Libya’s Oil Output Is Said to Wilt as Hot Weather Halts Turbines

Libya’s Oil Output Is Said to Wilt as Hot Weather Halts Turbines

TRIPOLI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Libya’s crude production tumbled by at least 120,000 barrels a day after some oil-field equipment stopped operating due to hot weather, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Output at the Libyan Arabian Gulf Oil Co., known as Agoco, dropped to about 145,000 barrels a day on Tuesday from about 260,000, the person said, asking not to be identified for lack of authority to speak to…

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Carmakers in Battle With South Africa Over Support Plan

Carmakers in Battle With South Africa Over Support Plan

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa is proposing automakers including Toyota Motor Corp., Ford Motor Co. and BMW AG more than double production in return for tax breaks so generous that the companies can ship the cars all the way to Europe. The auto industry accounts for about 7 percent of South Africa’s gross domestic product and has been one of the few highlights of a period of sluggish economic growth, according to the National…

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Kenya Drops Budget Cap to Reach Oil-Cash Deal, Lawmakers Say

Kenya Drops Budget Cap to Reach Oil-Cash Deal, Lawmakers Say

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya agreed to drop budget-allocation limits for oil-rich counties in order to break a deadlock in passing a revenue-sharing law that’s delayed production. The Petroleum Exploration, Development and Production Bill, which was presented to lawmakers in February and later withdrawn, proposed giving communities 5 percent of revenue and county administrations receiving 20 percent provided those amounts did not exceed budget allocations by the national government. The local community’s share was…

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Glencore Said to Face U.K. Bribery Probe Over Congo Dealings

Glencore Said to Face U.K. Bribery Probe Over Congo Dealings

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The U.K.’s white-collar crime prosecutor is preparing to open a formal bribery investigation into Glencore Plc and its work with Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler and the leader of Democratic Republic of Congo, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Investigators at the Serious Fraud Office plan to seek formal approval for a full probe into Glencore’s dealings in Congo, said the people, who declined to be identified because the matter isn’t…

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Congo Billionaire Seeks French Loan to Develop Iron-Ore Railway

Congo Billionaire Seeks French Loan to Develop Iron-Ore Railway

KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Paul Obambi, a billionaire investor in the Congo Republic, is in talks with French lenders to fund a railway he’s building to export iron ore. Obambi’s company SAPRO SA is negotiating with “a consortium of banks” to finance the 450-kilometer (280-mile) track that will link the southwestern town of Mayoko to a port at Pointe Noire, he said in a phone interview from Paris on Tuesday. Construction is expected…

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Nigerian Lawmakers Raise 2018 Spending Plans to $25 Billion

Nigerian Lawmakers Raise 2018 Spending Plans to $25 Billion

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian lawmakers increased spending plans for 2018 by almost 6 percent from what President Muhammadu Buhari proposed in November. Of the new suggested budget of 9.1 trillion naira ($25 billion), 3.5 trillion naira is for recurrent expenditure, 2.8 trillion naira for capital spending and 2.2 trillion naira for debt servicing, according to a paper of proceedings in the House of Representatives released Tuesday. Provisions are also made for statutory transfers and…

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More Pain May Come for Nigeria’s Loss-Making Oil Behemoth

More Pain May Come for Nigeria’s Loss-Making Oil Behemoth

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – It’s meant to be a cash cow, but the state oil company of Africa’s biggest producer is bleeding money. Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., the Abuja-based behemoth that dominates the OPEC member’s energy industry, has made losses for at least the last three years, statements on its website show. It will probably register another in 2018, according to Ecobank Transnational Inc., as its refineries and fuel-retailing arm fail to generate…

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