Central Africa








Energy Markets

Oil & Gas

Fuel Oil

Malaysia's Petronas reports a profit decline in 2024 due to global volatility and lower oil prices

Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd, the state-owned energy company, reported a decline in profits in 2024, compared with a year earlier, due to global volatility, lower oil prices, and geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty. The firm also warned of future market challenges. Petroliam Nasional (or Petronas) reported a profit of $55.1 billion after taxes in 2024, compared to $80.7 billion in 2023. In 2024, revenue fell from 343.6 billion to 320 billion Ringgit. Capital investments in 2024 were 54.2 billion Ringgit compared to 52.80 billion Ringgit in the year 2023. Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz, Petronas' Chief Executive Officer, said that...

Oil & Gas Refining

Swiss court convicts ex-Gunvor employee of corruption

On Thursday, a top Swiss court found that a former Gunvor employee had corrupted officials in the Republic of Congo for oil contracts. This is the first time that a corruption case in Switzerland's commodities trading industry, worth $80 billion, has been brought to court. This follows the conviction of Trafigura, a rival trading firm, and a former executive in a corruption case involving Angolan Oil Deals last month. The Swiss Federal Criminal Court released a statement on Thursday that the ruling concerned bribes worth over $35 million, intended at least in part for Congolese officials, over an 18-month period...

Crude Oil

Swiss court finds former Trafigura executive guilty of corruption

S witzerland’s top criminal court found Trafigura, a former executive and a company guilty of corruption on Friday in a case involving the payment made to an Angolan government official in exchange for oil contract. The court ordered that the trading house pay $148 million as fines and compensation, and sentenced Mike Wainwright, a former employee of itss to 32 months imprisonment. Of this time 12 months must be served. You can appeal the decision to the same court. This is the first case in Switzerland where a company was charged with corruption of an official from abroad. It's also...

Oil & Gas

Chad holds parliamentary election likely to seal president's grip on power

Chadians were voting on Sunday in a parliamentary election boycotted by the opposition that will likely consolidate President Mahamat Idriss Deby's. power and finish the oilproducing country's transition towards. constitutional guideline. Deby was elected in a challenged vote in May, three years after. taking power and declaring himself interim leader when rebels. killed his father, President Idriss Deby, on the battlefield. Opposition leader Succes Masra's Transformateurs party and. numerous other celebrations boycotted Sunday's legislative election,. the country's first in over a decade. They are also boycotting. community and local elections also being hung on Sunday. Surveys opened for wanderers and...

Oil & Gas

Cameroon's Biya cautions of catastrophe for Central Africa monetary stability

Cameroon's President Paul Biya cautioned on Monday of devastating consequences for the countries of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa if immediate action is not taken to address their degrading net external reserves. The member nations - Cameroon, Gabon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, and the Republic of Congo - share monetary policy and a currency with a common reserve bank. Between them, they have actually struggled to emerge from the impact of the COVID pandemic and other external international shocks, leaving them short of forex or other properties to cover import costs and debt payments. They...

Oil & Gas

Britain sanctions Angola's dos Santos, Ukrainian oligarch Firtash in corruption crackdown

Britain has barred Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos and Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash and has frozen their UK possessions, the federal government announced on Thursday, in what it said became part of a new crackdown on ' dirty cash'. The procedures were the first step in tightening Britain's. anti-corruption sanctions program as promised in July's election,. the Labour federal government stated. These deceitful people selfishly deny their. fellow people of much-needed funding for education, healthcare. and infrastructure - for their own enrichment, Foreign. Secretary David Lammy said in a declaration. Dos Santos, whose daddy Jose Eduardo dos Santos ruled. Angola...

Oil & Gas

Prospect of lower oil costs puts pressure on Angola, finance minister states

The possibility of lower oil rates puts lots of pressure on Angola, the country's finance minister told Reuters on Friday, including that she expected to see rates average around $70 to $72 per barrel compared to $75 in 2024. The federal government of Africa's second-largest petroleum exporter will likewise continue to phase out fuel subsidies, Financing Minister Vera Daves de Sousa said in an interview on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank annual conferences in Washington. The number of steps we didn't decide yet, but our concept is to do it in actions, she said, verifying that aids...

