DAILY TRUST
Tuesday, July 26, 20 11
-23
Busi ness/l nternationa I
Kenya faces daily power cuts, inflation
to worsen KENYA, east Afiica's biggcst economy, faces daUy power cuts from Wednesday for an unspccilled period, ilS sole electricity supplier said. and manuractUIt'fS wanJed the outages would dri\'t' pro- . duction coruand inflation higher. K~ya Pown said on Monday the blackouts would last (or about three hours Cllch day. It blanltd transmission breakdowns and a delay In lnslallinc genCflllors after a drought In lhe (armbased economy lowered water levels at hrdmdams.. Thedrought in ~ Arm has (onslr.lired dcC1ricil)'supplks In the rtgk>n and has already rorced neighbouring n .m"lrIia to implcmcnl daily 12-hour
power cuts for an indefinill: period AnaJ)'3tS saKI the power ctlts could kad to the use: of mo~ diesel or heavy fuel to produce power, wbich has happened in the past.. They said this could pusll oil imports higher and raise electricity costs. worsening inflation that has accclc:rated this year todouble digits. 1111: outages m~n I n additional headache for industrialists alrndy facing high production COlt num~rs. It will frustrate attempts to cool off inflation," said Robert Shaw, an ind~dent rmnomic analyst. M:tnufaC1l.rm in Kenya blame inadequate po\'ier supplies and ~1M outages lOr adding to their output
Lack of sun raises concerns for Ivorian cocoa PATCHY rain mixed wilh cold anddoudyweatherin Ivory Coast's l1Iain cocoa-growing regions last w~k could hold back the dcvelopment of the 2011/12 main crop, farmers and amlysu said rcsterdllY. July and Augusl are seen 115 crud'" for the oo'eIopnxont of the October-March main crop, ....iu' cocoa trees ncedingal kast rour llOU1S per day of sun for a good dcvcloprnenl of pods - a Je..·eI anal)'S1S s::tid they \\o't'f'e not gettingat the momcnL Farmers said soill1loisturc in lhc plantations was high after a period of abunda nt and heavy rains and lhat sun.¢line was nceded to strengthen dcvdopmcnt or new small pods for a strong start to the nc:xI main crop. In the I,~em rtgiOiI ofSoubre,at the hea" orthecocoa bdt, analyst reported -I millimctrcs of rain in the bush, compared \\ith 16 miUimetres the previous 1~ Rl11e rains ha\-e subsided, but instead of.sun 1\~\"C gol Ule cold:' said ranner i.azareAke near S01.lbre. In lhe eastern rrgion of Abcngourou. anaI)"SIs reported 2 1 nt.i.lllmclrt:s of rain, compam:l with 635 millimetres the week
com. which hu slowal production and expansion as \'it'll as overall rmnomic
growth:and has forad some to consider moving 10 other countries. "We c:xpcc1cd thedrought situation to pose ill bit of challmge. but the magnitude of the shortfall in $upplie$ and the resul tan t drastic action by Kenya Powe r is shocking." said Beny Maina, chief executive o(the Kenya Association of Manufactu rers. "We all' not prepart>dR Rlt is a blow to our operations becaU5e such outages mean taking to other more costly SOUKt'$ of power, whlch adds 10 our ()\'t'J'head costs at the end of the day:' she said. (~ters)
Namibia plans 17% mining tax hike to boost revenue NAMlDlA plans to raise il$ minil18 IU by 17 percent to boost momuc, but the lUke lvill not apply to the diamond sector, the ministryof'financesaid inaSlatcmenL The ministry of finance wanlS the mining tax to be raised 10 44 percent from375pcrcml,accordingtolhcstale. mcnt c·mailcd 10 Reuters on Friday. Namibia is one oftht worlJs brgesl producm of diamonds and Iw deposits of umnium. f<Jreign (inns are exploring the SOUUIwc:st African country (or gold, lead, llncand iron orr!.
