Fred Dzakpata

Oil Giant Exxon Mobil is set to begin oil exploration in Ghana soon officials in the West African country have confirmed. A petroleum agreement to paveway for the exploration is expected to be signed by the firm with the Ghanaian government and the Ghana National Petroleum Commission in Ghana in the coming days.

South Africa has been ranked the number one on the continent in the latest Barclays Financial Markets Index released in Ghana on Wednesday.

Côte d’Ivoire will boost its electricity production through a 44-megawatt hydroelectric power project supported with a €50 million African Development Bank financing loan, approved on in Abidjan. Located at about 148 km north of Abidjan, the Singrobo-Ahouaty Hydropower Plant Project, to be commissioned in 2021, will support the thermal production of electricity during periods of high demand as well as diversify the country’s energy mix.

Germany and Ghana are hoping to deepen bilateral relations in the next three days as the German President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier begins a three day visit to Ghana on Monday.

Telecom firm MTN Ghana is to receive over $100 million worth of fresh capital to grow the business. It follows the signing of a landmark loan syndicated agreement with nine commercial banks in the Ghana on Thursday. The transaction which was oversubscribed is being led by Ecobank Ghana. The nine Banks are Ecobank, Barclays Bank, Societie Generale, Stanbic Bank, Fidelity Bank, GCB Bank, Zenith Bank Standard Chartered Bank GT Bank. This is the second time MTN is raising such funds after a similar one in 2012 which saw the telecom firm raising 300 million Dollars. Chief Financial Officer and Acting CEO of MTN Ghana Modupe Kadri is hopeful the loan will support MTN’s worki

Zimbabwe has taken steps towards ending its economic isolation in its first budget since the end of Robert Mugabe's 37-year authoritarian rule. Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa announced a package of measures aimed at wooing international investors, including new curbs on laws that require firms to be 51% locally owned.

Barclays Africa is to tap into the expertise of China Development Bank to fund development projects in Africa. The two banks have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to that effect. This will enable Barclays receive support from CDB to provide capital to SME’s and low income communities. The two Banks will also explore reciprocal training and development opportunities for their respective investment teams. In this regard, Barclays Africa has already hosted more than 30 employees from the the China Development Bank. In 2016, China-Africa trade flow reached US$150-billion, making China, Africa’s largest trade partner for seven consecutive years.

South Sudan has removed fuel subsidies in a move many government officials attributed to scarcity of hard currencies, The Sudan Tribune reports. Media report suggest the move is a directive from the president's office. Report also suggests civil servants have gone for close to a year now without being paid because there is actually no money in the treasury. The Deputy Finance minister Mou Ambrose Thiik told the Reuters news agency in September that ending the fuel subsidies would free up desperately needed cash.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed the first review of the arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) for Benin.

About 4,000 government employees in northern Nigeria's Kaduna state have been sacked, sparking outrage among trade unions. The state government said the workers, mainly in administrative posts, were unproductive, and were dismissed to reduce the "bloated bureaucracy" and the wage bill.