<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-874207996.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-395275" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-874207996.jpg 1024w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-874207996-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-874207996-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-874207996-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>NEW YORK, NY &#8211; NOVEMBER 14: A man fills his car up with gas at a station on November 14, 2017 in New York City. According to a new report by the International Energy Agency, (IEA) global oil demand will fall only slightly alongside the predicted rise in electric vehicles over the next two decades. In its World Energy Outlook 2018, the Paris-based group expects oil prices should continue to rise towards $83 a barrel by the mid-2020s and that the U.S. will be a dominant force in global oil and gas markets for many years to come. The IEA report also predicts that the world will use just over 100 million barrels of oil a day by 2025. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



LONDON — The International Energy Agency on Tuesday cut its 2021 global oil demand forecast, citing soaring Covid-19 cases and renewed lockdown measures that will further limit mobility.



The IEA said it now expects world oil demand to recover by 5.5 million barrels per day to 96.6 million this year. That reflects a downward revision of 0.3 million barrels from last month’s assessment and follows an unprecedented collapse of 8.8 million barrels per day last year as the coronavirus pandemic battered global oil markets.



The IEA’s latest oil market report comes as countries continue to implement strict public health measures in an attempt to curb virus spread, with lockdowns imposed in Europe and parts of China.



The Paris-based energy agency said oil demand growth was projected to fall slightly during the first three months of the year in the wake of tougher government plans that call for additional travel restrictions.



This is expected to curb worldwide mobility once again, prompting the IEA to trim its first-quarter forecast for oil demand growth to 94.1 million barrels per day. That would see oil demand return to near year-ago levels and reflects a downward revision of 0.6 million barrels from December’s oil market report.



“The global vaccine roll-out is putting fundamentals on a stronger trajectory for the year, with both supply and demand shifting back into growth mode following 2020′s unprecedented collapse,” the IEA said in its closely-watched report.



“But it will take more time for oil demand to recover fully as renewed lockdowns in a number of countries weigh on fuel sales,” it added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-oil-prices">Oil prices</h2>



Oil prices have rallied in recent weeks, supported by optimism over Covid vaccine rollouts and a surprise oil production cut from OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia.



However, the relatively slow pace of inoculations has raised doubts over how soon economies can recover.



International benchmark&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=@LCO.1">Brent</a>&nbsp;crude futures traded at $55.26 a barrel on Tuesday morning, up more than 0.9%, while&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=@CL.1">U.S. West Texas Intermediate</a>&nbsp;futures stood at $52.51, around 0.3% higher.



Both benchmarks fell more than 2.2% in the previous session, notching their worst daily performance since Dec. 21.



Oil pumping jacks, also known as “nodding donkeys,” in a Rosneft Oil Co. oilfield near Sokolovka village, in the Udmurt Republic, Russia, on Friday, Nov. 20, 2020.Andrey Rudakov | Bloomberg | Getty Images



OPEC and its non-OPEC allies, an alliance sometimes referred to as OPEC+, cut oil production by a record amount in 2020 in an effort to support crude prices, as strict public health measures worldwide coincided with a fuel demand shock.



OPEC+ initially agreed to cut output by 9.7 million barrels per day, before easing cuts to 7.7 million and eventually scaling back further to 7.2 million from January. OPEC’s de facto leader Saudi Arabia has since said it plans to cut output by an extra 1 million barrels per day in February and March to stop inventories from building up.



Last week, OPEC kept its 2021 forecast for worldwide oil demand&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/14/oil-opec-maintains-2021-demand-forecast-amid-covid-pandemic-fears.html">unchanged</a>. The 13-member group anticipated demand growth to increase by 5.9 million barrels per day year on year to average 95.9 million.

