Anglophone West Africa
Nigeria

• According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, a total of $2.7bn was remitted into its account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in H1-2022. This contradicts the earlier claim made by the CBN governor that the non-remittance of funds caused the weakening value of the naira into Nigeria’s reserves by the NNPC. Although, the position of the CBN can be understood as the remittance of $2.7bn pales compared to what was usually being remitted to the CBN.
• Out of the $2.7bn remitted into the CBN account, $645mn was for dividend payment paid by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas company Limited (NLNG). In comparison, the balance of $1.8bn was gotten from the operational activities of the national oil company, which recently transited into a limited liability company.
• According to data from the National Pension Commission (PenCom), assets under the Contributory Pension Scheme rose by 6.3% to N14.3tn in H1-2022. The data further showed that N9.0tn out of the total funds were invested in government securities (such as bonds and treasury bills), while the balance was invested in domestic/foreign shares and corporate debt securities.
• Following the recent increase in PMS price, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has stated the increase was not done by the FG but by fuel marketers. He reemphasised that the FG has not deregulated the downstream oil & gas sector. This indicates the upward adjustment was essentially a move to alleviate the concerns of the oil marketers to end the incessant fuel scarcity.
• The Federal Government, in partnership with the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria, has commenced moves to attract an extra $400.0 on the cost of every tonne of cocoa exported from Nigeria. Notably, Nigeria exports about 340,000 tonnes of cocoa annually. This implies the country will earn an additional $136.0m outside the actual cost of the commodity.

Ghana

• According to S&P Global, Ghana’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose by 0.6% m/m to 48.8 in Jul-2022, compared to 48.5 in Jun-2022. However, the index fell by 1.8% y/y compared to 49.7 in Jul-2021.
• The Ghanian lawmakers have backed the release of $1.3bn syndicated loans to purchase cocoa. According to the Ghana Cocoa Board, the loan will be used to buy about 850,000 tonnes of cocoa beans during the annual season.
• The Ghanian Ministry of Finance has presented the 2022 mid-year budget review and plans. Notably, the government body decided to include new tax measures in H2-2022 namely; electronic payment of VAT, upfront payment of VAT by unregistered importers, and provision of tax incentives for One District One Factory (1D1F).

Francophone West Africa (WAEMU)
Ivory Coast

• According to the Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Cement, the cement producer plans to deploy grinding plants in Ghana and Ivory Coast by year-end or early 2023 to boost production volumes outside Nigeria’s home market.
• According to Bloomberg, cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast, the world’s top producer, currently lack fertiliser for their plants to take advantage of the gap in torrential rains, which has given them access to farms ahead of the primary harvesting season.
• Last week, the Johannesburg-based lender Standard Bank, sole mandated arranger and largest lender for the transaction to fund the construction of a new terminal in the San Pedro Port, the largest exporter of cocoa, closed financing for the Ivorian port terminal to the tune of $91.0m.
• According to Bloomberg, Eni S.P.A, an Italian multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Rome, made a second oil and gas discovery offshore Ivory Coast in less than one year, which in essence has increased the country’s profile as a producer, also contributing to the increasing fossil fuel resources found in the area by 25.0%.

East Africa
Kenya

• According to the Stanbic/S&P Global report, the nation’s purchasing managers index fell from 46.8 to 46.3 in Jun-2022, while output fell from 42.9 to 42.0 in Jun-2022.
• According to Bloomberg reports, to revitalise the nation’s aspiration to export oil commercially, ONGC Videsh and Indian Oil Corp are acquiring a stake in Tullow Oil plc’s $3.4bn project in Kenya.
• According to media reports, oil marketers are demanding payment for fuel subsidies in arrears; marketers are claiming Ksh25.3bn for diesel sales, Ksh12.9bn for gasoline and Ksh1.4bn for kerosene.
• The Central Bank of Kenya’s Governor, Patrick Njoroge, tells reporters that the apex bank has reduced its economic growth forecast from 5.9% to 4.7%. 
• The recently released report from the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) revealed taxes paid by banks have reached pre-pandemic levels totalling Ksh129.5bn in 2021.

Rwanda

• Rwanda’s long-term foreign currency debt rating was affirmed at B+ by S&P but outlook remains negative.
• The National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda revealed that the nation’s trade deficit dropped from $306.6mn in May to $299.95mn in June. Imports rose 3.2% m/m to $488.25mn and Exports rose 13.2% m/m to $188.29mn.
• According to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, the nation’s producer inflation rate slowed from 21.2% y/y in May-2022 to 14.2% y/y in Jun-2022.

Tanzania

• Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd. filed with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), seeking C$ 90.0mn in damages from the Tanzanian Government over the expropriation of the Wigu Hill project.
• According to Mashimba Ndaki, Livestock and Fisheries Minister, Tanzania exported 10,000 tonnes of meat to the Middle East in H1-2022. For context, only 7,000 was exported FY-2021.
• The Tanzanian and Zambian government agreed to revive the TAZARA railway, covering 1860 kilometres from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to New Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia.
• Dotto Biteko, the Minister of Minerals, revealed that Tanzania plans to start trading its diamonds on the Dubai Diamond Exchange.

