East Africa

The shipping company MSC announced on Thursday that it would implement a fuel surcharge for 'all cargo' from Northern Europe (including UK, Scandinavian and Baltic) to the Red Sea and East Africa. This will be effective March 16, 2019. MSC will charge $40 per twenty-foot equivalent (TEU), from Northern Europe, including the UK to the Red Sea for dry containers and $60 for refrigerated ones. The world's largest ocean container carrier said that dry containers from Northern Europe (including the UK) to East Africa would be charged at $65 per TEU while refrigerated ones would be charged at $100 per...

The port operator reported that Maputo's biggest port saw a 1% drop in volume in 2024, mainly because of post-election protests which forced the closure of borders and roadblockages. After a disputed vote on Oct. 9, Daniel Chapo's Frelimo Party, which has been ruling Mozambique in its current form since 1975, won the election by a narrow margin, protests by the opposition erupted across this southeast African nation. More than 300 people have died in the unrest after a crackdown carried out by security forces. Maputo Port Development Company's (MPDC) statement said that the port volume for 2024 fell to...

Tanzania prepares to honour its contracts with an Adani Group unit in spite of a U.S. indictment of its billionaire chairman Gautam Adani on accusations of bribery and fraud, a senior authorities at the ports authority stated. Adani was prosecuted for scams last week and arrest warrants were provided for him and his nephew for their declared roles in a. $ 265 million plan to pay off Indian officials to protect. power-supply offers. Adani Group has rejected the accusations. In May, Tanzania participated in a 30-year concession agreement. with Adani Ports, an unit of Adani Group, to operate a container....

John Mbadi, the Finance Minister, said that Kenya Pipeline's Initial Public Offer (IPO) received a 105.7% subscriber rate. Mbadi stated that Kenyan individuals and institutions will receive 67.32% of the shares offered from this sale. The IPO was'shadowed' by lower valuations from?some banks and an extension of the offer. The government offered a 65% share in Kenya Pipeline Company in order to raise 824.67 million dollars. This is the first major deal in the region since 2008 when shares in Safaricom were sold, which raised more money in dollar terms. Mbadi said on Wednesday that the government will only accept...

The lead adviser for the transaction, who has been advising on this deal since last week, said that institutional investors have shown a strong appetite to invest in Kenya's oil pipeline company. This is contrary to reports of investor apathy. The sale, which ran from 19 January to 24 February, saw the government offer a 65% share in Kenya Pipeline Company in order to raise 106.31 billion shillings (825.31 million dollars) in the largest ever IPO for East Africa in local currency. The IPO returns are being reconciled by the deal team and results will be released on March 4....

Gridworks, an?investor owned by the British government in Africa's electric networks, signed agreements on Monday to 'develop and invest' in transmission projects valued at around $400 million, during a visit by Britain's Foreign Minister. Yvette's Cooper's visit to Ethiopia is part of the UK government's efforts to create jobs in order to curb the rising number of migrants seeking to enter the United Kingdom from the Horn of Africa. These two projects are the first public/private partnerships in Ethiopia’s transmission network. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmad's government is slowly opening up Ethiopia’s state-dominated economy for more private investment. One project 'connects...

Kenya sold a 65% share in its oil pipeline firm on Monday. The company hoped to raise $825 million through the largest IPO ever for East Africa. This sale is part a campaign by the government of President William Ruto to divest state companies in order to raise money for new infrastructure and sovereign wealth funds. The government is also selling its stake in the?telecoms company Safaricom. Documents indicating the IPO price for Kenya?Pipeline Company showed that the government set the price at nine shillings a share. The sale will run until February 19 and the shares will be listed...

The U.S. Justice Department asked on Tuesday a federal appeals?court to dismiss its appeal against a lower court order that blocked President Donald Trump from requiring 20?Democratic?states?to cooperate with immigration enforcement in order to receive billions of dollar's worth of grant funding for transportation. A U.S. Judge in Rhode Island decided that the U.S. Department of Transportation did not have the authority to force the states to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for transportation funding and that the condition was against the U.S. Constitution. California Attorney General Rob Bonta led the legal challenge which included also the District...

Kenya signed a $311 million agreement on Monday with PowerGrid Corporation?of India and a pan-African Infrastructure Fund for the construction of high-voltage transmission lines. In order to fund infrastructure projects, the East African nation has turned to public-private partnership and securitisation. This is due to high public debts and a tight fiscal environment. According to the Ministry, under the power line deal, Africa50, an infrastructure fund based in Morocco that is owned primarily by African countries, will work with PowerGrid on the design, financing, construction and operation of?the transmissions lines and sub-stations. Africa50 announced that the project company would "undertake...

South Sudan's military chief said that troops were sent to the neighbouring Sudan on Thursday to guard the Heglig oilfield near the border. This was after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces took control of the field. Heglig is home to the largest processing facility for South Sudanese crude oil, which accounts for the majority of South Sudanese public revenues. Heglig continues to receive some oil, but at a much reduced volume. Sources in the government said that the Sudanese forces and workers at the Heglig Oil Field withdrew on Sunday from the area to avoid fighting which could have damaged...

The government announced on Monday that Mozambique had granted a 30-year license to its largest state-owned firms, including the national oil company ENH, for the construction and operation of natural gas facilities in the Port of Beira as well as the smaller Inhassoro location. The efforts of Southern Africa to develop its oil reserves and gas have been hindered by an ongoing insurgency linked to Islamists in the northern part of the country. This has caused TotalEnergies LNG plant delays, despite improvements in security. The concession will managed by a special purpose vehicle consisting of ENH, the ports and rails...

Uganda's government-run regulator for the sector said that about three-quarters has been completed of a $5-billion pipeline vital to exporting crude from Ugandan oil fields through Tanzania. Uganda now targets the second half next year for the start of oil production in its Albertine Rift basin, located in the western part of the country. Before production can begin at the $15 billion oil-project owned by Total Energies France and CNOOC China, it is necessary to complete the 1,443-kilometer-long (897-mile-long) East African Crude Oil Pipeline. EACOP, the world's largest electrically heated crude oil pipeline, will connect Uganda's oilfields with Tanzania's Indian...

William Ruto, the President of Kenya, said that Kenya will set up a sovereign fund and an infrastructure funds to invest in important sectors, without repeating recent debt binges which have strained the public finances. After borrowing heavily to build infrastructure in the last decade, the East African nation now has one of Africa's highest debt-to-revenue ratios. We are establishing two important funds. Ruto announced over the weekend that he would be launching two funds: one, an infrastructure fund, and another, a sovereign wealth fund. He said that lawmakers have passed a law on privatization of state assets. This gives...

According to court documents and a spokesperson for the company, trading house BB energy has filed a lawsuit against South Sudan over its failure to deliver oil owed as part of a prepayment agreement. South Sudan, one of the world's poorest nations, has been through two civil wars over the last 15 years. It is also struggling with a fragile peace agreement and increased debt. In March, South Sudan's government put its petroleum minister and other officials under house arrest. Court records show that BB Energy DMCC brought the case in last month. The company spokesperson said the case was...

A senior Turkish official said on Monday that Turkey is willing to negotiate with Iraq a new deal to restart operations of an oil pipeline that was halted between the two nations during a dispute about unauthorised Iraqi imports. The Turkish Official Gazette published a decision on Monday that the deal, which dates back to the 1970s and is called the Turkey-Iraq Crude Oil Pipeline Agreement, as well as all protocols or memorandums after it will be terminated by July 27, 2026. Iraq and Turkey are working together to restart oil flow from the pipeline that runs to Turkey's Ceyhan...