Gas And Oil Demand In U.S. Projected To Keep Rising According To Report From Paris-Based International Energy Agency

IEA cuts 2021 oil demand outlook as new Covid-19 lockdowns weigh on fuel sales

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1110" height="747" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229695458-1110x747.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-392964" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229695458-1110x747.jpg 1110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229695458-300x202.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229695458-820x552.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229695458-768x517.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229695458-1536x1034.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229695458-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /><figcaption>Oil pumping jacks, also known as &#8220;nodding donkeys&#8221; in an oilfield near Sokolovka village, in the Udmurt Republic, Russia, on Friday, Nov. 20, 2020. The flaring coronavirus outbreak will be a key issue for OPEC+ when it meets at the end of the month to decide on whether to delay a planned easing of cuts early next year. Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



OPEC has warned that the “immense challenges” caused by the Covid-19 pandemic were likely to persist into 2021, as the group of oil producers <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/29/opec-alliance-considers-delay-to-its-output-hike.html">failed to come to an agreement </a>over an extension to its production cuts.



“The shock to the oil industry is massive and its severe impacts will likely reverberate in the years to come,” Abdelmadjid Attar, OPEC president and Algeria’s energy minister, told the group on Monday. &nbsp;



“The pandemic continues to rage with cases soaring in many regions around the world. It continues to affect adversely the global economy and, consequently, the world energy markets, in an unprecedented manner.”ADVERTISING



OPEC and allies have since moved to postpone talks through to Thursday, Reuters reported on Monday, citing three unnamed sources, as key players disagreed on how much oil they should pump amid weak demand.



The group, which is comprised of some of the world’s largest crude producers, had initially been expected to outline the next phase of production policy on Tuesday.



Oil prices, which had been on track to increase by over 20% last month, fell early Tuesday. International benchmark&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=@LCO.1">Brent</a>&nbsp;crude traded at $47.56, down around 0.65%, while&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=@CL.1">U.S. West Texas Intermediate</a>&nbsp;(WTI) fell 0.66% to $45.02.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-current-production-cuts">Current production cuts</h2>



OPEC cut an unprecedented 9.8 million barrels per day in May, as the full economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic started to emerge. The group eased the curbs to 7.7 million barrels per day in August, sensing a tepid recovery in global economic activity.



Under the current agreement, the collective curbs are scheduled to taper again to 5.8 million barrels per day from January – but average demand from Asia, a second lockdown in the United Kingdom, new lockdowns in Europe and the worrying trajectory of the virus in the United States have prompted some ministers to advocate for an extension of the current cuts.



“Our base case remains that the group will err on the side of caution and heed the market’s anxieties stemming from the virus resurgence on both sides of the Atlantic and unite behind a 3 months delay in its next phase 1.9m b/d of tapering to April 2021,” said Ehsan Khoman, head of MENA research and strategy at MUFG, in a recent research report.



“Absent any unforeseen event risks leading up to the meeting, we do not anticipate much price action post-meeting given markets have all but priced in a 3 months extension.”



However, some members of the group are arguing against the length and depth of the extension, pointing to optimism over promising vaccine results which have helped to push oil prices to their highest level since March, further complicating ability to reach a consensus.&nbsp;



It is understood that some members of the group, including Iraq and the UAE, have expressed misgivings about its policy over supply.



“It is hard to keep up morale and entice people to keep swallowing a bitter pill when relief seems close,” said Cornelia Meyer, an independent energy analyst.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-oil-demand-continues-to-lag">Oil demand continues to lag</h2>



OPEC expects global oil&nbsp;demand to&nbsp;decline&nbsp;by around&nbsp;9.8 million barrels per day this year, as the second wave of the pandemic and related lockdowns put a damper on the worldwide appetite for crude. It forecasts global economic growth to slump 4.3 percent.



“The road to recovery is long and bumpy,” Attar said, but added: “There are signs of light at the end of the tunnel.” Next year, the group expects the&nbsp;global economy to&nbsp;return to growth, expanding by an estimated at&nbsp;4.4 percent. Oil demand growth is forecast at or around&nbsp;6.1 million barrels per day.



“The brighter outlook for 2021 gives us cautious optimism and is a clear indication that we are on the right path,” Attar added.



&#8211; Sam Meredith contributed to this report

Russian Oil Fields Ahead of 180th OPEC Meeting

OPEC warns of ‘immense challenges’ as agreement on cuts remains elusive

Dr. Agnes Kalibata is the President of AGRA and a Member of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. In 2019, she was also appointed as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the 2021 Food Systems Summit.



