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15 Apr 2019

Africa

Financial scheme launched in response to urbanisation in Africa

Offering support to governments and responding to the rapid growth of urbanisation, the African Development Bank launched the Urban and Municipal Development Fund (UMDF). Senior bank officials at the launch described it as a timely response to the challenges of rapid urbanisation in Africa and the strong need for integrated city planning expertise. The fund will focus on areas identified as being detrimental to accessing finance, the main ones being the preparation, management and implementation of bankable projects by municipalities, updates to master plans, the review of the regulatory environment to facilitate access to market financing and the use of tools to manage and deliver municipal services.

Source: ESI Africa

Africa

AfDB Board approves USD4.8-million grant to accelerate African free trade

The Board of the African Development Bank has approved an institutional support grant of USD4.8-million to the African Union (AU) to accelerate the momentum of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA), which received its 22nd ratification on 2 April, bringing the agreement into force. The AfCFTA is a major force for continental integration. It will expand intra-African trade by up to USD35-billion per year and usher in freedom of movement for goods, services and people across the continent’s internal borders, with a regime of reduced tariffs and non-tariff barriers to cut the cost of doing business on the continent. It will also boost agriculture and industrial exports by up to USD66-billion per year.

Source: Africa Business Communities

Angola

US Exim Bank, Angola sign MoU to increase trade

Export-Import Bank of the United States, EXIM, has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Finance of the government of Angola to increase trade of goods and services between the United States and Angola. Under the MOU, EXIM and the Angolan Ministry of Finance agreed to exchange information on business opportunities to further the procurement of U.S. goods and services by both state-owned and private-sector small and medium-sized businesses in Angola. Sectors for business development include energy, oil and gas development, infrastructure, railway and road transportation, supply chain infrastructure, environmental projects, agriculture, health care, water and sanitation, and telecommunications.

Source: Africa Business Communities

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso signs MoU with IPPs for 155MW solar power plants

Burkinabe government has signed an agreement with private power producers (IPPs) to develop six solar power plants to increase the rate of access to electricity in the West African Sahel nation. The plant will supply a total of 155 MW according to the Minister of Energy, Bachir Ismaël Ouédraogo, who signed several agreements with private power producers in Ouagadougou. He said a power purchase agreement (PPA) has already been negotiated with the Burkinabé National Electricity Company (Sonabel), the company in charge of the transmission and distribution of electricity in Burkina Faso. It will buy the electricity produced by the IPPs over a 25-year period at a price of USD0.09 per kW/h.

Source: Energy Mix Report

Democratic Republic of Congo

Ivanhoe Mines committed to developing DRC’s mineral potential

Ivanhoe Mines has expressed strong support for the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) aims to attract foreign investment and to accelerate the development of its mineral potential for the benefit of all stakeholders. Discussions were focused on updating the president on the rapid progress being made in the development of the Kamoa-Kakula Project, a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines, Zijin Mining Group and the DRC government, and the Kipushi Project, a joint venture between Ivanhoe and La Générale des Carrières et des Mines (Gécamines), the DRC state-owned mining company. The Kipushi Project will benefit from similar support and propel the DRC to become a significant zinc producer as well.

Source: Mining Review Africa

Gabon

CGG completes 2D multi-client seismic survey offshore Gabon

Acquisition of CGG’s 9,800km long-offset broadband 2D multi-client seismic survey in the highly prospective Gabon South Basin has been completed. Fast-track data sets will be delivered in batches from the end of April, giving interested oil companies sufficient time to understand offshore petroleum systems and appraise blocks offered in Gabon’s 12th offshore licensing round planned for September 2019. This modern data set will help define the full extent of existing and new plays in the region. It will also aid in understanding the thickness variations in the sediment overburden for source rock and maturity analysis.

Source: Energy Mix Report

Ghana

Aker Energy announces USD4.5-million capacity-building support in Ghana

Aker Energy, the operator of the Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points (DWT/CTP) block, has pledged USD4.5-million in support for the Accelerated Oil and Gas Capacity-Building (AOGC) programme in Ghana. The programme is designed to enhance the competencies and expertise of Ghanaians in the oil and gas sector. Established in November 2017, the AOGC programme is the latest phase of several capacity-building initiatives in Ghana. The Petroleum Commission-led programme, set to run for five years, seeks to train individuals in various vocational and technical areas, as well as to build the capacity of educational institutions to be able to train students and award internationally recognised training certificates.

