ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) expressed its disappointment on Wednesday, following the publication of a statement by National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) on Tuesday, that claimed that some AMSA employees are forced to work even if conditions are dangerous. Numsa, which has been on strike at AMSA’s operations nationally since March 11, further [...]

An independent macroeconomic study undertaken by Standard Bank has found that the first phase of Area 4 concession’s Rovuma liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, in Mozambique, has the potential to deliver 15.2-million tonnes of LNG a year. The project is expected to attract between $27-billion and $32-billion in investment that will monetise 2.6-billion cubic feet [...]

The New Development Bank (NDB) plans to lend as much as $780-million to Eskom for infrastructure projects this year as the ailing power utility battles to keep power supply steady. Eskom, which on Wednesday entered a seventh day of controlled power cuts, is contending with operational and financial challenges, threatening the productivity of Africa’s most-industrialised [...]

A tomato-paste factory owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, resumed production in Nigeria’s northern state of Kano after staying idle for more than two years over a supply disruption partly caused by a price dispute with farmers. The factory, with a capacity for 1 200 metric tons of tomato paste daily and targeted at [...]

A South African engineering contractors’ lobby group has asked the government to better enforce security as criminals have disrupted or vandalised R25.5-billion of construction projects across the country. Armed gangs “recently” disrupted the R1.65-billion Mtentu Bridge project, in the Eastern Cape province, and a R2.4-billion oil-storage investment project at Saldanha, in the Western Cape, was [...]

South Africa's foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows rose to a five-year high of R70.7-billion in 2018 from R26.8-billion the prior year, the central bank said on Wednesday, despite outflows in the final quarter of last year. The 2018 FDI inflows were the highest since 2013, when the country recorded inward investment of R80.1-billion, the bank [...]

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Tuesday confirmed that it had met with President Cyril Ramaphosa, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and Energy Minister Jeff Radebe this week. The union noted, however, that it still needed to consult with its members employed at Eskom, on the contents of the meeting and to discuss a [...]

Coal mining company Canyon Coal, a Menar group company, is prepared to offer coal to State-owned electricity utility Eskom at a cheaper price on an open-book basis from two new projects. The Menar group, which does not supply coal to Eskom at present, employs 3 500 people on a R7-billion asset base that includes Canyon Coal, [...]

A French consortium will build a new railway line linking Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and the central business district within the next two years, according to a report on Tuesday. The commuter rail, complemented by a Rapid Bus Transit System are expected to greatly reduce travel time between JKIA and the city centre, [...]

Eskom has set aside R50-billion over the next five years for maintenance as ageing infrastructure is unable to keep up with electricity demand, according to the power utility’s CEO Phakamani Hadebe. Hadebe said Eskom had been using its maintenance spend previously on generation alone but will now also focus on transmission and distribution networks.

Saudi Arabia led fellow members of the Opec+ coalition to reaffirm their commitment to output cuts, but conceded they should defer until June the decision on whether to extend the curbs. A committee of the most influential members in the 24-nation alliance, which includes Russia, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, agreed to go beyond [...]

In 1987, an anti-apartheid firebrand named Cyril Ramaphosa led South Africa’s biggest-ever mining strike. Some 300 000 miners – from a union Ramaphosa himself had founded – walked off the job, protesting pay and working conditions. The mining company “used fascist methods to destroy workers’ lives,” Ramaphosa declared. Over the three-week strike, nine people were [...]