Central Africa

Angola runs stress tests to assess the impact of a drop in oil prices on the government's finances, said Finance Minister Vera Daves de Sousa on Friday. She added that this situation makes a request for a loan program from the IMF more likely. After U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of sweeping tariffs, Brent oil futures briefly fell below $60. This was the lowest level for four years. The contract closed at $66.91 per barrel on Friday. Daves de Sousa said in an interview at the International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in Washington that "we are rolling out stress tests...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Twangiza Mining is a gold mining company operating in the rebel controlled South Kivu Province of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. According to a letter sent to the entire company, the rebel administration has ordered the suspension of operations. In a letter dated 8 May, the company, managed by Hong Kong registered Shomka Resources informed its employees that they would be forced to stop work immediately. Twangiza Mining has been ordered to suspend operations by the South Kivu Province administration, according to a letter signed by Chao Xianfeng, the General Director. The letter also stated that all equipment and vehicles...

The U.S. Department of Defense has transferred control of an artificial intelligence program created by the U.S. Government that predicts the supply and prices of critical minerals to a non profit organization, which is assisting miners and manufacturers in striking supply deals. The Open Price Exploration for National Security AI Metals program, launched by the U.S. Department of Defense in late 2023, is an effort to counter China’s sweeping control of critical minerals, as reported last summer. Rob Strayer is the president of the Critical Minerals Forum, which includes more than 30 mining firms, manufacturers, and investors, including Volkswagen. They...

The rebel-appointed governor of South Kivu Province said that at least 10 people died in the collapse of a goldmine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Since January, M23 rebels have taken control of the two largest cities in east Congo. This is an intensification of a longstanding conflict that has its roots in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and the struggle to control Congo's vast minerals resources. In a joint statement, the Congolese government and M23 made a commitment Released on Wednesday After talks in Qatar, there is a glimmer hope that the violence will stop. Douglas Dunia Masumbuko...

Eramet, a French mining company, maintained its full-year production targets on Thursday despite lower manganese and Nickel volumes which contributed to flat sales in the first quarter. The company reported quarterly sales adjusted to 742 million euros (842 million dollars) and said that sales volumes at its manganese mining in Gabon were down 15% on an annual basis due to a strike by workers and logistical issues at Owendo Port. Eramet, the Indonesian nickel ore miner, attributed this decline to destocking of local processing plants. The Chairwoman and CEO Christel Bories also attributed the "more difficult" than expected first quarter...

Sources from both camps said that the delegations representing Congo's Government and Rwanda-backed M23 Rebels left Qatar without immediate plans to return after failing to make significant progress in a ceasefire. M23's unprecedented march since January has seen it seize the two largest cities in eastern Congo and raise fears of a regional war. Qatar mediated a surprise meeting between the Congolese president Felix Tshisekedi, and Rwandan president Paul Kagame last month. The two leaders demanded a ceasefire during this unexpected sit-down. The goal was to have direct talks between M23 and the Democratic Republic of Congo this month. Sources...

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has suspended the political party of former President Joseph Kabila and ordered the seizure of his assets over allegations that he supported rebels in eastern Congo backed by Rwanda. The 53-year old, who ruled the country from 2001 to 2019 and only stepped aside after violent protests against him, said that he wanted to return to Congo in order to find a resolution to the conflict. In a statement issued late Saturday, the interior ministry stated that his party had been suspended for assisting the M23 rebels. The justice ministry also said...

Alphamin Resources announced that it had restarted the tin production in its Bisie mine, located in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This was after rebels retreated from the nearby town of Walikale. In a statement, the miner stated that it was processing tin-ore stockpiled and plans to resume activities at its underground mining facility later this month when more employees return to their jobs. Alphamin temporarily halted its operations in Bisie in March, which produced about 6% of the global tin supply a year. A rebel group backed by Congo’s eastern neighbor Rwanda advanced into Walikale, a town adjacent to...

Four sources confirmed that Congolese officials, as well as negotiators from the M23 rebels, who are supported by Rwanda, have arrived in Doha to hold talks on a ceasefire. The aim is to end months of fighting which have caused fears of an expanded regional conflict. M23's rapid advances this year have left thousands of civilians killed, hundreds of thousands displaced and the rebels in control of much of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, an area rich with tin and gold. Both delegations confirmed they were in Qatari capital, saying that there had been a face to face meeting on...

The price of tin fell to a two-month low on Wednesday, after Alphamin Resources Corp announced that it would resume operations in phases at its Bisie Mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Alphamin stopped operations at Bisie a month ago. The plant produces about 6% global tin supply a year. This was as M23 rebels, backed by Rwanda, advanced in the area and took over the strategic town Walikale. In a Wednesday statement, Alphamin said that the insurgents had now withdrawn to Walikale. This is more than 130km (80miles) east of the mine. The price of soldering material on...

Four sources familiar with the negotiations said that the United States was trying to broker a deal which would guarantee a reopening of an important tin mine located in eastern Congo. Massad Boulos' recent trip to Kinshasa as the senior Africa advisor for U.S. president Donald Trump included a discussion on the fate of Alphamin’s Bisie Mine, according to the sources, even though Washington’s involvement dates back several weeks. Washington and Kinshasa are also in talks about a broader deal on critical minerals partnerships, after Congo pitched a minerals-for-security deal to the Trump administration. Bisie produced around 17,300 tons of...

He said late Tuesday that the former Congolese President Joseph Kabila would return to central Africa to help solve the crisis in war-ravaged eastern Congo, where Rwandan-backed M23 M23 rebels had seized large swathes. Since January, the M23 rebels have launched a lightning-fast offensive in the mineral-rich eastern part of Democratic Republic of Congo. This has resulted in thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of people being forced to flee their homes. It also stoked fears of an escalating regional conflict. Sources from the Congolese government, M23 and other sources confirmed this week that the peace talks between Congo...

These are the most popular stories from the Financial Times. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. Headlines - UK auto industry gets tariff relief by lowering EV targets - Britain will relax rules for hedge funds and smaller private equity firms UK will scrap or merge even more quangos as part of anti-regulation drive - US closes on crucial minerals deal with DR Congo View the full article After President Donald Trump's 25% tariff on global auto sector exports to the U.S., the British government has lowered its targets for electric cars, and lowered...