Source: Africa Business Communities

Ivory Coast

Perseus secures USD150-million for Yaouré

ASX/TSX-listed Perseus Mining has accepted offers from three leading international banks to provide USD150-million for funding its Yaouré gold mine in Côte d’Ivoire. Perseus Mining’s CEO and MD Jeff Quartermaine says: “The agreement on the terms of the debt facility with our banking syndicate was a critical step that needed to be completed to enable the development of the Yaouré Gold Mine. “Perseus acquired Amara Mining in April 2016 with the specific objective of developing the Yaouré, which was then considered one of the best undeveloped gold resources in West Africa. With our international banking syndicate agreeing to provide debt finance, we have put in place the final piece of the funding plan required to deliver our original vision,” he noted.

Source: Mining Review Africa

Kenya

Devenish invests USD2.25-million in Sidai Africa

Global agri-technology company, Devenish, has announced a USD2.25-million investment in Kenyan company, Sidai Africa Ltd. Sidai Africa Ltd supplies crop and livestock services to farmers throughout Kenya with a unique ‘last-mile’ delivery service model which enables the company to reach some of the country’s most remote areas. By improving access to livestock products and services, Sidai helps farmers keep their herds healthy, which Devenish said helps increase income and financial security. Devenish said its investment will enable Sidai to further expand its distribution network, launch new products and reach even more farmers across Kenya.

Source: Africa Business Communities

Mozambique/Lesotho

Mozambique’s EDM renews electricity contract with Lesotho

Mozambique’s publicly owned electricity company, EDM, renewed its contract to sell power to the Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC). The contract is for a year, renewable. EDM will earn USD7.2-million through the supply of 35MW, which is 20% of Lesotho’s total electricity consumption. Announcing the agreement in Maputo, the EDM chairperson, Ali Sicola, said that Mozambique, through EDM, has had a contract to sell power to Lesotho since 2008. “We are renewing this contract”, he said. “It can be renewed after a year if both parties think that the business should continue”. Mozambique’s responsibility, he added, is to transmit the electricity to the border with South Africa. It would then use the existing power lines inside South Africa for transmission to Lesotho.

Source: Energy Mix Report

Mozambique/Malawi

Malawi, Mozambique sign agreement on power interconnection

In a bid to address chronic blackouts hitting the country, Malawi has signed technical and commercial agreements with Mozambique for the sharing of power. Speaking during the signing ceremony held at Bingu International Convention Center-BICC in Lilongwe, Malawian Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Aggrey Masi said the project is crucial because the country’s current power source encounters a lot of challenges which have resulted in failure to provide sufficient power supply to citizens. He added that climate change has negatively impacted levels of water which has affected the reliability of power supply in Malawi.

Source: Club of Mozambique

Namibia

Namibia becomes first African country to export beef to China

Namibia transported the first 21 tonnes of beef to China the world’s largest consumer market, New Era Live reported. The country became the first African nation to export beef to People’s Republic of China and this could be an important market for Namibia as it imports 6.5 million tonnes of beef, 250,000 tonnes of mutton, 2.3 million tonnes of pork and 1.7 million tonnes of chicken per annum. In 2016, Namibia and China signed a milestone agreement that would see A-grade beef enter the massive Asian market, making it the only country in Africa to export beef to that country.

Source: African Daily Voice

Nigeria

Seplat and NNPC to raise USD700-million for gas plant

Seplat Petroleum Development Co. and Nigeria’s state oil company will raise USD700-million for a joint gas project scheduled to start production next year as the government steps up plans to reduce the country’s reliance on oil. The project, known as Assa North-Ohaji South, is one of seven to boost gas production and infrastructure development in the West African nation. ANOH Gas Processing Co., which is owned by Seplat and the Nigerian Gas Co., a unit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., will develop, build and operate the plant in southeastern Imo State. Seplat and Nigerian Gas will provide 60% of the funds as equity, while ANOH will source the balance as debt.

