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<p>The one-year countdown to the World Expo 2020 in Dubai has begun, as the city will be the first in the Middle East to win the right to host the Expo. So what can we expect from this highly anticipated event next year? CNBC Africa&#8217;s Esther Awoniyi caught up with John Addo-Obiri, Country Manager for the Dubai Expo 2020 for more&#8230;.</p>


Dubai Expo 2020: What will it mean for African investment?

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<p>The countdown has begun to one of the greatest shows in earth that could mean more business for African companies. In just under a year from now Expo 2020 will open in Dubai at the cost of more than seven billion dollars. It’ll attract more than 25 million visitors and scores of investors and business-people from Africa.</p>


Countdown begins to Expo 2020 Dubai


<p>LAGOS (Reuters) &#8211; Africa’s largest oil refinery will not be finished until the end of 2020 due to problems importing steel and other equipment, executives at Dangote, which is building the facility in the Nigerian commercial hub of Lagos, told Reuters.</p>



<p>Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, imports virtually all its fuel due to sclerotic and underutilised refineries, and even the state oil company is looking to the 650,000 barrel per day (bpd) Dangote refinery to help address this. [nL5N1UN5IK]</p>



<p>Price caps force NNPC to import nearly all its gasoline at a significant cost and periodic fuel shortages are common.</p>



<p>Despite the delays at the congested Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos, a Dangote executive said the company could start using the refinery’s tank farms as a depot to warm up operations.</p>



<p>“We will be able to complete the (refinery) project by the end of next year &#8211; mechanical completion,” said Dangote Group Executive Director Devakumar Edwin, who oversees the project.</p>



<p>The company expects fuel production within two months of completion of the refinery, which could transform Africa’s biggest crude producer from a fuel importer into a net exporter, upending global trade patterns.</p>



<p>Billionaire Aliko Dangote, who built his fortune on cement, first announced a smaller refinery in 2013, to be finished in 2016. Dangote then moved the site to Lekki, in Lagos, upgraded the size and said production would start in early 2020.</p>



<p>Industry sources told Reuters last year that fuel output was unlikely before 2022.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">TRADING PLAN</h3>



<p>Edwin also said during an interview at his office in Lagos that Dangote is setting up its own trading desk, with a senior team of three people and a staff of roughly 30 who will monitor international commodity prices.</p>



<p>“We are setting up a complete trading desk here with us. In the next three months the full desk will be set up,” he said.</p>



<p>Giuseppe Surace, the refinery’s chief operations officer, said the refinery’s tank farms will be finished this year and could be used as a warm-up for operations.</p>



<p>The tanks will be connected to five “single point mooring buoys” (SPMs), which will allow the refinery complex to pump crude straight into tanks from large ships at sea and pump products back out onto boats of any size.</p>



<p>The SPMs will be the primary method of supplying oil products from the refinery, Surace said, adding that the team were considering using the tanks as training or as a depot before the refinery’s production starts.</p>



<p>“We might do that. We will be ready to do that,” he said, though he added that no decision had been taken yet.</p>



<p>The team is in talks with NNPC, two other international oil companies and two large oil traders, all of whom are interested in supplying crude and buying products, Edwin said.[nL8N2539DB]</p>



<p>Edwin said the crude unit for the refinery, which set sail from China last month, would arrive by the end of October.</p>



<p>The trains at a fertilizer plant on the same site will start up by the end of this year, the executives said.</p>



<p>Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram; editing by Libby George and Alexander Smith</p>


Here’s why Nigeria’s huge Dangote oil refinery has been delayed until the end of 2020

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<p>On the side-lines of the World Majlis Expo 2020 that took place in Rwanda, CNBC’s Africa spoke to Adam Jones, Vice President and Area Business Head, East Africa Mastercard, Middle East &#038; Africa, to give his thought on the role of Mastercard in Expo 2020 Dubai.</p>


Expo 2020 Dubai: Role of Mastercard explained

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<p>Expo 2020 Dubai convenes &#8216;World Majlis&#8217; with the aim of creating conversations that will generate new perspectives and incubate meaningful connections between people and new ideas. This year’s conversation took place in Rwanda where about 15 global leaders and 15 university students convened to participate in the discussions. CNBC Africa’s Zwena Bachoo caught up with Najeeb Mohammed Al-Ali, Executive Director of Expo 2020 Bureau, for more on this.</p>