Oil & Gas

Equatorial Guinea tells World Court Gabon's claim on islands is untenable

Equatorial Guinea asked judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday to decline Gabon's claim to several islands in possibly oilrich waters in the Gulf of Guinea. The African neighbours, both substantial oil manufacturers, have asked the United Nations' leading court to settle a disagreement centring on the small island of Mbanié, less than a kilometre (about 1,000 lawns) long, off the coast of Gabon. Gabon's position is factually and lawfully untenable, stated Equatorial Guinea's representative at the court, Domingo Mba Esono. The dispute has actually been going on because 1972, when Gabon's army drove Equatorial Guinea soldiers...

Oil & Gas

Gabon marks year because 'coup of freedom' with events, reform pledges

A year because a military coup in Gabon ended the Bongo dynasty's 56year guideline, the nation marked the anniversary in joyful state of mind today with celebrations and promises by the ruling junta to step up progress on reforms. The Gabonese mostly welcomed the military's ouster of president Ali Bongo, whose household's poor management of the central African nation's oil wealth had led to a stagnant economy and stranded a third of the population in hardship. Hundreds collected in the centre of the capital, Libreville, on Friday for main celebrations led by interim president General Brice Oligui Nguema to mark...

Oil & Gas

China CNPC's international oil, gas financial investment

China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), Asia's biggest oil and gas producer, has over the past 3 years built a worldwide portfolio with possessions in 33 nations. The company's overseas production went beyond 100 million metric loads, or 2 million barrels per day of oil equivalent, for the first time in 2019 and has given that preserved that level, according to its Economics and Technology Research Study Institute. CNPC and its noted car PetroChina has given that 2002 invested an approximated $38.6 billion in upstream possessions outside China, versus Sinopec's $49.7 billion and CNOOC Ltd's $36. billion, according to consultancy Wood...

Oil & Gas Exploration

Glencore's ex-head of oil charged with bribery offenses by UK fraud agency

Glencore's former head of oil Alex Beard has actually been charged with bribery offenses relating to the Swiss commodity trader's operations in Africa, Britain's Serious Scams Office (SFO) stated on Thursday. Beard, 56, is charged with 2 conspiracies to make corrupt payments to government officials and authorities of state-owned oil business in Nigeria in between 2010 and 2014 and in Cameroon between 2007 and 2014, the SFO stated. He is among five ex-Glencore staff members charged with conspiracy to make corrupt payments and is the most high-profile commodity trader to have been charged in Britain for declared corruption. Beard joined...

Oil Refineries

Angola's new Cabinda refinery to start up later this year-CEO

Angola's new Cabinda crude oil refinery is on track to launch later this year before ramping up to full first phase production of 30,000 barrels a day by July next year, the plant's President Marcelo Hofke said on Thursday. With nearly two-thirds of the building completed, Cabinda is the most innovative of 3 new planned refineries, together with an Eni-supported plant in Luanda being upgraded, that Sub-Saharan Africa's second-biggest oil manufacturer is leaning on to cut imported refined products for domestic use. The concept is to begin commissioning by the end of this year ... and we want to reach...

Fossil Fuels

Fossil Fuels

EU sanctions Rwandan officers and M23 rebels for Congo violence

An official EU Journal publication revealed that the European Union sanctioned nine people, including the leader of Congo’s M23 rebel group and Rwandan army officials, for violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since January, the Tutsi M23 rebels led by the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and the struggle to control Congo's minerals have escalated a long-running war. On the list of sanctions are M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa and commanders from Rwanda's army - the Rwanda Defence Force. Also on the list is the M23 appointed governor for Congo's North Kivu Province. Bisimwa and a Rwandan Government spokesman did not...

