

Triton Minerals announced yesterday May 8, it has concluded with the Chinese company Chengyang, a binding agreement to supply a part of the graphite concentrate produced at its Ancuabe mine in Mozambique. This agreement is the company’s second of the sort, the one signed with Tianshengda being the first. Under the agreed terms, Triton will annually deliver Chengyang up to 16,000 tons...

Mauritania will provide Mali with 40-50 MW to help the country reduce its power deficit. This was revealed by the Mauritanian Prime Minister Yahya ould Hademine, at the end of a meeting with the Malian delegation. “President Mohamed ould Abdel Aziz gave strict instructions for all measures to be taken to meet Mali’s demand,” the official said. According to the Mauritanian...

African Guarantee Fund plans to boost its capital by fivefold to $500 million by 2021. This was reported today May 9 by Reuters which quoted a senior official of the fund whose goal is to help African SMEs secure financing. “We are in the middle of a fundraising campaign to boost the fund’s capital five-fold to half a billion dollars by 2021,” Adidja Zanouvi, the fund’s...

During the 2018-19 season, the global sugar market will record highest level of surplus since 2006-07. According to analyst Global Platts/ Kingsman, this surplus will be 12.59 million tons, up from the 11.46 million tons achieved the previous season. The oversupply will mainly be driven by India which is expected to hit a record production level during the period under review. Moreover,...