BUSINESS - The African Mirror

Jun

21

2024

China’s Tsingshan $1 bln steel plant in Zimbabwe starts production

BUSINESS

CHINA'S nickel giant Tsingshan Holding Group has started production at its $1 billion steel plant in central Zimbabwe, a company official said. Tsingshan's Dinson Iron and Steel Company will produce 600,000 metric tons of carbon steel annually during the first phase of its operations, project director Wilfred Motsi told reporters during a tour of the plant. "We have started to produce pig iron, which is a raw material used for the production of steel. By July, that's when we will start to produce the actual carbon steel," Motsi said. He did not say how long the first phase would last.…

Jun

21

2024

By ISAAC ANYAOGU

Nigeria oil licence auction attracts huge interest, regulator says

BUSINESS

NIGERIA is expanding the number of oil blocks slated for auction in its 2024 licensing round as well as extending the deadline for ending the exercise amid keen interest in the offer, the oil regulator told Reuters. Nigeria opened a licensing round in April offering a total of 19 onshore and deepwater oil blocks to investors. This has now been expanded to include an additional 17 deep offshore blocks in the 2024 licensing round. "We have undertaken more exploratory activities and as a result acquired more data to expand the offer and extend the deadline. This has given rise to tremendous interest…

Jun

21

2024

By The African Mirror

Worldcoin to resume Kenya operations after police drop investigation

BUSINESS

KENYAN police have dropped an investigation into allegations that Worldcoin had illegally collected and transferred users' personal data, according to a police document, paving the way for the cryptocurrency project to resume its operations. Authorities suspended Worldcoin in August last year, following privacy objections over its scanning of users' irises in exchange for a digital ID to create a new "identity and financial network". Worldcoin is being rolled out by Tools for Humanity, a company co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Its website says it has signed up 5.7 million users across more than 160 countries. "Upon review of the…

Jun

20

2024

By ISAAC ANYAOGU

TotalEnergies, NNPC to invest $550 mln in Nigeria gas facility, source says

BUSINESS

NIGERIA'S state oil firm NNPC Ltd and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) will invest $550 million to develop a gas processing facility in southern Rivers state to boost exports and domestic supplies, an NNPC source said. The investment would include a gas processing plant and a pipeline, said the source who is privy to the agreement but could not be named as they were not authorised to speak on the issue. Total declined to comment. The NNPC source said an announcement would be made this week. The gas processing facility will be built on the Ubeta onshore gas field, jointly owned by Total and NNPC,…

Jun

20

2024

By PRITISH BEHURIA

Mauritius’ next growth phase: a new plan is needed as the tax haven era fades

BUSINESS

MAURITIANS will head to the polls by November 2024 and politicians are considering the economic direction of the island country. For the last two decades, the country’s economic growth has depended heavily on its offshore sector – the provision of financial services by banks to foreign firms. As an isolated country located in the southwestern Indian Ocean, Mauritius has linked itself to global financial sectors by easing the flow of capital into and out of its economy. It has signed double taxation avoidance agreements with other countries, and its capital gains taxes are attractively low. Through double taxation avoidance agreements,…

Jun

20

2024

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast expects threefold oil output increase by 2027

BUSINESS

IVORY Coast expects a more than threefold increase to its oil output by 2027, boosted by recent oil and gas discoveries at the West African nation's Baleine and Calao offshore fields, President Alassane Ouattara said on Tuesday. The world's top cocoa-producing nation is hoping to become a major regional oil and gas producer and regional energy hub. Ouattara told a joint session of parliament that more than $15 billion is expected to be invested in the country's oil sector, adding that output would grow to about 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 60,000 bpd by 2027. "It will be a…

Jun

19

2024

By The African Mirror

South African assets soar after unity government confirmed, Fed talks ahead

BUSINESS

SOUTH African assets gained, building on momentum after unity government members were confirmed last week and ahead of talks by U.S. Federal Reserve officials later in the day. South Africa's National Assembly sat for the first time on Friday after last month's election, where Cyril Ramaphosa of the African National Congress was re-elected as president. Ramaphosa's swearing-in will take place on Wednesday. At 1511 GMT, the rand traded at 18.09 against the dollar, about 9% stronger than its previous close. "The domestic currency saw volatility around South Africa's elections on investor uncertainty but has now strengthened ... as the establishment…

Jun

18

2024

By CONRAD ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Africa plays big in a list of top global startup ‘ecosystem contenders’

BUSINESS

AFRICA has the potential to almost double its representation in a prestigious ranking of the world's top 100 startup hubs as cities from its unranked countries control the list of top contenders to watch out for, according to a global index. Currently, only 13 African countries feature in Startup Blink’s Startup Ecosystem Report 2024, in a list that features South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Kenya as Africa’s "big four" tech startup hubs. Over the next year, the index has listed Seychelles, Ethiopia, and Angola among the 12 top contenders with the highest chances of making a debut in the prestigious…

Jun

17

2024

By EMMANUEL AMEYAW

Ghana’s economic crisis was caused by government borrowing – the central bank did the best it could: economist

BUSINESS

GHANA is going through its worst economic crisis in a generation. The past two years have seen record-high inflation in the country. Ghana’s central bank (the Bank of Ghana) has been criticised in some quarters for its role in the country’s economic malaise, which has hit the profitability of Ghanaian banks. The Conversation Africa’s Godfred Akoto Boafo speaks to economist Emmanuel Ameyaw about monetary policy decisions made by the central bank during this period. What was the Bank of Ghana’s role in the inflation rate crisis? In 2002, Ghana’s parliament enacted the Bank of Ghana Act 612, Section 33(2), granting…

Jun

16

2024

By ELISHA BALA-GBOGBO

Nigerian inflation rises in May to new 28-year high

BUSINESS

NIGERIA'S annual inflation (NGCPIY=ECI) rose to a new 28-year high of 33.95% in May, official data showed, worsening hardships that have fuelled public anger against President Bola Tinubu's economic reforms. It was the 18th straight month that inflation has risen, up from 33.69% a month earlier. Price pressures have been spurred by Tinubu's reforms, chiefly slashing petrol and electricity subsidies and devaluing the naira currency twice within a year. Labour unions, which suspended a strike called to demand a new minimum wage, have argued that the reforms hurt the poor and have left millions grappling with the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades. Data published by…