BUSINESS - The African Mirror

Dec

05

2023

First Quantum agrees with Zambian firm to fast-track copper project

BUSINESS

CANADA'S First Quantum Minerals and a Zambian mining company have signed an agreement to fast-track the development of a copper project in Africa's second-biggest producer of the metal, the companies said. Zambia has ambitions to triple its copper output and has reviewed its tax policy to increase mining exploration and output. First Quantum is already a major miner in the southern African country. Its agreement with Zambia's Mimosa Resources envisages mining at the Fishtie copper project starting from 2026, ramping up to a maximum production of 30,000 metric tons of copper a year by the end of the decade, First Quantum…

Dec

02

2023

By The African Mirror

Ghana’s shea industry is not taking care of the women behind its growth

BUSINESS

GHANA'S shea industry has a rich history. Shea – nkuto, karite, galam in some West African languages – is deeply embedded in the culture and tradition of the country’s northern regions. It is often considered a woman’s crop – women pick the fruit and extract its “butter” – and has acquired the name “woman’s gold” because rural women earn income from its sale. ABIBA YAYAH, Postdoctoral Associate, University of Calgary The crop is not just locally important, though. Shea butter, derived from the nuts of the shea tree, has become a global commodity. It is used widely as an ingredient…

Dec

02

2023

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Tanzanian company’s Tongaat bid highlights growing African multinational business

BUSINESS

AN African sugar multinational is one of several companies vying to take over operations of South Africa’s Tongaat Hulett Sugar in an acquisition deal that would highlight the potential for shared collaborations among African corporations to achieve business success. “We identified Kagera Sugar as the preferred candidate… The group is financially sound, with a solid track record,” stated the Tongaat Hulett company's business rescuers on the company website in July. Kagera Sugar is a subsidiary of Super Group, a Tanzanian conglomerate controlled by Tanzanian businessman Seif Ali Seif and his family. The company operates subsidiaries in the Democratic Republic of…

Dec

02

2023

By NELSON BANYA

South Africa throws troubled Transnet $2.5 bln lifeline

BUSINESS

SOUTH Africa handed Transnet a 47 billion rand ($2.5 billion) lifeline, which it said would help the state-owned rail and ports firm meet its immediate debt obligations. Transnet has struggled to provide adequate freight rail and port services in South Africa due to equipment shortages and maintenance backlogs after years of under-investment. The logistics utility's underperformance has impacted commodity exports and other sectors such as manufacturing and retail, weakening Africa's most advanced economy. "The financial support package provided for the entity is a 47 billion rand guarantee facility against which Transnet will drawdown an initial amount of 22.8 billion rand…

Dec

01

2023

By RACHEL SAVAGE

Africa’s economic growth to slow in 2023, AfDB says as it slashes forecasts

BUSINESS

AFRICA'S economic growth will slow this year and only partially recover in 2024, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said as it slashed its GDP forecasts for the continent amid political instability, weak global growth and high-interest rates. Real GDP growth is set to fall to 3.4% this year from 4% in 2022, before rising to 3.8% in 2024, the AfDB said in a report. In May, it predicted the economy would expand by 4% in 2023 and 4.3% in 2024, after growing 3.8% in 2022. The "scarring long-term effects" of the COVID-19 pandemic combined with Russia's invasion of Ukraine sending food and…

Nov

29

2023

By MIGUEL GOMES

Angola’s new diamond mine opens against backdrop of weak demand

BUSINESS

ANGOLA has officially started diamond mining at its new Luele project, the biggest in the country and one of the world's largest by estimated resources, it said, at a time when global diamond demand is already depressed. Demand for diamond jewellery has been hit by high-interest rates in the U.S., home to 55% of global demand, a muted post-pandemic recovery in China and competition from lab-grown diamonds. Angola's state-controlled diamond miner Catoca found the Luele diamond deposit at the project, previously known as Luaxe, in 2013 in one of the largest discoveries in the diamond industry in more than half…

Nov

29

2023

By The African Mirror

Uganda to borrow $150 mln from China’s Exim after World Bank halts funding

BUSINESS

UGANDA is preparing to borrow $150 million from China's Export-Import Bank (Exim) to help expand its internet infrastructure, the finance ministry. The move underscores the East African country's increasing reliance for credit on Chinese lenders after the World Bank halted all new lending to Uganda earlier this year in protest at a new anti-homosexuality law. A junior finance minister and the minister for information asked lawmakers on Monday to authorise the debt, the finance ministry wrote on X, the social media platform. The money, the ministry said, is "to finance the supply, installation, commissioning and support of the national data…

Nov

29

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenyan court strikes down housing levy, stays ruling until Jan 10

BUSINESS

KENYA'S High Court declared unconstitutional a 1.5% levy intended to fund affordable housing that was imposed as part of a finance law adopted in June but later stayed the ruling until January 10 to allow for the government to appeal. The law, which also doubled the fuel tax and increased the top income tax rate, sparked violent protests in July by opponents who said it would further squeeze households at a time of rising living costs. In its ruling, the court said the government had not provided a rational explanation for why it had imposed the housing levy only on workers with…

Nov

28

2023

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

South Africa ramps up mineral value-add momentum as Chinese investment moves up the value chain

BUSINESS

THE recent US$750 million deal between Johannesburg-based Nyanza Light Metals and China's East China Engineering Science and Technology Company (ECEC) marks a watershed moment in South Africa's mining industry. The agreement, reported by miningweekly.com, focuses on establishing a titanium dioxide pigment facility in Richards Bay’s Industrial Development Zone, signifying not only a crucial leap forward for Nyanza and South Africa but also aligning with China's overarching strategy of investing in mineral beneficiation across Africa. Nyanza CEO Donovan Chimhandamba, in a past interview on Mining Weekly, explained the economic relevance of the facility for the South African economy. “South Africa currently…

Nov

26

2023

By ALEX LAWLER, AHMAD GHADDAR and OLESYA ASTAKHOVA

OPEC+ moving closer to compromise with African producers, sources say

BUSINESS

OPEC+ has moved closer to a compromise with African oil producers on 2024 output levels, four OPEC+ sources told Reuters, after disagreements over those targets forced the group of oil-producing nations to postpone a key meeting. OPEC members Angola and Nigeria were aiming for a higher oil output allowance, officials told Reuters on Thursday. The postponement of the meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, known as OPEC+, from November 26 to November 30 sent oil prices sharply lower. But they have since recovered, with Brent crude prices on Friday trading above $81 a barrel. On Thursday…