Africa briefs

IMF support could help Angola- Moody's

Financial support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could help support Angola’s reform drive, Mathias Angonin, assistant vice president at Moody’s ratings agency, said in a report on Tuesday.

Angola said last week it sought financial support from the IMF due to poorer than expected economic growth this year.

-Nampa/Reuters

Truck explosion at Glencore oilfield in Chad

A truck caught fire and exploded on Sunday at Glencore’s Mangara oilfield in Chad, injuring three employees and forcing production to be suspended, the company said on Tuesday.

“A truck used to transport crude oil caught fire and exploded. Three employees suffered minor injuries and have since been discharged. As a result of the incident, the field was immediately shut down,” Glencore said in a statement.

Glencore added that it had deployed investigators to the scene and was working closely with local authorities.

The company produced nearly 2.5 million barrels of oil last year at its Mangara and Badila oilfields in Chad.

-Nampa/Reuters

South Africa withdraws land expropriation bill

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) said on Tuesday an expropriation bill passed by parliament in 2016 enabling the state to make compulsory purchases of land to redress racial disparities in land ownership has been withdrawn.

The bill — which had not been signed into law — was withdrawn to allow an ongoing process that could lead to the changing of the constitution to pave way for expropriation of land without compensation, the party said.

-Nampa/Reuters

Number of Somalis evicted from their homes doubles

The number of Somalis left homeless has surged this year as thousands who had already fled war, drought and floods were forcibly evicted from mostly makeshift homes, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said.

The aid group, in a report published on Tuesday, said one of the main factors driving people out of their homes was property developers requisitioning land, often without warning, during a building boom in the capital Mogadishu.

More than 200,000 Somalis, or one in 60 of the population, were forcibly evicted from their homes in January-July, more than double the number in the same period last year, the group said.

NRC said most evictions were done without due process, including without prior notice, and called on the government to address the problem by developing land policies and improving access to land for people who were forced from their homes.

-Nampa/Reuters

Nigerian economy loses momentum

Nigeria’s economic growth dipped to 1.50% year on year between April and June, the statistics office said on Monday, extending a slowdown into a second quarter as the oil sector contracted.

Largely dependent on its rich crude reserves, Nigeria’s economy began climbing out of its first recession in 25 years in 2016 as President Muhammadu Buhari’s government implemented the early stages of a turnaround plan.

But the pace of recovery has been relatively slow, and since the beginning of this year has again started to dip.

The oil sector shrank 3.95%in the second quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Oil production dipped to 1.84 million barrels per day (mpbd) from 2 mpbd in the first quarter.

-Nampa/Reuters