 Uganda

• According to the Stanbic/S&P Global report, the nation’s purchasing managers index fell from 50.9 to 48.2 in Jun-2022, while output fell from 52.6 to 46.7 in Jun-2022.
• According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, the headline inflation rate rose to 7.9% y/y in Jul-2022; inflation was driven by energy, utilities and food crop prices. Notably, crop prices rose by 6.3% y/y in Jul-2022 vs 5.5% in Jun-2022. In addition, energy, fuel and utilities rose by 17.2% from 14.2% in Jun-2022.
• The President of Uganda has signed the mining rights bill ruling out competitive bidding for mineral rights except for a right owned by a state enterprise.

 
Southern Africa
Angola

• MCA Group, part of an international consortium, has concluded two photovoltaic parks in the Benguela province. They have an expected installed capacity of 285.0 MWp and can supply electricity to 1.8mn people. The parks are among a set of 7 parks with a total capacity of 370 .0 MWp, which can supply 2.4mn people with electricity.
• These parks are a component of the country’s 2018-2022 National Development Plan to diversify its energy sources.
• Azule Energy, a new 50:50 joint venture between BP and ENI, has been officially established. It combines both companies’ Angolan upstream, LNG and solar businesses, holding 2.0bn bbl. equivalent of net resources, making it the largest independent equity oil and producer in Angola. It is projected to grow its oil and gas production to 250.0kboe/d by 2027.
• TotalEnergies has made a final investment decision towards the development of the deepwater Begonia oil field. The $850.0mn Begonia development plan is expected to be commissioned in 2024 and will add 30.0kbpd to current production levels.

South Africa

• South Africa’s treasury is finalising a plan to take over a portion of Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.’s    ZAR 396.0bn ($24.0bn) debt as part of a process to place the company on a sustainable footing. According to Duncan Pieterse, Head of ALM at the National Treasury, the announcement will be made in the mid-term budget scheduled for Oct-2022. Cabinet and Parliament approval for the plan is still needed after a determination of the amount, along with the conditions the utility will need to meet before and following the transaction.
• According to its CEO, the JSE Ltd., operator of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, is formulating a plan to establish a carbon-trading market. South Africa is the continent’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.

 Zambia

• Zambia has notified Chinese lenders and contractors about plans to cancel undisbursed loan balances for 14 projects. The country cancelled $1.6bn Chinese loans, forming part of $2.0bn in undisbursed loans from external creditors cancelled by the country in a move to manage its debt woes.   
• Zambia’s Official Creditors Committee, led by China and France, agreed to provide financing assurances to the country. It was the final hurdle needed for the IMF board to approve a $1.4bn bailout, a deal Zambia first requested in 2019.
• According to the Regulatory Board Chairman, Reynolds Bowa, the energy regulator cut gasoline pump prices by 13.0% to KWz23.19 ($1.42), Diesel and Kerosene prices lowered by 11.0% and 13.0% to KWz24.87 and KWz18.43 respectively. It attributes this price change to the declining crude oil prices and its well-performing currency.
• Stanbic Bank and S&P Global released their July Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) for Zambia’s private sector. The index rose to 50.5 vs 49.9 in Jun-2022, and 49.4 in Jun-2021. Output also rose to 50.4 vs 49.5 in Jun-2022, its highest reading since Nov-21.

 Zimbabwe

• The Grain Marketing Board (GMB), the country’s leading grain trade and Marketing Company, increased the price of wheat by 30.0% from Z$239.0 per ton to Z$310.0 per tonne. The National Baker’s Association of Zimbabwe has stated that this move necessitates the sector’s players to increase the price of bread to cover their operational costs.
• The Capital City, Harare, has embarked on a smart street-lighting pilot project that covers 35.0km of the city’s major road network.

 Central Africa
 Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

• An Africa-focused hydro-power start-up, MyHydro, teamed up with a Californian maker of ‘fish-safe’ turbines, Natel Energy, in a bid to solve electricity supply problems in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• A memorandum of understanding with the Congolese government was signed by MyHydro, to develop 36 small hydro projects in DRC where only about 10.0% of its 100.0m people have access to electricity. In addition, the plants will use turbines made by Natel Energy.
• Nairobi-listed KCB Group entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in one of Democratic Republic of Congo’s biggest lenders, Trust Merchant Bank SA, to open new ground for the Kenyan bank in DRC, which currently operates in six East African Nations.
• Furthermore, according to a statement, the KCB will pay an undisclosed amount for 85.0% of Trust Merchant Bank SA, this transaction is expected to conclude before the end of the third quarter of 2022, thus increasing KCB’s asset base to Ksh1.5tn ($12.6bn).
• Nature Publishing Group in its Nature Geoscience research report revealed that Congo’s Basin’s peatland, an essential bulwark in the fight against climate change because of the high presence of carbon in, the largest stock held in tropical peat in the world, is actually 15.0% bigger than perceived, which should further aid in slower climate change, because of the upward revision in its actual ability to store carbon.
• According to scientists from universities in the UK, Congo, and Congo Republic, the central Congo Basin peatlands cover approximately 36.0% of the world’s tropical peatland area, and store approximately 28.0% of the world’s tropical peat carbon.

Gabon

• According to loading schedules seen by Bloomberg, Gabon plans to increase loading of Rabi Light Crude (which is very low in sulphur) to 78,000bpd in Sept-2022, the highest level observed since Feb-2012, from 45,000 bpd in Aug-2022.