Communities across the world are facing a food securitycrisis. Over 690 million people worldwide experiencehunger on a daily basis. This has only been exacerbated by the impacts of COVID-19: The number of people facing acute food insecurity could double to 265 million by the end of 2020.



It doesn’t end there. For billions of people living in the global South, this is a crisis on top of a crisis on top of a crisis. In southern Africa, record-breaking droughts and floods destroyed crops on a large scale earlier this year. Massive outbreaks of desert locusts continue to threaten crops in East Africa. In fact, in 2019 weather extremes and conflict led to 33 million and 77 million starving people, respectively.



The pandemic is pushing already vulnerable people further to the brink and it cannot go on. Moving forward, COVID-19 recovery efforts need to build resilience in our food systems to withstand future shocks. More than that, we must ensure a fair and just recovery, as the impacts of crises are not felt equally.



Women are at the frontlines of economic and extreme weather impacts, including impacts driven by both climate change and the spread of COVID-19. Women often lack decision-making power in and are de-prioritised during emergencies. The food insecurity crisis is no different. While women comprise 40-60% of the agricultural workforce, existing institutional biases often prevent them from having access to land rights, financing tools andtraining opportunities, and hold them back from employment and leadership.



But women are a vital part of the solution to these challenges. If women had access to the same resources as men, they could close the gender yield gap and increase production on their farms by 20-30% on average, and help reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12-17%.



Addressing gender inequity must be central to the response to food insecurity. In the short-term, we need immediate financial and policy support to manage the impacts of COVID-19 on current food production and distribution systems.



Ensuring equitable access to agricultural inputs and resources in the near-term can decrease the long-term effects of the food crisis. Targeted food programmes and shock-responsive safety nets can enhance and expand social protection measures, but must reach women in places where they are needed the most. Response efforts can collect sex and age disaggregated data and use this to monitor who is being most impacted. Such data can helpdesign evidence-based interventions that support the most vulnerable, such as women and women-run businesseswho bear the burden of the pandemic so disproportionately.



In the long-term, we must make the food system more resilient to potential future shocks. Practices such as regenerative agriculture that enhance soil health, promote agrobiodiversity, and efficiently manage water have shown to increase yields and must be available to people that need them the most. But sustainable food systems are only possible with gender equality, as was found in a programme carried out by the UN across seven countries, including Liberia and Niger. Results showed that when rural women have better access to resources and opportunities, their communities have improved nutrition, increased incomes, and more efficient and sustainable food systems.



Securing women’s land rights is a critical step towards any solution to the current hunger crisis. Doing so createsincentives for long-term investments, such as soil conservation, by female farmers. This can result in increased productivity and makes the land more resilient to climate change, in turn improving livelihoods.



Many regions and countries are already advancing equal land rights for women. The African Union has declared a goal of 30% of all registered land being in a woman’s name by 2025. There is still a ways to go but progress can be noted: My home country of Rwanda, which has the highest percentage of female parliamentary members globally, is also one of only two countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with over 20% of land rights registered in women’s names. Even when land is shared, such as in marriage, the woman’s share is protected by law in Rwanda, a very critical yet often forgotten step.



Bolstering women’s role in the food system can have broad and lasting benefits for our communities and environment. We know that women can lead recovery todeliver a sustainable food system. What we need now is global solidarity to address and overcome the gender barriers.



Next year’s UN Food Systems Summit, for which I am the Special Envoy, calls on all of us to collectively act and change the way we produce, process, and consume food. Leveraging international processes, by ensuring that regional and national consultations are inclusive and participatory, can provide platforms that listen to and support women as change agents.



Now is a unique moment to collectively aim for economic, social and environmental transformation on a previously unthinkable scale. Women can lay the foundation and lead the effort to build back better – we just have to give them the chance.

Migrant Workers Employed On Colorado’s Largest Organic Farm

We must give women a chance to build back a better food system

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South African power utility Eskom will implement planned blackouts on Tuesday after breakdowns at a number of power stations in the last two days, it said on Tuesday.



The power cuts will last from 1000 GMT to 2000 GMT, the company said in a statement, adding that any further deterioration in generating performance may require additional loadshedding at short notice.

