The Week That Was is a weekly recap of all major events that took place in Africa last week.

Central Africa

• As a result of negotiations with bank creditor and China, Angola hopes to secure three years of delayed payments.
• The Angolan government announced that it plans to partially sell Sonangol, the national oil company, and Endiama, the government-owned diamond company by the end of 2021 or early 2022.  Current indications are that it will be through an initial public offering.

East Africa

• A 100 million Euro financing agreement for a new greenfield cement plant near Dejen in Ethiopia has come into effect.  The EPCM contract with Abay Industrial Development Share Company will deliver a 5,000 tonne per day.
• Kenya’s treasury announced it is looking to secure a $2.3 billion loan from the IMF. The treasury also announced that Value Added Tax will increase by 2 percent and Pay as you earn tax and corporate tax will increase 5 percent to 30 percent.
• Kenya Commercial Bank Group has signed a deal with the London-listed financial services firm Atlas Mara Limited to acquire stakes in it’s Rwandan and Tanzanian banking units.
• Exxon and Total are re-evaluating their resource-sharing agreements for its massive LNG projects in Mozambique in a bid to reduce costs.  ExxonMobil is only expected to reach its Final Investment (FID) decision in 2022.  The total investment for the combined projects is close to $60 billion.
• The French Government has waived $306 million of Somalian Debt.  The agreement was signed by the French ambassador to Kenya and Somalia and Somalia’s minister of Finance.
• The East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline project that received approval in September, has run into legal challenges at the East African Court of Justice.  A number of NGOs have requested that a Climate Change Impact Assessment, Human Rights Impact Assessment, and public consultations be conducted before construction commenced.
• A project to connect the East African Power Pool to the Southern African Power Pool will start in 2021.  The project is funded by the World Bank and will include the construction of a 620 km 400 kV distribution line. The project will provide power to villages in the Southern parts of Tanzania.

North Africa

• Libya’s crude oil output has increased to almost 1.25 million barrels per day.  The OPEC member is already pumping about 75 percent of what it did before the 2011 uprising.
• The pace of recovery is a cause of concern for OPEC+ members as demand has been wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Southern Africa

• Namibian farmers in the Kavango East has approved oil and gas exploration activities by Canadian firm Reconnaissance Energy in the region.
• The South African ministry of health has confirmed it has decided to procure the COVAX vaccine for 10 percent of the population.

West Africa

• Reconstruction Ghana’s fire-ravaged Odawna Market started at the end of November.  When completed, the new market will accommodate more than 4,500 traders.
• Nigeria’s government announced a plan to only purchase locally assembled vehicles in an effort to improve the competitiveness of the countries manufacturing industry.
• Nigeria’s Port Harcourt Refinery will enter phase 2 of its rehabilitation program in Q1 of 2021.
• The African Development Bank approved $510 million for Agricultural Development projects in Nigeria.

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