AFRICA REPORT FROM MBENDI...

AFRICAN BUSINESS ROUND-UP Africa and the World: The Swedish Government is increasing development assistance to Kenya.  Bosnia's largest engineering group Energoinvest has won a contract to build a 230 kV power transmission line in Ethiopia.  South Africa's government is appealing the decision by regulators to allow Wal-Mart to buy control of Massmart.  South Africa's Oceanfresh is to supply hake for Walmart stores in the U.S.  Turkey's Arçelik Group has bought South African appliance manufacturer Defy Appliances.  South African paper maker Sappi is to close its Biberist Mill in Switzerland.  Britain has suspended aid to Malawi indefinitely.  Libya's prime minister announced a halt to cooperation with Italy.  The AfDB and the Government of Spain launched the Microfinance Capacity Building Fund for Africa.  Great Western and Ganzhou Qiandong Rare Earth Group are to build a Rare Earth separation plant in South Africa. Investment and Projects: Niger plans to launch 50 billion CFA francs worth of bonds with maturities of between 3 and 5 years.  PricewaterhouseCoopers plans to invest US$ 100 million in Africa over the next three years.  Chad raised 107.6 billion CFA francs in a local-currency bond.  African Export-Import Bank has set guidance on a five-year dollar bond.  On the Business Opportunities section of MBendi.com, Niger's communications ministry is seeking to establish a 3G mobile phone network; grants are available for web and mobile phone applications; and Egypt's FIHC has issued an international tender to purchase up to 30,000 tonnes of soyoil and sunflower. Trade and Transport: Safmarine is introducing a direct, weekly service between the Indian Subcontinent, Middle East and East South America.  A ban on exportation of raw nuts will remain in force in Kenya.  Zimbabwe restored tariffs on imported foodstuffs.  Zimbabwe's delay in ratifying a Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with India has stalled implementation of a trade accord between the two countries.  All Tanzanian goods destined for export markets are to have barcodes.  Uganda has set up a pilot trade hub at the Mutukula border post to help women involved in cross-border trade.  Mauritius' trade deficit widened 24.4% year-on-year in May to 6.9 billion rupees.  The total volume of trade between the five East African Community (EAC) partner states has grown from US$ 1.81 billion in 2004 to US$ 3.54 billion by the end of 2009.  Kenya Railways has announced plans to develop commuter rail services.  Tata Motors’ joint venture with Tata Africa formally opened its assembly plant in South Africa .  The World Bank provided US$ 249 million for the rehabilitation of the approximately 249-kilometer Monrovia border road in Liberia. Mining: Governance: Namibia plans to raise its mining tax by 17%.  Zimbabwe has rejected all 175 empowerment proposals it received from foreign mining companies.  Niger has awarded a total of six gold exploration licences to two Canadian firms. Corporate / M&A: Canada's Volta Resources is to raise US$ 40 million to finance west African gold properties.  First Quantum Minerals listed on the Lusaka Stock Exchange.  AXMIN received a US$ 100 million export credit from Standard Bank of South Africa.  AngloGold Ashanti has entered into an agreement to acquire shares in First Uranium.  Lucara Diamond has received approval for a secondary listing of its common shares on the Botswana Stock Exchange.  Shareholders in Johannesburg-listed copper and cobalt producer Metorex voted down an offer by Brazilian ore giant Vale.  Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation has entered into an underwriting agreement with Casimir Capital. Other:  Tawana has secured a land package in Sinoe County, South-Eastern Liberia. Blyvoor has accepted an offer of assistance from AngloGold Ashanti.  Resolute Mining is to earn up to a 70% interest in Robex's N'Golopene gold exploration permit in Mali.  Coal of Africa is to resume certain mining activities at its Vele Colliery project in Limpopo, South Africa.  