Candle In The Dark Ali Light

South Africa’s Eskom to implement power cuts on Tuesday after breakdowns

LAGOS (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria’s state oil company recorded a 5.34 billion naira ($14 million) cost for fuel in June, months after it changed its pricing method in an effort to eliminate subsidies.



State oil company NNPC outlined the “under recovery” bill in its June monthly statement, a term used to reference money lost through fuel sales.



NNPC spokesman Kennie Obateru said the costs represented temporary payments to marketers, who buy imported fuel and then sell it on, for stocks they held when the subsidy was removed, and would be spread over six months.



“Since the subsidy removal started with reduction in pump price, marketers have to be paid the differential of the (government) verified stock they held,” he told Reuters.



In March, amid a global oil price crash, Nigeria cut its gasoline pump price and said it had eliminated subsidies through a new price cap that maintained government control, but allowed prices to move with the market. 



Nigeria’s gasoline prices had been kept artificially low at 145 naira ($0.48) per litre. A study supported by the British government estimated Nigeria spent 10 trillion naira on subsidies from 2006 to 2018, more than the individual budgets for health, education or defence. 



But in the past riots have broken out merely over rumours of any increase.



The body tasked with setting pump prices, PPPRA, has not published retail prices since March 31. Fuel importers said there is a set monthly depot price, but it is not widely distributed. Those who want to know it have to visit the depot.



The lack of transparency around the new gasoline pricing mechanism has been a point of contention for those monitoring whether the subsidy cost has been permanently eliminated and is one of the sticking points over a much-needed World Bank loan. 



($1 = 380.5000 naira)

rig-drilling-drilling-rig-oil

Nigeria pays $14 mln for fuel in June despite subsidy removal – NNPC

Over the past 20 years sub-Saharan Africa has registered the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-bo092e.pdf">highest rate</a>&nbsp;of agricultural production in the world. There have been knock-on effects with the region also seeing the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---inst/documents/publication/wcms_624872.pdf">fastest growth</a>&nbsp;in off-farm employment and non-farm labour productivity.



There’s a&nbsp;<a href="https://farmerline.co/2019/05/29/securing-the-future-of-agriculture-in-the-face-of-an-ageing-farmer-population/#:%7E:text=Ghana%20is%20like%20many%20other,Food%20and%20Agriculture%2C%202011">widely held</a>&nbsp;view that Africa’s agricultural growth trajectory could be jeopardised by an ageing farm population because young people are fleeing from farming. Several sources indicate that the average age of Africans in farming has risen to 60 years or more. But we are unaware of any empirical evidence to support this claim.



To understand what’s really going on, we used nationally representative survey data collected by the government statistical offices of six African countries – Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria and Tanzania. Because these surveys were replicated multiple times in each country between 2000 and 2018, we can compute how much time people spent annually in farming and off-farm jobs. We can examine trends in the age distribution of the labour force in farm and off-farm employment since 2000.



This was done as part of our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rural21.com/english/current-issue/detail/article/the-myth-of-africas-ageing-farmers.html">research</a>&nbsp;into young people’s access to land as well as their migration decisions and employment opportunities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Breaking the myth</h2>



Our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rural21.com/english/current-issue/detail/article/the-myth-of-africas-ageing-farmers.html">findings</a>&nbsp;debunk the myth that most farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are over 60 years of age – far from it in fact.



According to the national government-administered data in the six countries, the average age of the agricultural workforce ranges from about 32 years to 39 years. Even when not counting young adults in the 15 to 24 year old range, the average age of the agricultural workforce ranges from 38 to 45 years of age. And even going beyond the generally accepted labour force age range of 15 to 64 years to include all elderly people of any age working in farming, the mean age of farmers barely changes.



This is explained by the fact that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.populationpyramid.net/africa/2020/">only 3%</a>&nbsp;of sub-Saharan Africa’s population is 65 years and over. And less than half of this group is economically active and engaged in farming.



Secondly, the average age of the agricultural workforce in the six African countries examined has either increased by one or two years or remained constant over the past decade. Between the first and latest survey periods, which spanned from seven to 12 years, the average age of the labour force in farming increased by less than two years in four of the six study countries (Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia). The mean farmer age remained unchanged in Nigeria and declined slightly in Tanzania.