Oil & Gas Exploration

CERAWEEK-Freeport-McMoRan hopes Trump declares copper a critical mineral

Freeport-McMoRan CEO Kathleen Quirk expressed her hope that U.S. president Donald Trump will declare copper to be a critical metal. This would allow tax credits for the American production of red metal, and help offset its global competitors, she said. Trump said to the U.S. Congress that he would take "historic action" to expand production of vital minerals, but he has not yet provided details. Copper is widely used in the global economy for power generation, electronic devices and construction. The U.S. Geological Survey identifies lithium, nickel and other minerals as essential. Quirk said that adding copper to Freeport's portfolio...

Fossil Fuels

Russian power sneaks across West Africa with Equatorial Guinea mission

Russia has actually released as much as 200 military instructors to Equatorial Guinea in current weeks to safeguard the presidency, sources informed Reuters, revealing Moscow is broadening its footprint in West Africa in spite of a recent defeat in Mali. The sources stated the Russians were training elite guards in the 2 main cities of the tiny oil-exporting country of 1.7 million individuals, where U.S. energy firms invested billions of dollars in the first decade of the century before reducing. The deployment suits a wider pattern of subsiding Western influence and increasing Russian interventions in West and Central Africa, where...

Mining

Mineral Resources

Mineral Resources

Angola will end its mediation role in the east Congo conflict, says the presidency

Angola is stepping down as the mediator for parties in an intensifying Rwanda-backed rebel offensive against eastern Congo. A different African country will now take over to help bring peace talks back to track, announced the presidency on Monday. M23, led by ethnic Tutsi, has escalated its long-running rebellion in this year. They have taken control of east Congo's largest cities since January. Angola President Joao Lurenco, who is currently rotating African Union (AU), has tried to mediate a ceasefire lasting and reduce tensions between Congo, and Rwanda, the neighbouring country, which was accused of supporting M23. Rwanda denies that....

Mineral Resources

Andy Home: Congo conflict double trouble for the global tin industry

Alphamin Resources' decision suspending operations at the Bisie Tin Mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo highlights the fragility of the global tin supply chain. As the M23 rebels advance deeper into Congo's mineral-rich Kivu Provinces, one of the largest tin mining operations in the world is returning to Myanmar after a long absence. Tin's supply volatility is once again generating price volatility. On the news, London Metal Exchange's three-month tin soared 11.5% and reached a three-year high price of $37100 per metric tonne. The Congo conflict is a serious problem for the global market. Not only are units being...

Mineral Resources

Andy Home: Congo conflict double trouble for the global tin industry

Alphamin Resources' decision suspending operations at the Bisie Tin Mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo highlights the fragility of the global tin supply chain. As the M23 rebels advance deeper into Congo's mineral-rich Kivu Provinces, one of the largest tin mining operations in the world is returning to Myanmar after a long absence. Tin's supply volatility is once again generating price volatility. On the news, London Metal Exchange's three-month tin soared 11.5% and reached a three-year high price of $37100 per metric tonne. The Congo conflict is a serious problem for the global market. Not only are units being...

Mineral Resources

AVZ Minerals, Australia's lithium mining company, wins legal victory in Congo against Congo

AVZ Minerals, an Australian company, announced on Friday that it had won a court case against the Democratic Republic of Congo and China's Zijin Mining for the rights to the Manono Lithium Mine. It is now in negotiations with U.S. parties about raising funds for the project. The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ordered DRC state-owned Cominiere, to pay a fine of 39.1 millions euros ($42.46million) for failing to comply with orders earlier to cease any action terminating its joint enterprise with AVZ. AVZ originally held the permit for the development of the Manono Project,...

Mineral Resources

Alphamin shares fall as the company temporarily stops tin-mining in Congo's East

Alphamin Resources' shares fell further in Toronto on Friday after the miner announced that it had temporarily stopped its tin mining operations in the volatile eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo as rebels advanced toward the operations. Early trading in Toronto saw a drop of up to 36%. Alphamin shares have fallen 52% this year according to LSEG. The company announced that activities at the Bisie tin mining site in Congo's North Kivu were halted after "insurgent militants groups recently advanced westward toward the mine's position in DRC, occupying Nyabiondo," according to a statement. Alphamin stated that "all...