Great Western and Ganzhou Qiandong Rare Earth Group are to build a Rare Earth separation plant in South Africa.  Allana Potash was granted mineral exploration licenses for three mineral concessions in Ethiopia's Danakil Depression.  African Queen relinquished three additional licenses covering small scale mining licenses in Ghana.  Swakop Uranium has received environmental approval for the proposed Husab Uranium Project near Swakopmund, Namibia.  First Uranium is to cease Mine Waste Solutions deposition of material on all of the existing tailings storage facilities.  Pathfinder Minerals was a issued new mining concession in Mozambique. African Queen Mines signed an accord with the Nyanfoman Chief, Noyem-Nyanfoman for a prospecting license in Ghana.  Sillenger Exploration signed a contract with the government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.  Nuinsco has taken an option on a gold concession in Sudan. Reference: South Africa's gold output fell 5.8% in volume terms in May 2011. MBendi's Mining News provides recent press releases for the following companies as well as an archive of more than 100,000 other news items and releases: Aquarius Platinum (platinum. South Africa) Afri-Can Marine Minerals (diamonds. Namibia) African Gold (gold. Kobada, Mali) Auryx Gold (gold. Otjikoto, Namibia) Azumah (gold. Wa, Ghana) Canaco Resources (Handeni, Tanzania) Eastern Platinum (platinum. Crocodile River, South Africa) Frontier Rare Earths (rare earths. Zandkopsdrift, South Africa) Gem Diamonds (diamonds. Botswana) Gold Fields (gold. Beatrix, South Africa) Hana Mining (gold. Ghanzi, Botswana) Helio Resource (gold. SMP, Tanzania) Kumba Iron Ore (iron ore. South Africa) Lake Victoria Mining (gold. Singida, Tanzania) Lucara Diamond (diamonds. AK6, Botswana) Merrex Gold (gold. Siribaya, Mali) Northam Platinum (platinum. Zondereinde, South Africa) Nuinsco Resources (gold. Block 64, Sudan and Umm Samra, Egypt) Oromin Explorations (gold. OJVG, Senegal) Pelangio Exploration (gold. Manfo, Ghana) Perseus Mining (gold. Central Ashanti (CAGP), Fetish and Esuajah North, Ghana Randgold Resources (gold. Kibali, DRC) Riverstone Resources (gold. Kao Zone, Karma Burkina Faso) Rockgate (uranium-silver-copper. Falea and Fatou, Mali Royal Bafokeng (platinum. South Africa) SEMAFO (gold. Fofina, Burkina Faso) Shaw River (manganese. Butre, Ghana) Oil and Chemicals: Governance:  Libya's prime minister announced a halt to cooperation with Italy, saying no future deals would be signed with energy group Eni because of Italy's participation in a NATO bombing raids. CEFsubsidiary, PetroSA, has appointed Mr Yekani Tenza as Acting Chief Executive Officer.  The ExxonMobil Foundation donated US$ 500,000 to establish a malaria diagnostic laboratory in Ghana. M&A / Corporate: Tullow Oil listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange.  Tullow completed the acquisition of the Ghanaian interests of EO Group Limited. Upstream:  Liberia has marked out 13 new, ultra-deep offshore oil blocks for auction.  Niger's government said that oil reserves in its eastern Agadem oil block could be three times higher than the previous estimate of 300 million barrels.  Addax Petroleum shut down a third of its oil production in Gabon after a pipeline leak.  Total estimates US$ 10 billion is needed to develop the Moho Bilondo Nord offshore project in Congo. Gas:  Equatorial Guinea is due to finalise talks with energy companies over its second LNG plant by the end of the year.  The Songas consortium plans to invest US$ 120 million to double gas output in Tanzania. Downstream:  Tanzania approved BP's sale of its local downstream assets to Puma Energy, a subsidiary of Trafigura. SAIT updated their training course information. Reference:  Angola is scheduled to export 1.67 million barrels per day of crude oil in September. MBT South Africa, the South African subsidiary of the MB Barter and Trading Group based in Zug, Switzerland, undertakes the international sales and marketing of plastics raw materials as well as chemicals associated with the plastics, resins and surface coatings industries. MBendi's Oil and Energy News provides recent press releases for