In other words, the age of Africans in farming is barely rising, if at all. Considering that roughly 7 million to 10 million young people are entering the labour force in sub-Saharan Africa each year, it is easy to understand why the average age of the farming population is not rising, even with large numbers of young people partially or fully moving out of farming.



Based on these nationally representative surveys, it is clear that of the region’s many agricultural challenges, an ageing workforce in farming is fortunately not one of them.



Third, our study found that individuals in off-farm jobs are on average one to three years younger than those in farming, especially when the sample excludes the 15-24 year old age group.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How to make farming profitable for young people</h2>



As highlighted in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220388.2018.1430767?journalCode=fjds20">previous studies</a>, the share of employment in farming has been declining over time as opportunities for off-farm employment expand in Africa’s rapidly transforming economies. But farming still accounts for a significant proportion of the jobs held by working-age individuals and remains the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220388.2018.1430767?journalCode=fjds20">single largest</a>&nbsp;employer of rural youth. Most of the jobs, however, are, part time.



It is true that many young people from rural areas are leaving farming as off-farm opportunities continue to expand. Nevertheless, most young people who are economically active remain engaged in farming. What is missing, however, is a critical mass of skilled young Africans with access to finance and know-how to drive productivity growth in farming and related value chains.



The idea of keeping young people in farming for fear of African agriculture becoming the preserve of the elderly is misplaced. A more effective strategy would prioritise resourcing the millions of rural youth already engaged in farming to make farming more profitable. Making agriculture “sexy” is not nearly as important as making it profitable. Young people will flock to agriculture if and when it becomes clear that it can make good money.



A related priority is to encourage skilled young Africans to apply their expertise to address the many policy, regulatory, and financing barriers that inhibit them from starting and expanding agribusiness firms that provide important services to African farmers.

farmer-africa-women-black-woman

African farmers are younger than you think. Here is why

MAPUTO (Reuters) &#8211; French oil major Total has signed a security pact with the Mozambique government to protect a $20 billion natural gas (LNG) project being developed in the southern African country, the company said on Monday.



Mozambican security forces have been battling a low-level insurgency against militias suspected of having links to Islamic State in the gas-rich north of the country.



Violence in the northern Cabo Delgado region has recently claimed dozens of lives. Earlier this month insurgents captured a heavily-defended port in the far northern town of Mocimboa da Praia.



Total’s project includes the development of the Golfinho and Atum natural gas fields in the Offshore Area 1 concession, containing more than 60 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas, and the construction of a liquefaction plant with a capacity of 13.1 million tons per annum.



Initial production is slated by 2024.



“This &#8230; bolsters security measures and endeavours to create a safe operating environment for partners like Total which enables their ongoing investment in Mozambican industry,” Ernesto Elias Tonela, minister of mineral resources and energy, said in the statement.

Mozambique records first COVID-19 death

Total and Mozambique sign security pact for $20 billion natural gas project

ALGIERS (Reuters) &#8211; Algeria’s gas exports will drop to 26 billion to 30 billion cubic metres per year in 2025 from 45 billion in 2020, energy minister Abdelmadjid Attar told Ennahar TV.



“Exports in the period 2025-2030 will be between 26 to 30 billion cubic metres per year,” Attar told Ennahar.



The decline is mainly due to stagnant output, a rise in domestic consumption, and insufficient investment.



Algeria’s gas exports peaked in 2005 at 64 billion cubic metres.



It exported 51.4 billion cubic metres in 2018.



Algeria derives 95% of its foreign revenue from oil and gas sales.



Attar has also said that an international tender for exploration will be launched in the beginning of 2021, hoping that it will attract foreign investors.



Algeria has passed an energy law at the end of 2019, but investors are still awaiting publication of the regulations to decide whether to come to Algeria or not.

boat-sea-port-blue-ocean-ship

Algeria’s gas exports to fall sharply in 2025 -minister

(Reuters) &#8211; Sasol has agreed to sell the world’s biggest oxygen production site in Secunda, South Africa, to France’s Air Liquide for about 8.5 billion rand ($515 million), as it sheds assets to pay off debts and avoid a rights issue.