Mineral Resources

LME Tin Jumps After Alphamin Temporarily Stops Operations at Bisie Mine in Congo

Alphamin Resources announced that it will temporarily stop operations at its Bisie Tin Mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo because of unrest in North Kivu Province. The London Metal Exchange's (LME) soldering metal prices were up 3.3% to $34,530 per metric ton by 1401 GMT, after reaching $34,815 per ton - the highest price since July. Alphamin produced over 17,000 tons last year of the metal that is used in semiconductors. This represents more than 4% global total supplies, estimated to be around 380,000 tonnes. Alphamin stated in a press release that "this decision was taken after insurgent...

Mineral Resources

Chinese consumers turn to Congolese copper off-exchange to ease supply shortages

Analysts and traders predict that China will import more refined off-exchange copper in this year as the output from Congo increases and consumers look to ease shortages and avoid a possible disruption of supplies of U.S. Scrap. The expected surge demonstrates the increasing reliance of China, as the largest copper consumer in the world, on the supply of refined metal from the Democratic Republic of Congo. DRC is now the second-largest producer of copper after years of massive Chinese investment. The Congo is a typical source of equivalent grade (EQ), copper, because the producers did not pay to register their...

Mineral Resources

Angola's presidency has announced that it will try to broker direct negotiations between Congo and M23.

Angola announced on Tuesday that it will attempt to broker direct negotiations between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda-backed M23 M23 rebels within the next few days. The Congolese government has refused to engage in talks with M23 on numerous occasions and so far, there is no comment. The Southern African nation has been working to mediate for a long-lasting ceasefire, and deescalate tensions with Rwanda. Rwanda has been accused by the Congo of supporting the Tutsi rebel group. Rwanda denies that it has provided arms and troops to the M23 rebels and claims its forces are acting...

Mineral Resources

Military prosecutor to question allies of Congo's ex-president Kabila

A military prosecutor has invited officials from the former party of Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila to appear in front of him on Monday. This is a sign of the political tensions surrounding the Rwanda-backed rebels’ advances in the East. Jean Mbuyu said that the exact reason behind the invitations wasn't clear. He is a former security adviser to Kabila and a lawyer who represents the officials. Felix Tshisekedi - who had once formed a power-sharing agreement with Kabila – has accused him recently of sponsoring M23 rebels, who have taken over the two largest cities in east...

Mineral Resources

US opens to mineral partnerships with Democratic Republic of Congo

The United States is open to exploring critical minerals partnerships with Congo, the State Department said in a statement to on Sunday, after a Congolese senator contacted U.S. officials to pitch a minerals-for-security deal. The Democratic Republic of Congo is rich in minerals such as cobalt, uranium, and lithium. Rwanda-backed M23 M23 rebels have taken over large areas of the country this year. Kinshasa has been buzzing with talk of a deal between the U.S. and Ukraine, which are also negotiating a mineral pact. A spokesperson for the State Department said that the United States was "open to discussing partnerships...

Mineral Resources

After a deadly attack on civilians, the violence in eastern Congo continues

Residents reported that fighting between M23 rebels, and pro-Congo forces, was taking place in Nyabiondo on Sunday, 100 km north of Goma, in the eastern Congo. This comes days after an attack in the area left many civilians dead, according to both UN and NGO reports. Since the beginning of this year, the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group has taken over large areas of the mineral-rich east of Congo. Kipanda Bibiiri, a local official who was fleeing from the area, said that M23 had taken Nyabiondo at 11 a.m. (0900 GMT) following clashes. Telesphore Mitondeke is a civil society reporter in...

Mineral Resources

US opens to mineral partnerships with Democratic Republic of Congo

The United States is open to exploring critical minerals partnerships with Congo, the State Department said in a statement to on Sunday, after a Congolese senator contacted U.S. officials to pitch a minerals-for-security deal. The Democratic Republic of Congo is rich in minerals such as cobalt, uranium, and lithium. Rwanda-backed M23 M23 rebels have taken over large areas of the country this year. Kinshasa has been buzzing with talk of a deal between the U.S. and Ukraine, which are also in talks over a mineral pact. A spokesperson for the State Department said that the United States was "open to...