COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Ghana parliament reconvenes, approves World Bank loan and appointees

Ghana's parliament, which had been adjourned since March following a dispute between the speaker and the president over an anti-LGBT bill, reconvened on Friday and approved ministerial appointees and a World Bank loan.

Majority leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin said in a statement that the urgent recall was "in good faith to enable government to discharge its constitutional and democratic obligations to the people."

Lawmakers in February unanimously passed one of Africa's most restrictive anti-LGBT bills, but President Nana Akufo-Addo has not yet signed it into law. His office said it would wait for the outcome of two legal challenges to the bill before it passes to the president for assent.

The delay sparked a backlash from supporters of the bill and has hobbled parliamentary procedures in Ghana, including the approval of ministerial nominations following a government reshuffle in February.

Speaker Alban Bagbin, who adjourned parliament in March, said the president's refusal to sign the bill was unconstitutional.

Parliament on Friday approved a $150 million loan agreement between the government and the World Bank's International Development Association to improve Accra's economic resilience. The loan was approved by a majority vote while a bid for tax exemptions for businesses was abandoned.

-REUTERS-

Libya's Berniq Airways buys six Airbus aircraft

Libya's Berniq Airways said on Friday it has signed an agreement with Airbus to purchase six A320neo and A321neo aircraft.

Berniq did not disclose the cost or a timeline for delivery.

"It is worth noting that this agreement will be followed by several other agreements in several areas, the most important of which are training, maintenance and safety," Berniq said.

The company posted photos of the signing, saying it was held in Toulouse, France, on Thursday.

Berniq is headquartered in Libya's second-largest city, Benghazi. The private company was founded in 2018 and began operations in 2021.

It operates domestic flights from Benghazi to Labraq in the east, and to Tripoli, Misrata and Zintan in the west.

It also operates daily and weekly flights to Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Dubai.

Libya slid into chaos after the fall of the former regime of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011. Three years later, a civil war broke out between armed factions vying for power and divided the country between eastern and western administrations.

-REUTERS-

TotalEnergies strikes supply deal with Dangote on Nigerian refinery

French energy major, TotalEnergies had struck its first supply deal with Dangote Refinery in Nigeria, Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said on Friday, following a meeting with Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote.

"We met this morning, we made the first deal between both of us," Pouyanne told a panel at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda. "The two CEOs met with our head of trading and we found the way to convince them to make a deal," he added.

Dangote has been trying to secure crude supplies for his 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery, the largest in Africa and Europe when it reaches full capacity.

In May, the company put out a tender for two million barrels of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Midland crude every month for a year starting in July, a tender document seen by Reuters showed.

The oil refinery, which started production in January, cost $20 billion to build. Dangote aims to reverse Nigeria's reliance on imports for fuel and other refined products even though the country is Africa's biggest oil producer.

Dangote said the refinery had enough gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel to supply the African continent and export to Brazil.

"We started producing jet fuel, we are producing diesel, by next month, we'll be producing gasoline. What that will do, it will be able to take most African crudes," Dangote told the panel.

"Our capacity is too big for Nigeria. It will be able to supply West Africa, Central Africa and also Southern Africa," he added.

-REUTERS-

Shoprite's Checkers extends on-demand delivery to general merchandise

South Africa's Shoprite said on Friday it will now allow shoppers to purchase general merchandise such as small appliances on its on-demand grocery app, as the country's biggest supermarket group eyes a larger share of the e-commerce market.

South Africa has seen a sharp rise in online shopping after the pandemic created an opportunity for e-commerce to finally take hold, with retailers doubling down on investments in response.

The group's upmarket brand Checkers was the first grocery retailer in South Africa to launch an on-demand delivery service, ahead of its rivals Pick n Pay, SPAR and Woolworths.

Checkers will now enable customers to shop for more than 10 000 larger products, ranging from camping and outdoor gear to small appliances, kitchen and home electronics and gardening equipment, with same day delivery scheduled within a 60-minute time slot.

"We're confident that the next iteration of Sixty60 will again disrupt online retail in South Africa," Neil Schreuder, Chief of Strategy and Innovation for the Shoprite Group said.

Shoprite said it is beta testing the new version of its app and has introduced a fleet of delivery vans to deliver the larger products. It usually delivers grocery items by motorbike.

The new app is available to shoppers living in Cape Town and will be rolled out nationally.

-REUTERS-