DAILY TRUST
Friday, January 21, 2011
21
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Business/l nternational
IMF approves $1.9m payment to Republic of Congo THE International Monetary Fund on Wednesday authorized a $1.9 million loan payment to the Republic of Congo and
mate;' the IMF said in a state-
described the economic outlook
duction and sustained growtn in
for the central African oil producer as "favorable:' The loan payment under the IMF's Extended Credit Facility for poorer countries brings to about $9.4 million the amount
non-oil sector~ of construcUoh,~: telecoms and transpoit. rnflation had also slowed to the low single. _~igits, the fund addeg. . ..' .. ' "To support non-oil and to durably reduce poverty,' further efforts are needed to increase private-sector participation, enhance the financial performance of state-owned enterprises, and deepen financial intermediation;' the IMF said. (Reuters)
paid out
to the country under a
$12.8 million loan agreement. "The outlook is favorable, provided that non-oil sector activity accelerates on the back of improvements in basic infrastructure and the business cli-
ment.
It ~aid economic activity was robust, fueled by rising oil pro-
Oil rises to $92 a barrel on weak dollar i
a shutdown, as well as a suggestion by the International Energy Agency that OPEC may have raised output in response to high oU prices. On the other hand, Brent prices have been buoyed by concerns over disruptions in North Sea crude supplies, . . "We dodt expect any drastic remained strong at more than six . price movements today -- there's a dollars a barrel, but below the eight dollars level hit before the bit of holiday mood still in crude, February Brent contract expired with trading volumes still filirly low, and the market is in a consolidalast Friday. But gains in US. crude could be tion mode;' said Matthew Lewi~ an capped by the-impendingrestart analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. of Alaska's main oil pipeline after (Reuters/NAN).
OIL rose to near 92 dollars a barrel yesterday, boosted by a fall in the dollar to two-month lows. Brent crude extended gains on worries over a supply crunch. The discount for u.s. crude futures benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) against Brent.
Egypt plans $3.4bn housing projects THE Egyptian government's New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) said it will launch real estate investment projects worth 20 billion Egyptian pounds near Cairo, a newspaper said yesterday. ('The New Urban Communities Authority is offering a number of
Coal to rival oil
by 2030 - BP
CHINA, India, Russia and Brazil will dominate energy demand growth in the next 20 years, which will see non-fossil fuels grow fast and energy output from coal almost matching oil, energy major BP said yesterday. "Non-OECD Asia will account for nearly twothirds of non -OECD consumption growth over the next 20 years and more than three-quarters of the net global increase, rising by nearly 13 million barrels a day;' BP's chief economist Christopher Ruhl
slowly at 0.6 percent per year while natural gas will be the fastest growing fossil fuel with more than three times the projected growth rate of oil at 2.1 percent per year, BP said. Coal will increase by 1.2 percent a year and is likely by 2030 to prOVide virtually as much energy as oil excluding biofuels. "In percentage terms, oil demand is reduced
said in a statement.
renewables and is the sector most likely to employ carbon pricing;' BP said. Fossil fuels' contribution to primary energy growth is projected to fall to 64 percent from 83 percent but the importance of reserves-rich OPEC will only rise as its share of global oil production will increase to 46 percent, a position not seen since 1977. (Reulers)
BP, which has been producing benchmark annual statistical reports for the past 60 years, on Wednesday launched its first long-term energy outlook to 2030, with most findings coinciding with the benchmark report by the International Energy Agency. . Oil, excluding biofuels, will grow relatively
the most in the power 5ectOI'--- minus 30 percentbecause this is the easiest oil to displace with gas or
Foreign investment in Ghana doubles in 2010 FOREIGN direct investment in Ghana doubled to $ Ll1 billion in 2010, with China leading the number of investment projects.
the government said on Thesday. "The year 2010 ended with a total of 385 projects with a total estimated value of $1.28 billion. The FDI component of this figure is $1.11 billion, a significant increase compared to $551.30 million recorded in 2009," the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre said in a release.
