West Africa

The Nigerian oil workers' union ordered its members on Monday to stop gas supplies to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. This escalated a labour dispute that had been sparked by the dismissal hundreds of Nigerian workers. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, (PENGASSAN), has directed all its branches in major oil companies to stop crude and natural gas deliveries at the refinery immediately. According to a letter from September 26, the union accused Dangote of "misinformation" and "propaganda" rather than addressing the alleged wrong disengagement of unionised workers. "The crude oil supply valves should be closed." In...

A copy of the letter sent by the company to the PENGASSAN oil workers union, seen on Friday, shows that some employees of the Nigerian Dangote oil refining plant have been fired. This refinery, Africa's largest by far, has a crude processing capacity per day of 650,000 barrels. It could reshape the global fuel trade dynamics by creating a swing supplier within the Atlantic Basin. The number of workers who lost their jobs and whether or not the layoffs will affect production could not be confirmed immediately. In the letter, it was stated that the dismissals will be made by...

Nigeria's economy grew by 4.23% on an annual basis in the second quarter. This was its fastest pace in four years. The increase in oil production and improved performance in industry and agriculture were major factors. The statistics agency released the data on Monday, the second time that it has rebased the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in order to capture structural changes in the economy of Africa’s most populous nation. Nigeria's average daily oil output increased to 1.68 million barrels (bpd), up from the 1.41 million bpd recorded in the same quarter in 2024. The oil sector grew by 20.46%...

The Nigerian oil regulator announced that African oil regulators, led by Nigeria, have launched a forum to harmonise oil regulation. This is in an effort to attract investment in the rapidly growing energy sector in the region. African oil regulators, due to the decline in investment dollars, are betting on a more transparent and consistent energy market that is integrated across all jurisdictions. Sixteen countries gathered at Accra for the signing of the charter establishing African Petroleum Regulators Forum. Gbenga Kmolafe was the chairperson of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, which is the upstream regulator of Nigeria. Eight countries,...

Bola Tinubu, the Nigerian president, lifted an emergency rule of six months in Rivers State on Wednesday, reinstating Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and other officials. He had said that a crisis constitutional that had paralysed government had been resolved. The emergency rule was imposed on 18 March following a standoff that occurred between Fubara, the governor of the state and the legislature. This conflict disrupted the budget approvals leaving the government in limbo. Tinubu claimed that the emergency rule was necessary to avoid anarchy. Rivers State is located in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta and is a major hub for crude exports....

Bola Tinubu, the Nigerian president, said at a press briefing with his Brazilian counterpart that Petrobras should be able return to Nigeria quickly. Petrobras started operations in Nigeria in deep waters near the Niger Delta in 1998. It sold its stakes over 10 years ago in order to raise money for domestic projects. Nigeria has worked to solve some of the issues that have limited its oil and gas production since then. "We have a large gas reservoir." "I don't understand why Petrobras should not return to Nigeria as a partner as soon as possible," Tinubu said at a press...

Bola Tinubu, Nigerian president, said that Brazil's Petrobras oil company, which left Nigeria in 2005, should be able return quickly. The visit was part of a 2-day trip to strengthen ties. Petrobras started operations in Nigeria in the deep waters of the Niger Delta in 1998. It sold its stakes over 10 years ago in order to raise money for domestic projects. Nigeria has since then been crackingdown on the issues that have limited oil production. "We have a large gas reservoir." "I don't understand why Petrobras should not return to Nigeria as a partner as soon as possible," Tinubu...

According to a filing in court, Dangote Refinery retracted its lawsuit over fuel imports against Nigeria's midstream, downstream, and petroleum regulator, as well as several fuel importers including the state-owned NNPC Ltd. Africa's biggest refinery sought to annul fuel import licenses issued to NNPC Ltd., AYM Shafa Ltd., A.A. Rano Ltd., T. Time Petroleum Ltd., 2015 Petroleum Ltd., and Matrix Petroleum Services Ltd. The refinery also demanded 100 billion naira (66 million dollars) in damages. Dangote Refinery filed a lawsuit claiming that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency was violating the laws by issuing gasoline import permits to...