IUoTmtoandAustr.UianminerPaladin Energy are lhccurrcnt umnium pr0ducers In Namibia. The ministry said the muntry is fKing \"O!dty in ilS key rcvenue.sourccs. including minerals, and was 100Iting to strengulCI1 rt"'t'IlUC collection. -rhc ministry has abo proposed amendments to \'3rious lax bws as wdJ as new'laJI: Icgislation~ it said. The ministr'), a.lso said the country faced challrnges in revenue distribution from the Southern African Cu.~toms
Union (SACU) pool. SAO), the ...."rld's oklcst customs union which celebrated its 1ClOth birthdayb5t )'9f, is refomting a m-enue·sharing formula thai now sees South Africa Ir.Jmferringa Iargc portion oIltsCU5loms rt'COpts to its neighbours. The tr.msfcrs, whkh are meant to COIllperu:atc the smaIIer countries for South AfricJ.; dc:sire lOr high import dutieson things likecatS,h3\o~ historically accounted for just O\'ef a thittl of gcr.'ttfI. ment revenue in N;nnibia.. (ReI/len)
AngloGold to buy First Ur?nium stake for $30m At'RJCA'Sbimsgoidminer,AngloGolti Ashanti, said on Friday it woukl acquire a 19.79 percent stili in rust Uranium. sending shares lhe small Canadi.1n mil1Cf "I' IllOfe than 50 pcrccnl AngIoGokIsaid it wouklbuy47 million slJamlofFirst: Ur.miwn at 00.60 a share lOra totalofCS28rnillion. frumSouth AfriaU Village Main Rcd'GoId Mining. 111C acqui5ition WlISdl'ectctl by Angl. oGokI Ashanu for im-estmOlt purposes:
or
it 5ilid in a Slalemcnl AngIoGoId "'~ abo granted a righloClirst: rt>f1L'i:1I b Vi1bgis mn.1inlng 5.7 pmDlI.stakc in rU'St Uro-
"rum
In a note locllents, BMO Capital MarEdward Stcrckcilled lhcdcal Mpositl1'C and $aid il would increase Am Uraniumsappca! a.saM&A.targct. Shares ofRrsI Umniwn, which pro· dum uranium and gold at its Ezulllini Mine and Mine Waste SoIuOom tailing kctsanal)~ R
fdl)' in Soulh Africa, rose 50.7 pcrccnl to 58 Canadian ttnts • shan: on Fridzy morning (II') the TorontoStock Exchangt The Toronto-based miner produced somc96.00JOUl1CC501'gold in 20 10, along wilh about 44,000 pounds of uranium. according to its annual report. AngJoGold is South Afrirn's top I~ nium produa'r, with outp\lt of' about 15 million pounds a )'W'asa byproduct oI'iIs IPd-mining~OOns. (Rrlllcrsl
!>oro«"1ncrc is no sun, the sky is CO\'t'1't'd and it is cold. We are .....ondering whether the spnrs 11't' U5e;tgainst plant disease I\1iO 11m jf!hc weather continues like: this.,R said farmer Denis Kab-
Lm 'rhe soulh-nstcrn region or Aboisso got] millimelres of rain. againSI 169 millimctres lhe w«k before.. No rain rell in centre - western Dalol. which produces a quarlcrorIvoryCoast's national output. and farmers said there had bttn somcspcl1s orsunshlne lhere. (RclIlm)
Soil moisture in the plantations was high after a period of abundant and heavy rains and th at sunshine was needed to strengthen development of new smaU pods for a strong start to the next main crop.
Burundi tax revenue up 36% BURUNDI'S tax revenue rose 36 percent rear-on-yea r 10 240.3 billion fra ncs in the firs t half of 20 II, p~ rtly due to eIToru to fight t;u: er.lsion and corrupt ion,the count ry's revenue aUlhority $aid on Friday. The re\'enue board $aid in ill report it had collected 177,2 billion in the same period lasl yrar. Burundi was ranked as the mosl corrupt nation in East Africa last by Transparency International Ktn)'a
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