the following companies as well as an archive of more than 100,000 other news items and releases: Afren / Candax Energy (Block 1101, Madagascar) CGGVeritas / Shell (Gabon) Chariot (Namibia) Circle Energy (Al Amir SE-8X and Geyad-5X wells, Egypt) Harvest Natural Resources (offshore Gabon) ION (offshore Tanzania and Mozambique) Kosmos Energy (Makore-1 well, Eastern West Cape Three Points Block, Ghana) Lukoil / Oranto (deepwater Block SL-5-11 offshore Sierra Leone) Mart Resources / Midwestern Oil and Gas / Suntrust Oil (Umusadege, Nigeria) Mena Hydrocarbons (Block 1, Segment A, offshore Egypt) Millennium Oil & Gas (Oza, Nigeria) Petroceltic (Isarene permit, Algeria) Rialto Energy / Transocean (Cote d'Ivoire) Sea Dragon Energy (NW Gemsa and Kom Ombo, Egypt) Vanco / Oranto (SL-5-11 Offshore Block, Sierra Leone) Victoria Oil & Gas (Logbaba, Cameroon) Electrical Power / Renewables / Telecoms: Electrical Power:  Bosnia's largest engineering group Energoinvest has won a contract to build a 230 kV power transmission line in Ethiopia.  The AfDB has approved a loan of Euro 45 million towards the construction of a gas-fired power plant in Cameroon.  Kenya Power has begun daily power cuts owing to insufficient water at power dams and a decline in fuel-based power capacity.  Zambia raised the estimated cost of building a planned power plant to about US$ 2 billion.  Sasol plans to construct a 140 MW gas engine power plant to reduce its dependency on Eskom.  The African Development Bank approved a technical cooperation agreement with the Government of Denmark for the establishment of a sustainable energy fund for Africa. Telecoms:  Zain Sudan is in talks with South Sudan to pay a fee to extend its Sudan licence.  South Africa's MTN Group has launched trials of its faster LTE network.  Mobile operator Cell C unveiled 10GB and 20GB bundled broadband packages for the South African market.  Morocco's government is considering the sale of a portion of its 30% stake in Maroc Telecom.  MTN Group plans to spend an extra US$ 40 million expanding its operations in Zambia.  Econet Burundi's mobile phone subscribers rose by 140% to 600,000 in July.  Ericsson announced a new five-year contract to manage Bharti Airtel's networks in Africa. Agriculture, Food, Water and Beverages: Uganda’s Centenary Bank and the World Bank Group are to improve agriculture finance capacity in Uganda.  A US$ 170 million global alliance programme, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, has been launched to expand and accelerate research into maize.  Cocoa grindings in Cameroon increased by 54% in the 2010/11 season.  Coffee exports from Uganda are expected to rise by 20.2% in July.  Cocoa output in Ghana this season should hit a million tonnes by the end of August.  Cameroon's Arabica coffee exports were down by a third at the end of May to 1,277 tonnes. Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast reached 1,332,000 tonnes by July 17.  Maize deliveries to South African silos rose to 4.736 million tonnes in the week to July 15.  South Africa is seen harvesting 1.7 million tonnes of wheat in 2011.  Lonrho bought Grindrod’s food export business for R 50 million in South Africa.  Liberia joined the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme with a US$ 6 million credit and US$ 8 million loan.  The WFP said 11.3 million people are in need of food assistance owing to drought in the Horn of Africa Africa.  The Union Commission and the Africa Rice Center have signed a Memorandum of Understanding.  Nigeria's Flour Mills is seeking shareholder approval to raise fresh capital and diversify its portfolio. Finance: The ADF approved a budget support grant of US$ 37.6 million to finance poverty reduction in Rwanda, and a loan of US$ 70 million along with a grant of US$ 41.3 million for poverty reduction in Ghana.  The AfDB: approved a US$ 25 million equity investment in Vantage Capital Fund II; approved a EUR 60 million loan for the construction of a new container terminal at the Lome Port in Togo; approved a US$ 40 million loan to finance the Rift Valley Railways; approved a US$ 50 million line of credit in support of Tunisia’s Small and Medium Enterprises; approved a EUR 20 million equity investment in the Maghreb Private Equity Fund III. South Africa's Gauteng Department of Education will be spending more than R 1 billion to improve the quality of teaching.  