Sources say that India's oil purchases from Russia increased marginally during the first half this year. Private refiners Reliance Industries Ltd. and Nayara Energy accounted for almost half the total. The data shows that India, which is the third largest oil consumer and importer in the world, received approximately 1.75 million barrels of Russian oil per day from January to June this year. This represents a 1% increase over the previous year. State companies buy Russian oil from spot markets, but the two private refiners are bound by term contracts. India's purchases at discounted prices of Russian oil increased after...

MacDonald Dzirutwe Two sources confirmed on Wednesday that the refinery in Nigeria, Dangote Petroleum, will build storage tanks in Namibia for at least 1.6 millions barrels of gasoline or diesel to be supplied to southern Africa. This move demonstrates the refinery’s ambition to dominate the fuel supply market in Africa, and beyond. It could reshape energy trade flows and increase access to refined products in southern African countries. Aliko Dangote is Africa's richest person. He built a $20 billion refinery that produces 650,000 barrels of oil per day. It started operating last year. Since then, it has increased production and...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that Nigeria must adapt its budget for 2025 to lower oil costs and increase cash transfers in order to protect the most vulnerable sections of its population. The IMF released the results of the routine "Article IV", assessment of Nigerian economic policies. It said that the economic growth was steady, but low per capita and the inflation remained high. The Fund forecast that Nigeria's economy will grow at a rate of 3.4% in this year, and 3.2% by 2026. Axel Schimmelpfennig is the mission chief of the Fund for Nigeria. He said: "The international...

IIR Energy, an industry watchdog, said that the Dangote oil refining plant in Nigeria, which is one of the largest refineries in the world, will operate its gasoline production unit with reduced output until October due to a series of problems in recent months. The 650,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery, which opened last year, is currently running its 204,000 bpd gasoline-producing residual fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) unit at about 70% of capacity, IIR said. IIR reported that the unit was closed from April 7 until May 11 due to damage to part of the unit, and again from May 15 through May...

Orano, a French nuclear company, has announced that 1,500 metric tonnes of uranium is stored at the SOMAIR mine it expropriated in northern Niger. It will pursue compensation and criminal charges if this material is taken or sold without authorization. Sources at the mine confirmed that Niger has not sold any uranium yet, despite "potential customers including Iranians Russians and Turkey". Orano initiated arbitration at the World Bank’s International Center for the Settlement of International Disputes (ICSID) in January, after Niger’s military government had blocked operations at SOMAIR and then nationalised it. INTERNATIONAL COURT BANS NIGER URANIUM TRANSFERS Niger was...

According to a document from the Mines Ministry, Mali's industrial production of gold fell by 32% on an annual basis to 26.2 tonnes by the end August. This was due to the long-term suspension of Barrick Mining operations. A mines ministry official reported that the industrial output in Mali was 22.5% lower than the government's prediction of 33.8 tonnes for the same time period. The source did not say if the country's target for this year would be revised. The source, who spoke under condition of anonymity, was not authorized to brief the media. Mali's industrial output of gold fell...

According to partial results announced late Monday, voters in Guinea overwhelmingly supported a new Constitution that would allow Mamady doumbouya, the coup leader to run for President if he so chose. Djenabou toure, the head of Guinea's general directorate of elections, told reporters that 90.6% of votes were in favor of the constitution and 9.4% were against. These figures are based on approximately 91% of the votes cast during the referendum. Officials did not have an overall number for voter turnout, but they had counted over 4.8 million votes from more than 6 million registered voters. This means that turnout...

Guinea will hold a long-awaited vote on Sunday to approve a new constitution, which could allow coup leader Mamady doumbouya the opportunity to run for President if he so chooses. He had vowed to not run when he took power in 2021. Guinea's military-led government, which controls the largest bauxite reserves in the world, has already missed its December 31, 2024 deadline for returning to civilian rule. The presidential elections are expected to be held in December. Critics are concerned that the constitutional referendum will be the latest attempt to legitimize a military government's rule in West and Central Africa....