China led the number of registered projects with 67, it said, and came in fourth in terms of estimated cost of the projects
behind Bermuda, Nigeria and Trinidad. Ghana, olle of a handful of sub-Saharan countries with a Eurobond, is expected to post Africa's fastest rate of growth in 2011 after starting commercial oil production last month. The West African country is also the continent's second -largest gold miner and the world's No.2 cocoa grower. China has expanded its presence across the resource-rich continent in recent years as it seeks to lock up long-term energy and commoditie,s supplies to fuel its rapid growth: (Reulers)
investment projects in Sixth of October City worth 20 billion pounds;' al-Ahram newspaper said, citing an official at NUCA. The newspaper cited the official as saying all the projects woul,! be allocated via public auctions or closed bidding rounds. The investments would include two tourism projects worth 14 billion pounds and an international equestrian centre worth 4.5 billion
pounds, the paper said. (Reuters)
Africa's economy to expand by 5% in 2011 RISING infrastructure investment and agricultural productivity, and a growing demand for Africa's exports will help the continent's economy expand by five percent in 2011 and 5.1 in 2012, the United Nations said. Falling exports and weak commodity prices slowed the continent's growth to 2.3 percent in 2009, but improving glObal trade enabled Africa to rebound to 4.7 percent in 2010, according to the United Nation's World Economic Situation and Prospects report launched in Ethiopia on Tuesday. "The recovery of global trade and the strong economic rebound
in East Asia supported by a strong rebound in Africa's commodity exports;' the UN said.
"Increased government spending on infrastructure, strong performance of the agricultural sec-
tor and new inflows of foreign investments in extractive industries underpinned strong growth in domestic demand;' the report
added. However, the UN said the continent's overall growth has "masked" substantial disparities in economic performances by African countries.
Ethiopia, Egypt, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Zambia were among a few countries with "fastgrowing" economies with growing manufacturing and service sectors, as well as improving agri-
cultural production and investments in infrastructure. (Reuters)
Uganda central bank to be aggressive on fx rate UGANDXS central bank said yesterday it would adopt a more aggressive stance to,:,,",ds the shillings exchange rate after the local currency sunk to an all-time low of2,395/2,400 versus the dollar. "We believe that the current level ofthe Uganda shilling/dollar exchange rate is undervalued ... further depreciation will be counterproductive for macro-economic management;' Governor Emmanuel Tumus!ime-Mute-
bUe said in a statement. (Reuters).
Africa M&A surges to record $44bn in 2010 MERGERS and acqUisitions activity in sub-Saharan Africa surged to a record $44 billion in 2010, double the value from a year earlier, Thomson Reuters data showed yesterday. Even as deal activity spiked across the fast -growing region, total fees reaped by investment banks declined by 15 percent, as stiffcompetition put pressure on margins. JP Morgan Chase & Co edged past rival Morgan Stanley to take
lion in the region, thanks to participation in Wal-Mart's bid for South Africa's Massmart, as well big equity
the top spot for overall investment
due to expectations of growing trade flows between Asia and the
banking fees, raking in $21.4 mU-
and debt issuances. '~ricais becoming much more important for a lot of the global
banks. As a consequence, you are seeing increased competition~ said
Johann Scholtz, banking analyst at Afrifocus Securities in Cape Town. Major international banks are targeting more deals in Africa,
resource-rich continent.
The chief executives of both Citigroup Inc and JP Morgan have recently visited the continent to stress their interest in winning"
Africa deals. Big overseas banks are also doing more than just M&A deals in Africa, the data showed. M&A fees, histOrically the biggest contributor to total investment banking activity, accounted for just under 5O'percent ofall fees, the lowest since 2007. (Reulers)
Drought may hit food supply in Horn of Africa GROWING signs of drought in the Hom of Africa could lead to food shortages in Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia, while rising food prices may put its budget under pressure, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday. "Certain regions that are prone to drought and weailier variation are showing signs of cyclical food shortages;' SheUa Sisulu, deputy executive director with the U.N. agency, told Reuters. "The Horn of
Africa immediately comes to mind. "Much as they (Ethiopia) have some areas where they have enough grain, the Somali area is also being affected not only by the fighting but also what seems like a drought developing;' she said on a visit to
London. Sisulu said the WFP sourced most of its food from loeal eountri es it operated in and was "cautiously optimistic" about volatUe prices in global markets.
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