The African Water Facility awarded a grant of US$ 12 million by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is to provide US$ 12 million in funding for the development of sanitation pilot projects in developing countries.  The European Commission has vowed to more than double aid for famine victims in East Africa to EUR 158 million.  The Omidyar Network made a US$ 5 million commitment to fund organizations that foster government transparency in Africa.  The European Commission has released EUR 25 million in budgetary support for Niger.  Norway granted an additional NOK 30 million to the crisis in the Horn of Africa.  The European Union revised conditions for resuming cooperation with Guinea with EUR 40 million in additional emergency funds.  The Irish Government announces EUR 1 million funding for emergency food relief in the Horn of Africa.  The IMF:  completed the sixth and final review of Togo’s economic programme with US$ 13.95 million credit; completed the sixth review of Burundi’s economic programme with a disbursement of US$ 10.5 million; approved the second review of Burkina Faso’s economic programme with a disbursement of US$ 10.3 million; provided US$ Côte129.2 million to Côte d’Ivoire under the Rapid Credit Facility; completed Djibouti’s economic performance review with a disbursement of US$ 2.35 million.  Zimbabwe's central bank has approved US$ 1.5 billion this year in foreign lines of credit.  The World Bank:  approved to Burkina Faso an Eleventh Poverty Reduction Support Grant of US$ 125 million equivalent; announced it is providing more than US$ 500 million to assist drought victims in the Horn of Africa; approved US$ 37 million for Mozambique technical and vocational training; gave a US$ 50 million loan to Tunisia towards driving employment for young citizens; approved US$ 50.3 million to Ghana's West Africa Regional Fisheries Programme; approved the US$ 13 million Central Africa Forests Commission Congo Basin Project; approved US$ 150 million to Ethiopia for developing urban local government; approved US$ 27 million for transport services to Mali’s rural and urban communities.  Registered MBendi users can request an African finance spreadsheet from our website. African Statistics: South Africa: Manufacturing production for May 2011 increased by 0,6% compared with May 2010. CPI rose to 5% in June in line with market expectation.  Retail trade sales in May showed a 0% growth year-on-year.  The repo rate has remained unchanged at 5.5%.  Growth is projected at 3.5% in 2011 by the World Bank. Rest of Africa:  Burundi's tax revenue rose 36% year-on-year to 240.3 billion francs in the first half of 2011 Ghana's annual inflation rate fell to 8.59% in June.  The number of tourists visiting Mauritius rose 5.8% year-on-year.  Consumer prices in Rwanda's urban areas rose to 5.82% in June.  Kenya's economy is expected to grow by 5.3% this year and by 5.5% in 2012, says the AfDB.  Nigeria's headline inflation fell to 10.2% year-on-year in June.  Tanzania's inflation touched double digits at 10.9% in June this year. Politics: Zambia's president said the country will hold national elections in September and that he will run for his first full five-year term.  Britain has officially recognized Libya's main opposition group as the country's legitimate government.  The African Union admitted South Sudan as its 54th member.  The latest edition of Africa Confidential provides commentary on the new country of South Sudan, especially the Abeyi; the new Nigerian cabinet; Senegalese power supply; rebel options in Libya; upcoming elections in Liberia; Guinean mineral code negotiations; conflict minerals in the DRC; and Zuma and the South African securicrats. If your organisation has achieved something significant in Africa and we missed it, then please E-mail your news release to news@mbendi.com.