Browsing: South Africa

In his ruling, Judge Bloem said that Shell had failed to prove the safety of the project against the claims made by environmental experts and the local community, and that there had been a substantial flaw in the consultation process with the locals in the Wild Coast.
Protests against Shell exploration have gained 85,000 signatures with over 35 fuel stations dumping the company.
The local communities expressed their disappointment, saying that their customary rights to the land where they fished and did their religious activities had not been respected. Shell quietly announced the commencement of the seismic survey on November 4, 2021.…

• The Southern Africa region received the most significant share of Foreign Direct Investment in 2020 
• Nigeria, South Africa and Angola attracted the highest amount of Foreign Direct Investment 
• East Africa received the lowest amount on the back of policy challenges and rising political tensions in countries such as Ethiopia

Southern Africa regained its lead at the most significant Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) hub in 2020, on the back of diversified economies.

A report by The East African also reveals that Morocco and Egypt received a majority of investment in the Northern Africa region. At the same time, Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire dominated in the west.

According to the Africa Attractiveness Report 2021 by Ernst and Young, Angola took the largest share of Foreign Direct Investment in central Africa.

East Africa

The report reveals that East Africa received the lowest foreign direct investments (FDI) last year, on the back of …

When commodity prices began to soften in later years it seemed more of a blunder to have diversified the metals portfolio of the business than it appears a stroke of genius today.

With softening metal prices came the need to conserve cash and so dividend flows dried up. The company did not cease its expansion plans going so far as to pile on large amounts of United States dollar-denominated debt purchasing US-based platinum miner Stillwater and swallowed up Lonmin in the process. The share price then cratered when news broke that the company had experienced fatalities at its South African mines. In some circles of the investment community, others joked that they would not invest in Sibanye Stillwater as a matter of moral principle.

The share price went down reaching an all-time low of around R 7.…

In the cement industry, the South African Government has taken a protectionist stance, banning the import of cement especially for infrastructure projects that it is sponsoring. The ban came from Treasury in October.
This decision has been widely celebrated by the cement sector which has been struggling since 2014. This period is profound in that cheap cement flooded the South African market and reduced the profits of local producers.
These cement producers according to industry body, Cement and Concrete South Africa have been under siege from cheap imports from Pakistan, China, and Vietnam. …

• Kenya and South Africa have announced the signing of eight new agreements 
• The agreements are in areas including tourism, migration and health

President Uhuru Kenyatta and President Cyril Ramaphosa witnessed the signing of the agreements shortly after they led their delegations in bilateral talks at Union Buildings in Pretoria, the official seat of the South African Government.

The eight agreements included MoU’s in transport, health, diplomatic consultations and training as well as tourism and migration.

Others were a Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) as well as MoU’s on Government Printing Works and the return of nationals refused entry and illegal entrants.

Addressing the press after the signing ceremony, President Kenyatta said the Kenya-South Africa diplomatic relationship of close to 30 years had come of age.

“In addition to strong bilateral relations which span a wide range of areas, Kenya and South Africa are close partners at the regional and global …

The training programme was launched during the Intra-African Trade Fair 2021 (IATF2021), taking place in Durban, South Africa from November 17 to 21. For previously under-represented populations, the training programme strives to break down barriers to commerce.
The AfCFTA’s ‘How to Export with the AfCFTA training programme’ was designed with African businesses in mind. Small enterprises will be equipped with the tools they need to take advantage of the new trading climate and the AfCFTA’s operationalization.
In 2020, Afreximbank and ITC begun a trial programme in Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Rwanda as a test of this new programme concept. There were around 1,500 applications for the course within the first few days of its release, indicating a strong degree of interest in its subject.…

Gabon is one of few countries with a carbon-negative economy, thanks to the Congo Basin’s immense tropical forests, which absorb more greenhouse gases than the country’s companies, cars, and towns emit.

It just approved an ambitious climate law to ensure that its economic bases are on forests and agriculture rather than fossil fuels.

Outside assistance is required to attain this goal so that the government can continue to enhance living standards.
Many African countries rely on coal for electricity and have refused to sign a declaration signed by more than 40 countries this week calling for an end to the most polluting of fossil fuels. …

• AEW 2022, in partnership with various international oil companies, national oil companies, and governments, is the AEC’s annual conference, exhibition, and networking event.
• AEW 2022 will build on the momentum of the 2021 conference, providing sessions whereby the discussion on Africa’s upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors will be provided.
• AEW 2022 is focused on positioning regulatory reforms at the center of Africa’s energy sector development.

After a successful end to this year’s Africa Energy Week 2021[AEW], the African Energy Chamber has announced the next year’s dates.

The 2022 Energy premier week will take place from the 31^st of October to the 4^th of November 2022 across multiple venues at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, The African Energy Chamber has announced.

The second edition is deemed to be a bigger Energy event in the Continent under the theme ‘Developing Africa’s Energy Future by Creating an Enabling Environment.’

This …

• Calls for monetizing natural gas dominated the just concluded Africa Energy Week 2021 in South Africa.
• AEW 2021 is committed to driving energy sector growth as well as the transition to cleaner sources of fuel.

The African Energy Week 2021 emphasized the role of natural gas in Africa and provided African stakeholders with the opportunity to not only engage in but drove the conversation on natural gas in Africa’s energy future.

Investors and leaders drawn from different parts of the continent campaigned for this noble venture to the respective countries saying that Africa’s natural gas resources potentially can accelerate socio-economic growth and eradicate energy poverty.

Accordingly, many nations are seeking enhanced investment to maximize and monetize resources. As the continent’s premier energy event, African Energy Week (AEW) 2021, aims to build on this momentum, promoting innovative strategies to monetization, addressing challenges hindering development, and charting a way forward for the …

Given that South Africa is experiencing similar power generation problems, Robertson believes that if Zimbabwe does not overcome its power difficulties, this will impede economic growth in 2021.

The mining and industrial industries will almost certainly curtail output.

Tax and export income will decline, as will employment growth. This is unfortunate because Zimbabwe wouldn’t be going through all this pain if it had started constructing new power plants earlier.…