BUSINESS - The African Mirror

Jan

20

2024

Nigeria set to approve Shell’s oil asset sale

BUSINESS

NIGERIA backs Shell's decision to sell its onshore oil and gas assets, its junior oil minister said, and will give the necessary regulatory approval. Shell announced its exit from Nigeria's onshore and shallow water operations after agreeing to sell the business to a consortium of five mostly local companies, opting to focus future investments in the less troubled deep offshore fields. Heineken Lokpobiri, Nigeria's minister of state for petroleum, who spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said the government will not impede legitimate business transactions and reaffirmed its commitment to "fostering a business-friendly environment" in the sector. In a statement,…

Jan

19

2024

By JESLYN LERH, WENDELL ROELF and ROBERT HARVEY

Red Sea ship diversions boost bunker demand, prices in Africa, Mediterranean

BUSINESS

THE re-routing of a growing number of ships around Africa to avoid potential attacks in the Red Sea is altering refuelling patterns and boosting demand for bunker fuel at far-flung ports, from Mauritius to South Africa to the Canary Islands. Ships are also expected to top up more at Singapore and Rotterdam, the two busiest bunkering ports and where fuel is competitively priced, as they try to hedge against uncertainty over route changes, traders and analysts said. Attacks by Yemen's Houthi militia on merchant ships in the Red Sea and retaliatory U.S. strikes have ratcheted up tensions in the Middle East as the…

Jan

19

2024

By DUNCAN MIRIRI

Kenya to go to international bond market soon as conditions allow

BUSINESS

KENYA intends to go to international bond markets as soon as the market situation allows, its finance minister and central bank governor said in a letter to the International Monetary Fund published. The East African nation has been on the radar of foreign investors in recent months due to a $2 billion Eurobond that is maturing this June amid a drop in hard currency reserves, a steep weakening of the currency, and revenue challenges. Separately, the head of an IMF mission to Kenya said the fund does not think Kenya will default on its Eurobond payment. The rolling over of…

Jan

18

2024

By The African Mirror

Taxes on e-cigarettes: South Africa must strike a balance between economic arguments and health concerns

BUSINESS

THE 21st century has seen a massive expansion in the ways that people can consume tobacco and nicotine. Innovative new products include electronic nicotine delivery systems (“ENDS” or e-cigarettes) and heat-not-burn (HnB) products. One of the challenges this has thrown up is the tax rates on these products. MARIUS VAN OORDT, Associate professor, University of Pretoria Combustible tobacco products like cigarettes and loose tobacco are generally taxed at similar rates since the harmful behaviour tied to these products – inhaling tobacco toxins released by burning – is the same. But e-cigarettes don’t contain tobacco and HnB devices do not burn…

Jan

17

2024

By VICTORIA WALDERSEE

Ghana will reengage bondholders next week, says finance minister

BUSINESS

GHANA will reengage with its international bondholders from next week, finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta told Reuters, as the country seeks to build on the momentum of a deal last week to restructure $5.4 billion of official creditor debt. The West African country will seek to continue discussions after meeting holders of its around $13 billion in outstanding Eurobonds in Marrakech in October, Ofori-Atta said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting. Officials will also travel to China on January 23, he added. China and France co-chair Ghana's Official Creditor Committee and the agreement reached with…

Jan

17

2024

By The African Mirror

Thungela sees ‘limited impact’ from latest Transnet train derailment

BUSINESS

SOUTH Africa's Thungela Resources said that it does not expect a derailment on the country's main coal export line to significantly impact its operations. State-owned freight rail operator Transnet was on Tuesday still working to clear the line to Richards Bay, South Africa's major coal export port after two trains collided on Sunday, the utility said. It did not say what caused the accident or when services would be restored. Transnet said no serious injuries were reported after the incident, but that the disruption of services to Richards Bay would throttle mineral shipments already constrained by locomotive shortages as well…

Jan

16

2024

By JORGELINA DO ROSARIO and MAXWELL AKALAARE ADOMBILA

IMF board to review Ghana $600 mln loan payout on Friday

BUSINESS

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board is due to meet to consider the first review of Ghana's $3 billion rescue loan programme, a spokesperson said by email. Board sign-off of the review would unlock a $600 million disbursement. Such approvals are usually seen as a formality once a meeting date has been agreed. Reuters earlier reported the meeting date, according to three sources familiar with the matter, after the cocoa, gold and oil-producing country reached an agreement to restructure $5.4 billion of official creditor debt. Ghana struck the deal with its bilateral lenders, including China and France, late last week, a…

Jan

15

2024

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

African nations bet on Sovereign Wealth Funds to catalyze sustainable economic development

BUSINESS

MOZAMBIQUE, pinning its hopes on vast natural gas reserves to drive sustainable economic development, has created a national investment savings fund called the Mozambique Sovereign Fund. According to Reuters, the country's parliament last month approved the fund's establishment, anticipating it to accumulate up to US $91.7 billion by 2040. In an interview with news platform 360 Mozambique, Max Tonela, the Minister of Economy and Finance, highlighted that revenues from natural gas “will peak in the 2040s at more than 6 billion dollars a year.” Mozambique exported its first natural gas cargo to Europe in 2022 from the Coral Sul floating…

Jan

14

2024

By The African Mirror

Nigeria’s Dangote refinery starts production after years of delays

BUSINESS

NIGERIA'S Dangote oil refinery has begun producing diesel and aviation fuel, the company said, after years of construction delays at the 650,000 barrel per day (bpd) plant. The refinery, Africa's largest, was built on a peninsula on the outskirts of the commercial capital Lagos at a cost of $20 billion by the continent's richest man Aliko Dangote. Although Nigeria is Africa's top energy producer, it has relied on imports for most of the fuel it consumes. The Dangote refinery is expected to not only make it self-sufficient but also allow it to export fuel to neighbouring West African countries, potentially…

Jan

13

2024

By MAXWELL AKALAARE ADOMBILA and JORGELINA DO ROSARIO

Ghana official creditors agree on restructuring date, key step to deal – sources

BUSINESS

GHANA'S official creditors have agreed to restructure debts that were extended to the country up until December 2022, two sources told Reuters, with Accra closing in on a key step required to advance its restructuring. A deal between Ghana and its official creditors would pave the way for the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve the disbursement of $600 million under its $3 billion bailout programme. Discussions over the "cut-off date" - the date after which new loans signed with bilateral creditors will not be restructured - had recently emerged as a stumbling block to an…