Sasol, the world’s biggest producer of motor fuel from coal, said on Wednesday it had reached an agreement to sell the 16 air separation units, which have a capacity of 42,000 tons per day and produce oxygen for its fuels and chemicals production processes as well as other gases.



The move is part of Sasol’s drive to sell off assets amid the coronavirus crisis and oil price slump, which have left the company &#8211; already struggling following problems at a massive chemicals project in the United States &#8211; potentially facing a rights issue of $2 billion.



Air Liquide, an industrial gases company that has been present at the site since 1979 and already owns and operates one other air separation unit, said it would launch a multi-year plan to modernise the facilities.



“(The transaction) will allow both Air Liquide and Sasol to focus on their core business, combining operational efficiency and reduction of CO2 emissions,” said Benoit Potier, chairman and CEO of Air Liquide, which will supply gases to Sasol if the transaction goes ahead.



Sasol added the companies were aiming to negotiate final agreements by mid-August, with the transaction expected to close within fiscal 2021.



($1 = 16.4895 rand)

Sasol_Place_-_Sandton

Sasol to sell world’s biggest oxygen production site to Air Liquide

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s Sasol said on Thursday a unit damaged by fire at its Lake Charles Chemical Project (LCCP) should reach meaningful output by October, a month later than previous guidance.



Even before a fire earlier this year, the Louisiana plant, which converts natural gas into plastics ingredient ethylene, had been hit by delays and cost overruns that led to the company’s joint CEOs stepping down last October.



On Thursday, the world’s top producer of motor fuel from coal said work at the last unit to be repaired from fire damage had experienced “some challenges” and meaningful output was delayed from previous guidance of September.



Six downstream chemical units at the 1.5 million ton per year ethane cracker feed into each other, and can only produce commercially viable output once a meaningful level of production is achieved.



Sasol, which is in talks for a potential partner at its U.S. Base Chemicals assets, said project expenditure is currently $12.7 billion.



Shares in Sasol fell 2.43% to 138.55 rand by 0730 GMT as dampened global fuel demand, concerns about the LCCP project and lower than expect output weighed.



“They are just reminding the market that they have some execution risk with Lake Charles,” Cratos Capital equities trader Greg Davies said.



Also on Thursday, Sasol gave its sales and production update for the year to June.



Saleable production from its mining business was flat at 36.1 million tonnes versus a year earlier.



Sales of liquid fuels and natural gas fell by 12% and 8% respectively following lower demand because of lockdown restrictions.



Total sales volumes at its performance chemicals business rose 8% compared to the prior year.



Sasol said the novel coronavirus had also impacted production at its organic chemicals operations in Terranova, Italy, and its Nanjing surfactant producing plant in China. Both were both temporarily shut during the third quarter.



Sasol has recorded 774 coronavirus infections, most of which have been in South Africa where two employees have died.

South Africa’s Sasol cuts production, sales target due to COVID-19 lockdown

Sasol expects delay in last unit in U.S. project to come onstream

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) &#8211; Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have agreed to resume talks to break a deadlock on the Grand Renaissance Dam reservoir on the Blue Nile, the leaders of the three countries said on Tuesday.



The announcements made separately by Ethiopian leader Abiy Ahmed, Sudan’s Abdalla Hamdok and Egypt’s presidency, followed a virtual mini-African Union summit that was called after they failed to reach an agreement earlier this month. 



“The extraordinary meeting&#8230; concluded with all parties reaching a major common understanding which paves the way for a breakthrough agreement,” Abiy’s office said in a statement which was posted on Twitter.



South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, who chaired Tuesday’s online meeting of the AU, confirmed there would be further negotiations.



“The trilateral negotiations remain on track,” Ramaphosa wrote on Twitter.



Sudan and Egypt both fear the $4 billion hydroelectric dam could lead to water shortages in their own countries.



The project has raised concerns in Egypt that already limited Nile waters will be further restricted. The Blue Nile is a tributary of the Nile from which Egypt gets 90% of its fresh water.



‮”‬It was agreed, at the conclusion of the summit, to continue negotiations and focus for the time being on giving priority to developing a binding legal agreement on the rules for filling and operating the Renaissance Dam,” a statement issued by the Egyptian presidency said.



