Corporate Council on Africa’s latest news updates

(Posted 23rd March 2023)

 

CCA MEMBERS IN THE NEWS

ExxonMobil boosts fuel supply with $2 billion Beaumont refinery expansion
Exxon Mobil 
ExxonMobil today announced the successful startup of its Beaumont refinery expansion project, which adds 250,000 barrels per day of capacity to one of the largest refining and petrochemical complexes along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Supported by the company’s growing crude production in the Permian Basin, the largest refinery expansion in more than a decade will help meet growing demand for affordable, reliable energy…Read more>>

Gilead Sciences to exclusively license Nurix Therapeutics’ protein degrader 
Pharmaceutical Technology 
Gilead Sciences has exercised its option to exclusively license the investigational targeted protein degrader development candidate, NX?0479, from clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Nurix Therapeutics…Read more>>

 

U.S.-AFRICA RELATIONS

Assistant Secretary Sison’s Travel to Madagascar, South Africa, Mauritius, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos
U.S Department of State 
Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Michele Sison will travel to Madagascar, South Africa, Mauritius, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos, March 22-April 7, for meetings with counterparts and UN officials to reinforce U.S. commitment to collaborative multilateral engagement in addressing collective global challenges… Read more>>

Biden admin quadruples down on its Africa charm offensive  
MSNBC
The Biden administration’s charm offensive with Africa is ramping up in a big way, with U.S. officials continuing to make visits to shore up diplomatic relations as Russia and China challenge American influence over the continent… Read more>>

Bliken Visits Ethiopia Amids Broader US Push Into Africa  
Bloomberg
Secretary of State Antony Blinken became the latest senior US official to visit Africa as part of a broader push by Washington to re-engage with the continent’s leaders at a time when the region is facing stark security challenges and economic fallout from the war in Ukraine… Read more>>

The United States and Niger: A Strategic Partnership
U.S Department of State 
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s travel to Niger on March 16, 2023, is the country’s first visit by a U.S. Secretary of State.  He will meet with President Mohamed Bazoum and Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou.  Secretary Blinken’s visit to Niger following the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit is a recognition of our robust bilateral relationship with a key partner on democracy, governance, and regional security…. Read more>>

U.S Uses Holistic Approach in Africa Relations, General Says 
U.S. Department of State
Marine Corps Gen. Michael E. Langley spoke today to the press from Rome, Italy, on a State Department-hosted website… Read more>>

Cameroon: The American Ambassador on an inspection mission in the Far North 
Journal du Cameroun
According to the United States Ambassador to Cameroon, John Lamora , it is a question of getting to grips with the realities on the ground specific to the Far North region . But also to appreciate the various supports that his country brings to the needy…Read more>>

AGRIBUSINESS

Cutting its cloth: can a new industrial revolution transform Benin’s economy?  
The Guardian
When Muriel Akouewanou finished her studies in natural sciences in Benin, she struggled to find work and was unemployed for two years. Then, she saw an advert on TV. Textile factories were being built in a new industrial zone, 28 miles from Cotonou, the city where Akouewanou, 24, lived with her parents, and they needed workers…Read more>>

ENERGY

What Would Happen if South Africa’s Electricity Grid Collapsed 
Bloomberg 
With South Africa enduring record power outages, the government has given assurances that the electricity grid won’t be allowed to collapse. Yet increasing numbers of businesses are preparing for that very eventuality. Mining and telecommunications companies, retailers and private hospitals are spending millions of rand on batteries, solar panels and generators to safeguard their operations as the electricity supply from state utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. grows increasingly unreliable… Read more>>

Zimbabwe’s new 300 MW coal-fired plant starts feeding into grid  
Reuters 
Zimbabwe’s new 300 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power generating unit started feeding electricity into the national grid late on Monday, the state power utility said, as it moves to ease extended outages that have impacted businesses and households… Read more>>

Lukoil-backed Congo project to begin LNG output in December 
Reuters
A senior executive at Russia’s Lukoil (LKOH.MM) energy company said a project in the Congo in which it is involved will begin producing liquefied natural gas (LNG) in December, Russian news agencies reported… Read more>>

Congo must stop over reliance on oil for economic growth- World Bank Report 
News24
Congo (Brazzaville) should stop its over-dependence on oil for economic growth, learning from the downturn of the last seven years, the World Bank said in its report, Congo’s Road to Prosperity: Building Foundations for Economic Diversification... Read more>>

HEALTH

Burundi declares public health emergency amid first polio cases in 30 years 
The Telegraph 
Burundi has declared a polio outbreak after detecting its first cases in three decades.The African nation of 13 million confirmed three cases in children and also found the crippling virus in five wastewater samples… Read more>>

‘Forty million COVID-19 vaccines could go to waste in East Africa’ 
Channel Africa
The region’s countries, once aggressive buyers of the vaccines as the rich West hoarded them for their populations, are now stuck with stockpiles of doses they cannot dispense because of the anti-vax sentiment and lack of support for the inoculation programmes… Read more>>

INFRASTRUCTURE

African Infrastructure Gets Boost from $12 Billion Climate Fund 
Bloomberg 
The Green Climate Fund, a $12 billion international climate finance facility, has agreed to make its biggest ever African equity investment, backing infrastructure that can withstand the impact of a warming planet… Read more>>

Malawi president declares half of country damaged by cyclone  
The Guardian 
President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi has said that nearly half of his country has been damaged by Cyclone Freddy, which has killed hundreds of people and become the longest-lasting tropical storm on record. In an exclusive interview, the president asked for help from the international community and said the structural destruction was vast… Read more>>

ICT

Nigeria has launched a $672 million fund for startups after the collapse of three US banks 
Quartz
Nigeria has launched a $672 million fund to support its tech startups amid the upheaval caused by the recent collapse of three key US banks. The fund was launched on March 14 under the government’s Digital and Creative Enterprises Programme (DCEP). Its corpus will include $170 million in contributions from the African Development Bank (AfDB), $116 million from the Agence Francaise de Developpement, $70 million from the Islamic Development Bank, and $271 million from the country’s private sector. The government itself will provide $45 million… Read more>>

Angola joins fight against illicit financial flows
Mail&Guarding
Angola is on a mission to be more tax transparent, which could accelerate its ratings for ease of doing business and curb illicit financial flows.The country recently joined the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (Global Forum), an initiative that seeks to foster tax transparency… Read more>>

IMF says Somalia to qualify for full debt relief by year end 
The East African
Somalia will be eligible for full debt relief from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other multilateral lenders by the end of this year as reforms to boost revenue collection and fiscal transparency begin to bear fruit, the lender has said… Read more>>