November 18, 2021
Kenya Sends Team to Unlock EU Mango Ban
Kenya has dispatched a delegation to Brussels to lobby for resumption of mango exports to the European Union market. The team, led by Directorate of Horticulture and Kenya Health Plant Inspectorate Service (Kephis) officials, is steering negotiations to have the country access the market after nearly a decade under a ban from mango exports to the EU. Kenya imposed the ban on export of its mangoes to Europe in 2012 for fears that the produce would be blacklisted due to high levels of fruit flies, which are quarantine pests in the EU.
Angolan Businesses Eye Investment Opportunities in Rwanda
A delegation of business actors from Angola is in Rwanda to explore potential areas of investment. Some 20 Angolan business operators headed by Isabel E. Soares da Cruz, President of Angola’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, are on a one-week visit to Rwanda. Adelain Kajangwe, in charge of investment promotion at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), said they have seen interest from Angolan companies seeking to trade or invest in Rwanda.
A battery storage project will increase South Africa’s use of renewable energy, following investment from AfDB and international development finance. The African Development Bank (AfDB) has provided a USD $57.67 million loan to struggling South African state energy company Eskom. The financing will be used for a battery project to improve the company’s renewable energy sources, serving the twin goals of addressing climate change and Eskom’s difficulties in meeting power demand in South Africa in recent years.
AfCFTA Secretariat speaks to African Governments on Value Addition and Trade Deficit
The African Continental Free Trade Area secretariat has admonished African countries to focus on the production of consumer goods to discourage the importation of goods into the continent. According to the Chief Technical Advisor of the Secretariat, Prudence Sebahizi, trade deficit can be resolved when African countries add value to their exported resources. Speaking at the ABSA-UPSA Law School Quarterly Banking Roundtable discussion, he opined that African countries should have a robust economic structure that will facilitate trade finance. The African Continental Free Trade Area wants to accelerate intra-African trade and subsequently boost Africa’s trading position in the global market by strengthening Africa’s common voice and policy space in global trade negotiations.
The West African state has become the latest of several recent additions to the African development finance institution. Niger has become the 33rd member state of the Africa Finance Corporation, the development finance institution (DFI) headquartered in Lagos and owned by African nations. Niger follows Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo and Morocco, who joined in the first quarter of the year, and Egypt which joined in September. The institution now has well over half of the continent as member states.
Imperial Depositor Wants Central Bank Boss in Arusha Court
A depositor has appealed a decision to bar the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Dr. Patrick Njoroge from appearing before the Arusha-based East Africa Court of Justice as a witness over fraudulent activities at the collapsed Imperial Bank. In the appeal, Pontrilas Investment Ltd accuses First Instance Division of exhibiting bias by failing to summon Dr. Njoroge to shed light on the collapsed lender. The court dismissed a request to summon the CBK governor in June of last year, saying he was not the custodian of the documents sought.
Alternative Dispute Resolution Center Opens in Uganda
A new center for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) opened in Kampala on November 5th, 2021, with the goal of making dispute resolution more accessible to Ugandans and to ease the backlog of cases in the local courts. The Praxis Conflict Centre was founded by former Chief Justice Bart Katureebe, a former minister of justice and attorney general, and Christine Birabwa-Nsubuga, founder of Uganda’s legal aid program and previously a director of the Uganda Human Rights Commission. The center provides mediation, arbitration, negotiation and conflict management advice.
Nigerian Government Encourages Upstream Operators on New Investments to Meet Production Targets
As Nigeria’s production volume continues to decline due to lingering technical challenges and theft, the Government has rallied upstream operators on the need to increase investment and embrace the use of artificial intelligence, virtual and machine learning in exploration and production. According to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the industry is plagued by investor skepticism, high-level competition, climate change and clamor for a clean environment, thus necessitating a paradigm shift in the exploration and production value chain to stay afloat.
Private Equity Backing for Nigerian Engineering Business
Plans to expand a Nigerian engineering company across the region have drawn attention from private equity investment. Private equity vehicle Africa Capitalworks has invested in Nigeria-based Dorman Long Engineering. Dorman provides engineering services to the oil and gas, telecommunications and energy sectors, including fabrication, galvanising and asset management. The company aims to use the backing, which was secured in September, to improve its existing facilities and expand into other parts of Africa.
Angola Sets Aside $445 Million to Build 21 Logistics Hubs
The Angolan government plans to invest over US $445.5 million (392.3 million euros) to build 21 logistics centers by 2038, in order to minimize the challenges of the transport of goods, which is still heavily dependent on road transport. This update was published in Soyo, Zaire province, by the Minister for Transport, Ricardo de Abreu, at the launch of the international public tender for the concession, construction, operation and commercial management of the Soyo and Luvo Logistics Platforms in Zaire. Abreu said that all the platforms to be built by 2038 will have different characteristics that will complement each other.