Ethiopia, which says it needs the dam to generate electricity for its people, has already achieved the first year of filling its dam due to the rainfall season in the area, the statement from Abiy’s office said.



“The dam under construction is already overtopping,” it said, adding that Ethiopia was committed to a “balanced and win-win” negotiation that ascertains that the river will benefit all the three countries involved.

July_20,_2020,_First_filling_of_the_Grand_Ethiopian_Renaissance_Dam,_elevation_560mASL

Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to hold more talks on Renaissance dam

MOSCOW (Reuters) &#8211; Russian diamond producer Alrosa on Tuesday said it had started prospecting and preliminary exploration works for primary diamond deposits in Zimbabwe in a joint venutre with the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC).



“Following the signing of a joint venture agreement with ZCDC to develop diamond deposits in Zimbabwe in December 2019, we are progressing well towards the initiation of the full-scale prospecting works this year,” said Alrosa’s deputy CEO Vladimir Marchenko.

diamonds-4040800_1280

Russia’s Alrosa starts diamond prospecting in Zimbabwe through JV with ZDCD

CAIRO (Reuters) &#8211; Egypt will aim to import 600,000-700,000 tonnes of sugar in the 2020-2021 financial year which began on July 1, an agriculture ministry official said on Sunday.



During the last season, Egypt planted 340,000 feddans of sugar cane and more than 600,000 feddans of sugar beet, Mostafa Abdel Gawad, the head of the ministry’s sugar crops council added.

sugar-4085174_960_720

Egypt aims to import 600,000-700,000 tonnes of sugar in FY 20-21 – official

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South African renewable energy companies are looking for ways to make savings on their debt so they can help the government lower power tariffs from older solar and wind projects, the country’s wind energy association SAWEA said on Thursday. The government opened talks with the renewable energy sector last year to try to secure cheaper electricity to support the flagging economy. SAWEA said it could take four to six months for companies to negotiate new terms with lenders. Refinancing options include increasing debt maturities or changing types of debt. JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South African renewable energy companies are looking for ways to make savings on their debt so they can help the government lower power tariffs from older solar and wind projects, the country’s wind energy association SAWEA said on Thursday. The government opened talks with the renewable energy sector last year to try to secure cheaper electricity to support the flagging economy. SAWEA said it could take four to six months for companies to negotiate new terms with lenders. Refinancing options include increasing debt maturities or changing types of debt. The government would pass on its share of the gain to consumers through lower tariffs, a refinancing protocol prepared by the energy ministry showed. When the government approached renewables companies last year about ways to lower power prices, many companies said big savings were impossible to achieve. But they said sharing gains from a refinancing exercise was an option that was unlikely to harm investor sentiment and could contribute to lower tariffs.

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S.Africa renewables firms look for debt savings to lower tariffs

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Struggling South African power utility Eskom implemented planned power outages for the first time since March on Friday, ending a period of unusually stable power supply thanks to reduced demand during a coronavirus lockdown.



Eskom, which generates the vast majority of South Africa’s power but for years has had to manage supply from its ageing coal-fired power plants using blackouts, said the outages would last from 1000 GMT until 2000 GMT though the system could remain under pressure through the weekend.



“This loadshedding has been caused by an increase in plant breakdowns exceeding 3,000 megawatts of capacity,” Eskom said in a statement, using the local term for power cuts.



It added it was working to return broken-down generation units back to service and asked the public to limit their usage to take some of the burden off.



Eskom had to implement some of the worst blackouts in years in late 2019, putting further strain on South Africa’s already struggling economy which tipped into recession in the final quarter of the year.



But it received an unexpected respite when the pandemic struck and the government implemented a nationwide lockdown, taking many power-hungry industries offline for weeks.



The vast majority of the economy has now returned to work, and demand is also higher due to cold weather.



Its Chief Executive Andre du Ruyter told lawmakers in May that it expected only three days of stage-one power cuts, in which up to 1,000 megawatts are taken off the national grid, during the winter period.

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South Africa’s Eskom implements first power outages in months

GABORONE (Reuters) &#8211; Botswana issued its first licences allowing three private companies to generate their own power which will mostly be destined for export, the energy regulator said on Thursday.



