🇸🇦🇰🇪 Saudi Arabia to use Kenya as a gateway into Africa, says crown prince

Saudia Arabia is set to use Kenya as a strategic entry point into Africa.

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman who met President William Ruto said Kenya is a cornerstone of stability and growth on the continent.

He emphasized the importance of Kenya and its future prospects, stating, “We have to pay closer attention to it; it is a country with a future.”

Speaking during a meeting with Ruto, the Crown Prince noted that Saudi Arabia is committed to increasing its investments in Kenya, with a particular focus on the renewable energy sector.

Crown Prince echoed the need for regional stability in East Africa and the Red Sea, underlining the importance of Kenya’s success for the entire continent.

“We definitely need security in East Africa and the Red Sea. If Kenya is a success, then Africa is,” the Crown Prince said.

#SaudiArabia #Kenya

@africaintel

🇨🇮 Ivory Coast cocoa regulator scraps stockpile exemption for bean grinders

Ivory Coast cocoa sector regulator will not allow bean grinders to accumulate stocks beyond authorised limits during the main October to March harvest to ensure fair access amid fears of a supply shortage.

Cocoa futures have hit record highs due to forecasts for a drop in production, particularly from Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world's top two producers that account for more than 70% of world output.

Ivory Coast's main crop is expected to fall by around 25% this season compared with the previous season due to poor weather.

Ivory Coast cocoa exporters and bean grinders have a purchasing limit each year in line with their export contracts. But the regulator - the Coffee and Cocoa Council - allows grinders an exemption so they can stockpile enough beans to cover 45 days of grinding operations.

#IvoryCoast

@africaintel

🇿🇦 South African franchiser Famous Brands posts 7% fall in interim profit due to power cuts

South African restaurant franchiser Famous Brands reported a 7% fall in interim profit, weighed down by rolling power cuts and the country's economic challenges.

The company reported a headline earnings per share - a profit measure - of 199 cents in the six months ended August 31, down from 215 cents a year earlier.

Like other restaurateurs, the owner of Steers and Wimpy has faced increased operating costs as a result of rolling blackouts implemented by state power utility Eskom.

This comes at a time of soaring inflation when many industries are seeing a change in consumer spending habits away from discretionary items.

#SouthAfrica

@africaintel

🇪🇬🇮🇱 Sisi urges all to respect Egypt's sovereignty after drone incidents

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday urged all to respect Egypt's sovereignty and position in the region following incidents on Friday where drones fell on two Egyptian Red Sea towns.

Egyptians should feel safe and the army is able to protect the country, Sisi said at a manufacturing expo in Cairo.

He also emphasised that Egypt would continue to play a positive role in the Israel-Hamas conflict and did not want it to expand regionally.

#Egypt #Israel

@africaintel

⚡️🇪🇬 Vodafone in Egypt states that it will install cell towers in Rafah, Egypt, to allow Palestinians in Gaza to continue their coverage and document the atrocities that is ongoing as of now.

Work should start tomorrow.

@themediterraneanman

🇨🇩 Trafigura's Congo partner Chemaf could seek buyers amid cash crunch

Chemaf SA, a miner and long time-partner of commodities trader Trafigura, is up for sale as it deals with a cash crunch.

The privately-owned copper and cobalt miner has asked for offers to wholly acquire the company, it said in the September 8 document that invites potential investors to bid.

Chemaf said in the document that it has $690 million in debt and about $590 million of the borrowings were arranged by Trafigura.

Investors had until October 17 to tender non-binding offers, after which Chemaf could invite some bidders to conduct due diligence.

Chemaf's woes arose after it sought to expand output at copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Chemaf requires as much as $300 million to complete expansion of its Etoile and Mutoshi copper and cobalt mines, it said.

#DRC

@africaintel

🇪🇹 Ethiopian Electric utility says power supply cut off in Benishangul-Gumuz Region

The Ethiopian Electric Power Utility has disclosed that electric power supply has completely been cut off in Benishangul-Gumuz Region due to a theft committed on high power transmission line poles.

The Company said in a statement that the Region has completely been cut off due to the theft of 132 kilovolt high power transmission cable carrying pole parts from Mendi to Asosa Towns.

The statement indicated that two metal poles or towers carrying the line fell by the robbers of transmission line carrying pole components.

As a result, the power supply of the capital of Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Asosa and all the Woredas of Asosa Zone have been without electric power.

#Ethiopia

@africaintel

🇧🇯🇳🇪 Benin suspends transit of goods into Niger

The government of Benin has suspended the transit of imported goods through its key port of Cotonou into neighboring Niger.

"Shipments of goods after October 25, 2023, bound for Niger are suspended at the port of Cotonou until further notice", the Director General of the Port of Cotonou said.

Eenoo said the measure was taken because of congestion at the Cotonou port.

#Benin #Niger

@africaintel

🇱🇾🇮🇱🇵🇸 The Libyan eastern Parliament calls on ambassadors of countries supporting Israel to leave the country “immediately”

The Libyan eastern House of Representatives called on the ambassadors of countries supporting Israel to leave the country immediately, in protest against their countries’ support for Israel in its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

It pointed out that if "the massacres committed by this Zionist enemy do not stop, we demand that the Libyan government stop exporting oil and gas to countries that support" Israel.

A statement by the Libyan House of Representatives included that "the war taking place in Gaza today is a genocidal war led by the United States of America and the West against a defenseless and besieged people."

It is not clear how the request for the departure of ambassadors will be implemented, as the headquarters of foreign diplomatic missions are located in the capital, Tripoli, where the rival government is in power.

#Libya #Israel #Palestine

@africaintel

🇿🇦 Opposition parties to challenge Basic Education Amendment Bill in South Africa

The DA, FF+ and ACDP in Parliament have vowed to challenge the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill in court.

The reason of this challenge is a controversial Basic Education Act that have been passed recently. The Act propose to introduce liability for parents who do not provide schooling for their children in the form of fines or imprisonment for up to 12 months.

South Africans were also puzzled by other provisions concerning the sale of alcohol on school grounds and allowing teenagers to have abortions without their parents' knowledge.

“But we want to stress that we are not against the procedure. We are against the essence of the act and if we had to stop it with procedural mechanisms, we will do so and it’s a content that we are against it,” says FF+.

#SouthAfrica

@africaintel

🇿🇼 Zimbabwe opposition to boycott "criminal" by-elections

Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa says his party will not participate in what he described as "criminal" by-elections to fill 15 seats for members who were controversially recalled from parliament.

The seats were left vacant after a man, who declared himself as the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party’s interim secretary-general, said the MPs were no longer members.

Consequently, by-elections have been scheduled for 9 December after the parliamentary speaker declared the seats vacant earlier this month.

Chamisa dismissed the recalling of the lawmakers, saying Sengezo Tshabangu, the self-declared secretary-general of the party, was an "impostor".

"We don’t participate in crime," he added.

#Zimbabwe

@africaintel

🇲🇦 Four blasts kill one, injure 3 in Western Sahara said Morocco's authority

Four explosions late on Saturday in the city of Smara in Morocco-controlled Western Sahara killed one man and injured three others, local authorities said.

The blasts damaged two houses, authorities said in a statement, without adding further details.

Morocco considers Western Sahara its own territory, but the Algerian-backed Polisario Front wants an independent state there.

In November 2020, Polisario said it had resumed its armed struggle.

Most of the fighting was described by the UN as "low intensity", and occurring mostly in the uninhabited eastern part of the Morocco-built security wall.

#Morocco

@africaintel