Tanzania, Congo Sign Deal for Petroleum Exploration in Lake Tanganyika
Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday for joint exploration and development of hydrocarbons in Lake Tanganyika. The lake, which straddles the border between Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Zambia, is the world's second largest by volume and second deepest, according to officials. "We have signed a memorandum of understanding to exchange experiences in exploration and exploitation of petroleum in Lake Tanganyika," Congolese President Joseph Kabila told a news conference in Dar es Salaam after talks with Tanzanian President John Magufuli.
Kipevu Oil Terminal at Mombasa Port to Relocate
Kenya Ports Authority annoucend: Kipevu Oil Terminal at Mombasa Port will be relocated early next year, to Dongo Kundu area, as a result of the ongoing capacity expansion programme. New, upgraded modern oil terminal is expected to have a capacity to accommodate four vessels of up to 200 000 DWT. The project also involves building new cargo handling facilities with both, subsea and land based pipelines and four berths capable of loading/discharging crude oil, HFO, DPK-aviation, AGO-Diesel and PMS-Petrol. The other element is the Top side…
Kenya's KenolKobil H1 2015 Pretax Profit Rises Up
Kenyan oil marketer KenolKobil said on Monday its first half 2015 pretax profit had risen 69 percent to $13.36 million as the cost of servicing its loans fell. It said in a statement total sales fell to 34.9 billion shillings from 43.2 billion shillings, while the cost of sales dropped to 31.9 billion shillings from 40.63 billion shillings. KenolKobil, which also operates in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, Ethiopia, Burundi, Mozambique and Democratic Republic of Congo, said finance costs fell to 379.5 million shillings from 669.33 million shillings. (Reporting by George Obulutsa)
Burundians Strike Against High Fuel, Phone Costs
Burundians went on strike on Thursday to protest against high fuel costs and the price of their mobile phone bills, bringing the capital Bujumbura to a standstill as the government said the action was illegal. The government says it has had to raise taxes to seek revenues and cover its expenditures after a significant decrease of donor support to Burundi, caused in part by an economic slowdown in donor countries and concerns over graft and human rights abuses. The one-day strike, organised by trade unions and civil society groups…
Bangladesh Moving to Low Sulphur Gasoil
Bangladesh will lower the sulphur content of its gasoil imports from January next year, in line with a global move towards cleaner fuel, industry sources said on Wednesday. The country will import gasoil with 500 parts-per-million (ppm) sulphur instead of the 2,500 ppm, from January, 2015, Bangladesh Petroleum Corp (BPC) Chairman Eunusur Rahman told Reuters. The state-owned company, which is the country's sole importer of gasoil, will start term negotiations to buy gasoil for next year, in November, he said. The move towards cleaner gasoil is expected to increase Bangladesh's import costs by about 50 cents a barrel, Rahman added.
Kenya Yet to Decide oil Refinery's Fate
Kenya is yet to decide whether to turn east Africa's only oil refinery into an oil storage facility or pay for its upgrade after buying the remaining 50 percent stake from India's Essar Energy, the energy minister said on Friday. Fuel distributors have long complained about the poor quality products from the 50-year-old refinery in the port city of Mombasa and prefer importing cheaper and better imports. Kenya's government has agreed to pay Essar $5 million to buy the Indian firm's half of the refinery after Essar…
Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda Cut Costs of Cross-Border Calls
Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda have slashed the costs of making mobile phone calls across their borders by more than 60 percent, as part of efforts to enhance regional integration, the Kenyan communication minister said on Wednesday. The three nations, with a combined population of more than 94 million and members of the five-nation East African Community (EAC), are seeking to improve trade between their economies where businesses often complain of high roaming charges. Kenya's Safaricom, one of the biggest mobile operators in the region…
Kenyan Protesters Block Mobassa Port Highway
Protesters in Kenya blocked truckers on the only highway from Mombasa port to the capital Nairobi on Friday, threatening to choke the main trade artery with much of east Africa. More than two hundred residents in Voi, a town located 142 km (89 miles) inland from Mombasa, halted traffic with burning tyres to demand jobs from a Chinese company contracted to build a section of a railway in the area. East Africa's largest economy is the world's biggest exporter of black tea and blockage of the road to the port could disrupt shipments.
Burundi's Revised Budget Proposes New Taxes
Burundi's national assembly has passed a revised budget bill proposing new taxes on essential items despite resistance from a Tutsi-led faction in the government and Hutu opposition legislators, who say it will worsen living conditions. Under the proposal, wines, liquors, cosmetics, tobacco and mobile phones would pay a $0.25 "new stamp tax", and washed coffee, sugar, flour and mineral water would also have new taxes imposed. There would also be a new fuel and airport departure tax. The government argues the measures would help reduce the deficit expected in revenues this year.
Kenya Outlines Plans for 5,000 km of New Power Lines
Kenya plans to add 5,000 km of high voltage power lines to its existing 3,767 km network by 2017 at a cost of about 200 billion shillings ($2.28 billion) as it expands it power generation, the energy ministry said on Wednesday. Only 31 percent of Kenya's 40 million people are connected to the grid, while businesses complain that frequent blackouts due to supply shortages and an aging transmission network raise costs by forcing them to have back-up generators. The government has already outlined plans to add 5,000 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity by 2017 to the existing 1…
Bulk of Uganda Oil Production to Start in 2017
Uganda expects the bulk of its commercial oil production to start by the end of 2017 as it awaits a pipeline to export crude oil and a refinery to be built, the minister of energy and mineral development said. The east African country first discovered crude deposits in the Albertine rift basin along its border with Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006. The discovery could lead to billions of dollars in revenue from expected crude oil exports of 140,000 barrels a day (bpd) and production of about 200,000 bpd, according to the minister, offering a boost for East Africa's third-largest economy.
World Bank to Help Fund Hydro Dams in Burundi
The World Bank has approved a $100 million grant for power-starved Burundi to help fund two hydropower projects that will almost double the east African country's tiny electricity output, the bank and government said. Like many sub-Saharan African countries, Burundi suffers a chronic power deficit and regular power outages that peg back economic growth. It even has to import energy from Democratic Republic of Congo whose own infrastructure is falling apart. Two dams will produce a combined 48 megawatts (MW) of power…