Source: Energy Mix Report

Nigeria

AfDB approves USD15-million investment package for Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company

The Board of the African Development Bank has approved a USD15-million investment package to Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit), to support infrastructure financing through the domestic debt capital markets in Nigeria. The investment package to InfraCredit is comprised of a subordinated loan of USD10-million and a risk sharing facility of up to USD5-million. This intervention will promote local currency infrastructure financing, and further development of the domestic capital market. The African Development Bank's investment in InfraCredit will catalyse local institutional investor funds, including pension funds, into financing long-term infrastructure projects through the local bond markets.

Source: Africa Business Communities

Tanzania

Walkabout secures second binding offtake deal

ASX-listed Walkabout Resources has executed a second binding offtake agreement to supply premium graphite from the Lindi Jumbo project in Tanzania, to a Chinese graphite products manufacturer. The offtake agreement has been signed with Qingdao Risingdawn Graphite Technology Co. Walkabout Resources announced the signing of a binding offtake term sheet with Chinese expandable graphite producer, Inner Mongolia Qianxin Graphite (IMQG) – securing the sale of a minimum of 10 000 tpa and a maximum of 20 000 tpa of flake graphite to IMQG for a period of three years following the commencement of production from Lindi Jumbo. A total of 75% of annual production sales from Lindi Jumbo has now been secured for the first three years.

Source: Mining Review Africa

Uganda

Ugandan Government to open second round of oil licensing

A new round of competitive bidding for oil exploration licenses for the Albertine Graben is slated for early next month. Energy and Mineral Development Minister, Ms Irene Muloni said seven new exploration blocks will be open for bidding during the second week of May. It is the second time that Uganda is offering oil exploration deals under open bidding. The last round of bidding saw Armour Energy from Australia and Oranto Petroleum from Nigeria emerge as the best bidders. Government signed deals with the companies worth more than Shs7-billion. The minimum requirements for bidders have not yet been stipulated by the ministry but will be revealed at the conference, Ms Muloni said.

Source: Energy Mix Report

Zambia

Globeleq and Aurora Power Solutions awarded solar PV projects in Zambia

Globeleq, and SOLA Group’s Aurora Power Solutions, have been awarded two 20 MWACsolar PV IPP power projects in Zambia. The projects are part of Zambia’s GET FiT Programme, designed to assist the government to provide increased access to low cost, reliable and clean power, and diversifying the generation mix. It also encourages private sector participation using a range of experienced developers, while boosting institutional capabilities for renewable energy IPPs to operate in Zambia. The Globeleq and SOLA consortium was selected as one of 10 consortiums to submit two project proposals after an initial qualification stage. The competitive pricing of the awarded projects shows the affordability of solar PV as an energy source.

Source: Energy Mix Report

Zimbabwe

Invictus Energy receives seismic data for Cabora Bassa project in Zimbabwe

Invictus Energy has received the final processed seismic data from the processing contractor for its Cabora Bassa Project. The highlights include Final reprocessed 2D seismic dataset received, data quality is excellent, improving definition over the Giant Mzarabani Prospect and basin margin fault, new Basin Margin opportunities now evident on reprocessed seismic data, and Analogous to ‘String of Pearls’ discoveries in East Africa Rift System. The Cabora Bassa Project encompasses the Mzarabani Prospect, a multi-TCFconventional gas-condensate target which is potentially the largest, undrilled seismically defined structure onshore Africa.

Source: Energy Mix Report

Zimbabwe

Econet unveils largest industrial solar plant in Zimbabwe

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe launched the first industrial solar plant in the country at its Willowvale complex in Harare, as the company moves towards clean and reliable energy. The 466 KW solar plant will operate under a 25 year Independent Power Producer (IPP) License which will enable the company to self-consume energy for its internal operations, including at its base stations. Zimbabwe has liberalised the energy industry but participation by the private sector remains subdued owing to capital constraints. Reliable and clean energy alternatives offers a window of opportunity for companies to utilise at a time business in the country is being hampered by constant power cuts.

Source: Energy Mix Report