The Independent Power Producers (IPPs) have received 15-year generation licences and will produce a combined 827 megawatt (MW) of power.



State-owned Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) is currently the sole producer of electricity but the country is looking to diversify with several private investors at various stages of setting up coal, gas and solar power projects.



“We need to come to a point where we no longer import but become exporters of electricity,” said Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority chief executive officer, Rose Seretse.



Energy &amp; Natural Resource Corporation, which is owned by Strata, plans to construct a 600 MW coal-fired power station, Tlou Energy has been granted a licence to produce 2 MW of power through coal-bed methane and Sese Power, owned by First Quantum Minerals and African Energy have been licensed to generate and export 225 MW of power.



Despite its huge estimated coal resources of 212 billion tonnes, the diamond-rich country only has two operating coal mines with several investors at various stages of setting up coal mines for either export or power generation.



Lack of adequate rail infrastructure and the high costs of road transportation have been holding back investments in Botswana coal sector.

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Botswana issues maiden power generation licences to private producers

By Chris Bishop



Africa has agreed to link the middle of nowhere to God knows where to help NASA in its space race.



The South African government agreed, on May 27, that the South African National Space Agency be allowed to set up an earth station, in partnership with NASA, to help to support human spaceflight to the moon Mars and beyond. It will be called a Deep Earth Station and will assemble a bunch of scientists and experts to support the existing network of similar sites in the United States, Spain and Australia, according to official papers.



“The station will benefit South Africa in, amongst others, the development of scarce skills and the growth of the science, engineering, technology and innovation sector,” says cabinet papers.



The new earth station will be built in a tiny dot on the South African map in the heart of one of the great, remote, wildernesses of Africa – the Karoo. It will be built near Majtiesfontein, in South Africa’s Western Cape, 195 kilometres from Cape Town. Remote areas, with little pollution, apparently make it easier to connect clearly with the stars.



The tiny town nestles into a vast expanse of largely untouched land and has a population just over 400. As yet, it is more famous for mohair farming and the castle turrets of the 120-year-old Lord Milner Hotel, where nearly one-in-five people in Majtiesfontein work , than it is for its future role in the space race.



The hotel, built in 1899 by the town’s Scottish railwayman founder James Logan, once played host to the Sultan of Zanzibar, Lord Randolph Churchill – the father of Winston Churchill – and the author of the Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling. Two months ago it closed its doors, because of COIVD-19, for the first time since the days of Rudyard and Randolph in the 19th century.



&nbsp;“We don&#8217;t actually see a lot of people, they tend to stay in their houses,” says Werner Smit, the general manager of the Lord Milner Hotel in a recent interview with Cape Talk FM.



Work at the Deep Earth Station is likely to see the biggest influx of people and equipment into Majtiesfontein since the Anglo-Boer War when it was home to British 12,000 troops. By contrast, the scientists and engineers of the Deep Earth Station come in peace and in the hope that the Lord Milner Hotel will be open with enough beds to accommodate them.

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Energy, Environment & Climate Change

IEA cuts 2021 oil demand outlook as new Covid-19 lockdowns weigh on fuel sales

OPEC warns of ‘immense challenges’ as agreement on cuts remains elusive

We must give women a chance to build back a better food system

South Africa’s Eskom to implement power cuts on Tuesday after breakdowns

Nigeria pays $14 mln for fuel in June despite subsidy removal – NNPC

African farmers are younger than you think. Here is why

Total and Mozambique sign security pact for $20 billion natural gas project

Algeria’s gas exports to fall sharply in 2025 -minister

Sasol to sell world’s biggest oxygen production site to Air Liquide

Sasol expects delay in last unit in U.S. project to come onstream

Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to hold more talks on Renaissance dam

Russia’s Alrosa starts diamond prospecting in Zimbabwe through JV with ZDCD

Egypt aims to import 600,000-700,000 tonnes of sugar in FY 20-21 – official

S.Africa renewables firms look for debt savings to lower tariffs

South Africa’s Eskom implements first power outages in months

Botswana issues maiden power generation licences to private producers

How Africa is hooking up the wilderness with the universe to help NASA in the space race.

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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