An official from the mines ministry said on Wednesday that a senior Barrick Mining executive, who was representing the company during tense talks with Mali’s government, has now switched sides and is now an advisor to Mali’s president. Hilaire Diarra, formerly the general manager of Barrick’s Tongon Gold Mine (Ivory Coast), was appointed special counsellor by Mali’s president through a decree that was signed late August. On Wednesday, an official from the Mines Ministry confirmed that the document was authentic. This move is a blow to the Canadian company's attempts to negotiate control of the Loulo-Gounkoto complex of gold mines,...

KoBold Metals - the mining company owned by U.S. billionaires Jeff Bezos & Bill Gates - has been granted seven permits for the search of lithium and other minerals within the Democratic Republic of Congo. This was announced on Wednesday. In July, the Central African nation signed a contract with KoBold that allowed it to begin a large-scale exploration program for minerals. KoBold also acquired Manono, a lithium deposit that is considered to be one of the largest in the world. A company official said that "our exploration efforts will be centered on lithium" across the seven new licenses. Four...

A new report found that Russian private mercenary activities in Mali caused resentment among the West African nation’s army and military leadership, led to security lapses and did not yield any mining concessions. The Wagner group started operating in Mali in the wake of two military coups that took place in 2020 and 21. These coups ejected French forces and United Nations troops who had been fighting Islamist insurgents since a decade. Africa Corps, the Kremlin's paramilitary organization, announced that it would remain in place after Wagner announced its departure. According to Telegram chats by Russian mercenaries that we have...

The African Union (AU) has endorsed a campaign to stop governments and international organizations from using the 16th century Mercator world map in favor of one which more accurately depicts Africa's size. The projection was created by Gerardus Mercator to aid navigation. It distorts the sizes of continents, enlarging the areas near poles such as North America and Greenland, while shrinking Africa, and South America. Selma Haddadi, deputy chairperson of the AU Commission, said that the Mercator map gave the false impression that Africa is "marginal" despite the fact it's the second largest continent in the world by area and...

Guinea has transferred the concession for bauxite to a newly-created state-backed company, citing violations to its mining code. This move escalates the standoff regarding refinery construction, and highlights the push by militarily-ruled countries of West Africa to regain control over strategic minerals assets. EGA started operating in Guinea in 2019. It exported 14 million metric tonnes of bauxite by 2022. EGA operates in Guinea through its Guinea Alumina Corporation subsidiary. This concession covers 690 square kilometres and contains 400 million tonnes worth of bauxite minerals. According to the decree issued late Monday, the concession will be transferred by local state-backed...

The French mining group Eramet announced a sharp drop in its first-half earnings on Wednesday. It warned that macroeconomic conditions would remain difficult throughout the rest of this year. This led to a revision downwards of Eramet's production targets for 2025. Eramet reported adjusted earnings prior to interest, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA), of 191 millions euros ($219.12million) for the first half of this year, a drop of 45% compared to a year ago. Earnings exclude Eramet’s New Caledonian Nickel subsidiary SLN which is supported by French government loans. Eramet's Chief Executive Paulo Castellari said to reporters that "our first-half results...

Ghana will shorten the duration of mining licenses and require direct revenue sharing with local communities as part of its most comprehensive mining law reforms since nearly 20 years. Details were announced on Wednesday by a government ministry. The planned overhaul is part of a wider trend in West Africa where governments are rewriting their mining codes to maximize the value from rising commodities prices. Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in Ghana, said that the changes - which include scrapping the automatic renewal for some licences – will only apply to future contracts. This is...

Two sources familiar with the matter said that China's Zijin Mining was the frontrunner for Barrick Mining to purchase the Tongon gold mine located in northern Ivory Coast. The deal could be worth up to $500m. Barrick, third-largest gold producer in the world, has shifted its focus to high-margin assets with long-term life, and is focusing more on copper, as well as strategic operations in Africa, and the Middle East. The company suspended operations at its Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex in Mali, after the military government of that country blocked exports, arrested staff and seized 3 tons of gold over a...