OPEC May Hold Formal Meeting in Algiers as Oil Glut Persists

OPEC May Hold Formal Meeting in Algiers as Oil Glut Persists

ALGIERS, Capital Markets in Africa: OPEC may turn its planned informal meeting in Algiers next week into a formal session as it seeks ways with other producers to cut crude supplies by 1 million barrels a day to re-balance markets and stabilize prices, Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Bouterfa said. OPEC will hold an informal meeting after the closing session of the International Energy Forum conference in Algiers on the afternoon of Sept. 28, Bouterfa said on public radio….

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Guinea Weighs Mine Tax-Incentive Review Over Investor Abuse

Guinea Weighs Mine Tax-Incentive Review Over Investor Abuse

GUINEA, Capital Markets in Africa: Guinea’s government is considering reviewing tax breaks given to mining companies because foreign investors may be abusing the incentives, Budget Minister Mohamed Lamine Doumbouya said. The West African nation, which has the world’s largest bauxite deposits, waived more than 2 trillion Guinean francs ($220 million) of income over the past five years because of exemptions on mining-equipment and building-material imports, Doumbouya said in an interview. While the mining industry is expanding at an…

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Oil Climbs as OPEC May Hold Formal Meeting Next Week in Algiers

Oil Climbs as OPEC May Hold Formal Meeting Next Week in Algiers

ALGIERS, Capital Markets in Africa: Oil rose after Algeria said OPEC may turn its planned informal meeting in Algiers next week into a formal session. The 14-member group may hold a formal meeting as it seeks ways with other producers to cut crude supplies by 1 million barrels a day to re-balance markets and stabilize prices, Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Bouterfa said. “The comments that OPEC may hold an extraordinary meeting next week give the…

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Banker-Bashing Is a Dangerous Thing. Just Look at Kenya

Banker-Bashing Is a Dangerous Thing. Just Look at Kenya

NAIROBI, Capital Markets in Africa: The frontier market of Kenya isn’t often on U.S. or European investors’ radar. It should be. It offers a timely reminder of financial markets’ complacency about the risk of populism; and the attractiveness of bashing banks to win votes. East Africa’s most advanced economy has introduced a law setting a cap on commercial lending rates and a floor on deposit payout rates, an instant squeeze on margins that sent shares of Kenyan…

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South Africa’s Top Gold Miner Says President Zuma Must Quit

South Africa’s Top Gold Miner Says President Zuma Must Quit

JOHANNESBURG, Capital Markets in Africa: South African President Jacob Zuma “has to go,” with poor governance deterring prospective investors, according to the head of Sibanye Gold Ltd., the biggest producer of bullion in the country. “Any solid investor, any solid company is founded on good governance and what we have in South Africa at the moment is very poor governance, from a government point of view,” Sibanye Chief Executive Officer Neal Froneman said in an interview on Monday from the Denver Gold…

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Kenya Cuts Rates Weeks After Capping Cost of Commercial Credit

Kenya Cuts Rates Weeks After Capping Cost of Commercial Credit

NAIROBI, Capital Markets in Africa: The Central Bank of Kenya reduced its benchmark rate by 50 basis points to 10 percent, its second cut in four months, in a bid to boost private-sector credit amid government restrictions on loan costs. “The MPC noted the continued decline in growth of private sector credit, which has persisted since the last meeting, posing a risk to economic growth,” Governor Patrick Njoroge said in an e-mailed statement from the capital, Nairobi, Tuesday. Only…

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Libya Crude Output Rises as Oil Fields Restart, Ports Reopen

Libya Crude Output Rises as Oil Fields Restart, Ports Reopen

TRIPOLI, Capital Markets in Africa: Libya boosted crude production by more than 70 percent since August as some oil fields resumed output and export terminals in the OPEC country reopened for their first overseas loadings in two years. The North African nation’s crude output rose to 450,000 barrels a day after work resumed at some oil fields, Ibrahim Al-Awami, head of oil measurement department at state-run National Oil Corp., said by phone on Tuesday. Armed conflicts…

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