The Week That Was – 19th June 2020

22 Jun 2020

Here is a recap of the major activities that happened in Africa in the last 7 days. You can see the video here. 

Central Africa

  • According to sources, Angola will export 38 crude oil cargoes in August which is one more from the July schedule.
  • Southern Cameroon and Nigeria have resumed trade after it was suspended due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

East Africa

  • Rwanda and the United Kingdom strengthened ties as the two countries’ main financial institutions signed a partnership agreement.
  • The African Development Bank approves a $4 million grant to bolster South Sudan’s COVID-19 response.

North Africa

  • Morocco has cut interest rates to a record low to cushion the economy from the impact of COVID-19.

Southern Africa

  • Last week, the Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority (BERA) issued three Independent Power Producers (IPPs) licenses to construct three power plants in Botswana.
  • The three companies include the Gaborone based Energy & Natural Resource Corporation, Francistown’s Sese Power, Tlou Energy which is listed in the Australian Securities Exchange, London’s AIM market, and the Botswana Stock Exchange.
  • The power stations will have a combined production capacity of 827 megawatts.
  • South Africa’s ministry of energy began consultations with industry on preparations for a proposed 2.5 gigawatt (GW) nuclear power plant building program, which has faced opposition from environmental campaigners.
  • Amazon will hire 3,000 people in South Africa for customer service roles.
  • Steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa will cut an unspecified number of jobs to cut costs due to the coronavirus pandemic.
  • Namibia’s Ministry of Agriculture detected an outbreak of red locusts in central regions of the southern African country and had sent pest control teams to the affected areas.
  • Namibia has lowered its repo interest rate to a historic low as COVID-19 hammers the economy.
  • In Lesotho, construction of the Polihali Dam resumed after work stopped due to the displacement of almost 8,000 people.  The dam will have a total storage capacity of more than 2.3 billion cubic metres of freshwater.

West Africa

  • Ivory Coast has requested participation in an initiative to suspend its debt repayment in order to spend more on health services and tackling the fallout of COVID-19.
  • The Nigeria Government will electrify rural areas to help with the survival of small scale businesses.
  • Shandong Gold Mining Company, one of China’s largest gold producers, will buy Ghana-focused miner Cardinal Resources Ltd for around $221 million in cash.
  • IMF Executive Board Approved US$148 Million Disbursement to Guinea to address the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Interested in knowing more, get in touch.

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