West Africa

France and Spain agree to tax private jets and premium flyers

On Monday, a group of countries, including France, Kenya and Spain, pledged to tax private jets and premium-class flights in order to raise money for climate action. Despite the fact that many wealthy nations are reducing their official development assistance to developing countries and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, others have looked for new funding sources, such as taxing polluting industry. The announcement made on the first day of the U.N. Development Summit in Seville, Spain was the first from the "Sevilla Platform for Action", which aims to implement the new global financing framework that had been agreed
Passenger Transportation Services

France, Spain and others agree to tax private jets and premium flyers
Ivory Coast targets 50% cocoa production locally within two years

The head of the national regulator announced that Ivory Coast will increase its domestic cocoa production to 50% within two years. This is up from the current 42%, he said. Yves Brahima Kone, the managing director of Ivory Coast’s Coffee and Cocoa Council, said that cocoa processing was essential to boost local industry and support economic growth. Kone, who spoke at the opening of the Abidjan plant in Abidjan, the commercial capital of Ivory Coast's country, said that the Ivory Coast has invested to boost the domestic industry. He said that five plants will be completed and operational in two
Transportation

Nigerian Navy cracksdown on oil theft and arrests 76 ships in two years
Nigeria will introduce real-time tracking of oil exports

According to regulations seen by, Nigeria's oil regulator will introduce a new rule requiring oil producers to get an export permit, vessel approval and a unique identifier to allow real-time tracking. The updated regulations will allow for real-time monitoring and tracking of oil cargoes at the export terminals. This will help combat theft and underdeclaration. The new rules are a major departure from the old system, which required only that producers declare their cargoes to customs for export permits to be issued. The new guidelines are a major step towards a more accountable, transparent and efficient oil export system in
South Africa

Hilton and Marriot announce plans to expand in Africa

Hilton and Marriott, two of the largest hotel chains in the United States, have announced expansion plans to Africa as a way to take advantage of rapid tourism growth on the continent. Hilton announced on Wednesday its plans to triple the number of hotels in Africa to 160. In a statement, the company said it would enter Angola for the first, as well as Ghana and Benin, before returning to Madagascar and Tanzania. It did not provide a time frame for its expansion plans. Marriott said that it expects to have 50 new properties in place by 2027. Marriott will
Source: Nigeria exports first gasoline cargo from Dangote refinery to Asia

Transport Infrastructure

Access to the back sea for landlocked Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger through Morocco

Morocco's official news agency reported that the foreign ministers of Burkina Faso and Niger, three Sahel-dominated states ruled by military forces, said they endorsed an initiative on Monday offering them access through Morocco's Atlantic port to global trade. It said that the foreign ministers of their respective countries expressed their positions during a meeting in Rabat with Morocco's King Mohammed VI. Last year, the West African nations run by juntas who have been in power through coups for the past few years withdrew themselves from ECOWAS and formed a new alliance called the Confederation of Sahel States. Morocco, a major...

Natural Gas Pipeline

Morocco expresses interest in LNG terminal

Morocco, in an effort to diversify the energy sector that is heavily dependent on coal, made the first steps toward the location of a terminal for liquefied gas near the Mediterranean City of Nador. The Moroccan energy industry has expressed interest in the LNG terminal. Morocco is also pushing forward with a plan to increase renewable energy from 45% of installed capacity now to 52% by 2030. In a press release, the ministry announced that the terminal would be connected to an existing pipeline linking Morocco with Spain, as well as to industrial zones in Mohammedia, and Kenitra in the...

Transport Infrastructure

Bollore Group targeted by anti-corruption groups over old Africa assets and demanded restitution

Twelve anti-corruption campaigners filed a complaint with the French Financial Prosecutor against logistics group Bollore, and its former CEO. They accused them of using their connections and influence peddling to secure lucrative African Port concessions. The first step to a possible criminal prosecution in France is filing a complaint. The complaint of the campaigners, who demand restitution, claims that Vincent Bollore and the Bollore Group used their connections with leaders in West Africa for several decades to secure contracts and create a vast business network. According to the review of the complaint, "corruption and favouritism" were used to secure port...

Transport Infrastructure

Sources say that Ivory Coast Customs seizes 2,000 tons falsely declared cocoa bean.

Two customs sources, and one judicial resource, said that Ivory Coast customs seized around 2,050 metric tons (2,000 metric tonnes) of falsely-declared cocoa beans valued at around $19,000,000 in its main port Abidjan on Tuesday. Cocoa, which is the main ingredient of chocolate, is smuggled across the western border between Ivory Coast and Guinea, where the traffickers pay more than the local farm gate price. Last week, Ivorian Customs found that an exporter of cocoa had falsely declared to pay a lower tax at the port. Customs officers familiar with the case said that 110 containers were seized, which according...

Transport Infrastructure

After a tanker sinks, Russia's Ust-Luga Port continues to export fuel

According to industry sources, and LSEG ship-tracking information, Russia's Baltic Sea Port of Ust-Luga resumed fuel exports Tuesday following a tanker that ran aground after a weekend explosion in its engine-room. After the explosion, a Suezmax tanker named Koala that was carrying 130,000 metric tonnes of fuel oil ran into trouble near a berth in the Ust-Luga terminal. According to the Russian Ministry of Transport, no one from the crew was injured. On Tuesday, the ministry said that divers were inspecting the vessel and had not detected any fuel leaks. It added that the incident had been investigated. According to...

Transport Infrastructure

Arrivals of cocoa from Ivory Coast are on the rise, but the quality is disappointing

The arrival of cocoa at Ivory Coast ports increased during the week ending February 2 in comparison to the previous season. However, exporters claimed on Monday that the beans were not in good condition due to inadequate storage. West African nation has increased its efforts to prevent bean smuggling into neighbouring Guinea, and Liberia, where traffickers are paying higher prices than the local farm gate price for cocoa. Exporter in Abidjan, the capital of the West African nation, said that the tightening border security makes it harder for cocoa to escape. He added that this provides an incentive to ship...

Transport Infrastructure

Ivory Coast cocoa imports increase week on week due to anti-smuggling measures

The cocoa arrivals in ports of Ivory Coast, the top cocoa producer in the world, increased sharply from the previous week in the week ending Jan. 26, as efforts to combat beans smuggling pay off. An official with the Cocoa Sector Regulator CCC announced this on Monday. Between Jan. 20-26, approximately 27,000 metric tonnes of beans were shipped to Abidjan and 25,000 to San Pedro for a combined total of 52,000 metric tons. 34,000 tonnes in Exporters' data showed that the week prior was a busy one. In the same week last season, around 53,000 tonnes of beans were delivered....

Transport Infrastructure

Ivory Coast cocoa imports increase week on week due to anti-smuggling measures

Yemen Red Sea port capacity down greatly after hostilities, UN says

Operations at a Red Sea port in Yemen utilized for aid imports have actually fallen to about a quarter of its capability, a UN official stated on Tuesday, including it was not particular that a Gaza ceasefire would end attacks in between the Iranbacked Houthis and Israel. Houthis have actually launched attacks on worldwide shipping near Yemen because November 2023 in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. This has triggered Israel to strike port and energy facilities, consisting of the Red Sea port of Hodeidah. ( The) effect of airstrikes on Hodeidah...

Rains scarce in Ivory Coast cocoa regions last week

Rains were limited in the majority of leading grower Ivory Coast's primary cocoa areas last week and more are needed to improve the ApriltoSeptember midcrop, farmers said on Monday. Ivory Coast, the world's leading producer of the main component in chocolate, has its dry season from mid-November to March when rainfall is poor. Cocoa prices hit record highs last month buoyed by worries that dry weather in West Africa might lead to a 4th successive global deficit this season. Farmers informed Reuters that as flowers and cherelles, which develop into cocoa pods, were proliferating on trees more wetness was required...

Ivory Coast cocoa exporters cut purchases as port rates rise, sources state

Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut and Singaporebased food group Olam have been buying fewer cocoa beans from Ivory Coast because midDecember after an increase in port costs at Abidjan and San Pedro, industry sources said on Thursday. 7 cocoa purchasers based in the regions of Soubre, San Pedro, Duékoué and Meagui informed Reuters they are charging exporters, including smaller operators, more than an authorities cap in order to benefit from an increase in international cocoa rates towards record levels. We have actually needed to decrease our cocoa purchases in the bush because mid-December due to the fact that of price...

China Advancement Bank releases $255 mln for Nigeria rail job

China Development Bank has released a $254.76 million loan to Nigeria for a railway task linking the 2 northern states of Kano and Kaduna, the bank stated, ahead of a check out to the West African country by China's. leading diplomat this week. As part of his yearly New Year tour of Africa, China's. Foreign Minister Wang Yi will arrive in Nigeria on Wednesday. and fulfill President Bola Tinubu and senior federal government officials. on Thursday, Nigeria's foreign affairs ministry said. Construction of the Kaduna-to-Kano rail task, which is. anticipated to cost $973 million, has been slowed by financing. delays....

Marsa Maroc to purchase Djibouti's Damerjog petroleum terminal, decree states

Morocco's top port operator Marsa Maroc will invest a concealed amount in Damerjog Oil FZE, which is planning to develop an oil and gas port on Djibouti's Gulf of Aden coast, according to a Moroccan government decree seen on Monday. Marsa Maroc has actually created a subsidiary, Marsa Maroc International Logistics, which will run a special offshoot called Marsa Djibouti to manage the Damerjog financial investment, according to the decree. Marsa Maroc did not right away respond to Reuters' emailed request for remark. The financial investment aims to increase Marsa Maroc's existence in east Africa's logistical supply chains, according to...

Passenger Transportation Services

Sources say that three tankers were damaged in the Mediterranean last month by explosions of unknown causes.

Shipping and security sources confirmed on Wednesday that three oil tankers were damaged in separate incidents in the Mediterranean in the past month, but the cause of the explosions was unknown. These are the first incidents in which non-military ships have been damaged by blasts around the central Mediterranean for decades. One of the shipping sources reported that an explosion caused a 1-metre-deep crack below the waterline in the hull on the Greek-operated crude-oil tanker Seajewel in a port located in northern Italy, on Saturday. The same vessel was hit by a second explosion 20 minutes later without further damage....