First World Majlis Expo 2020 to take place in Africa

<p>ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) &#8211; Ethiopia’s prime minister said on Saturday an election due for 2020 would be free and should not be delayed by his sweeping reforms to the African nation’s politics, economy and diplomacy.</p>
<p>Abiy Ahmed, who took office in April, has pledged to open up the state-dominated economy and has taken steps to end decades of hostility with neighbouring Eritrea — moves that could reshape the country and the broader Horn of Africa region.</p>
<p>He said on Saturday at his first news conference that the World Bank would provide $1 billion in budget support in the next few months, explaining that “this is due to the reforms taking place in the country.”</p>
<p>Since winning office, Abiy has loosened the grip of a state that had ruled with an iron fist. He has ordered the release of political prisoners and decried abuses by security forces as state terrorism.</p>
<p>“My dream and ambition is for democratic elections to be held,” the 42-year-old prime minister said.</p>
<p>“Otherwise, what legitimacy can any official have without the mandate earned through elections?”</p>
<p>Abiy said elections, due in 2020, should not be delayed until the reforms he has announced are completed.</p>
<p>He said the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition’s focus next year would be on “preparations for free elections to be held.”</p>
<p>Abiy has promised to give more room to opponents in a nation of 100 million where no opposition lawmakers sit in parliament.</p>
<p>He has lifted a state of emergency put in place after his predecessor resigned in February following three years of protests in which hundreds were killed by security forces.</p>
<p>The World Bank and other donors suspended budgetary help following a vote in 2005 that was disputed by the opposition and accompanied by violence that killed 200 people.</p>
<p>The ruling coalition, in power since ousting dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991, has long been accused by the opposition of crushing dissent, a charge it had denied, though Abiy has spoken frankly since taking office about past abuses.</p>
<p>Some political dissidents have voiced scepticism about change as long as Abiy’s EPRDF remains in power.</p>
<p>Protests that led to the resignation of his predecessor were partly driven by Ethiopia’s disillusioned youth, suffering high levels of unemployment. Although it has been one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies, Ethiopia’s export sector &#8211; mainly garment manufacturing and farming &#8211; has struggled, meaning the economy is not generating enough dollars to pay for imports.</p>
<p>The dollar shortages have been exacerbated by the government’s massive investment in infrastructure over the last decade.</p>
<p>The government last month called on Ethiopians to bring their hard currency into banks to ease the shortage, a move which closed the once yawning gap between the official and black market exchange rates for the birr currency. [L8N1UG5JH]</p>
<p>On Saturday, Abiy said “economic sabotage” had taken place and adding that “large groups” were still hoarding foreign exchange, without giving details.</p>
<p>Though the government has pledged to partially privatise several key state-owned companies, including the telecoms monopoly, the form liberalisation will take and the speed with which it will be carried out have not been announced.</p>
<p>Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Writing by Maggie Fick; Editing by Edmund Blair and Ros Russell</p>


Ethiopia’s prime minister says 2020 vote will be free, what you need to know…

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<p>The Rwandan mining sector has goals of increasing mineral export revenues to $800 million by 2020 and $1.5 billion annually by 2024. Frank Butera, Executive Secretary Rwanda Mining Association joins CNBC Africa for more on this.</p>


Rwanda targets billions annually from mineral exports

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<p>Expo 2020 Dubai is said to have awarded $2.9 billion in construction contracts in 2017, in addition to $112 million in non-construction contracts. These packages will be in addition to a number of other opportunities made available in 2018 as expo moves on to the next stage of its delivery, which is focused on operational expenditure. Senior Vice President of Business Development and Integration at Expo 2020 Dubai, Manal AlBayat joins CNBC Africa to discuss opportunities for businesses in 2018 and beyond.</p>


Expo 2020

Dubai Expo 2020: What will it mean for African investment?

Countdown begins to Expo 2020 Dubai

Here’s why Nigeria’s huge Dangote oil refinery has been delayed until the end of 2020

Expo 2020 Dubai: Role of Mastercard explained

First World Majlis Expo 2020 to take place in Africa

Ethiopia’s prime minister says 2020 vote will be free, what you need to know…

Rwanda targets billions annually from mineral exports

How Africa will benefit from closer economic ties with Dubai

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Expo 2020

Dubai Expo 2020: What will it mean for African investment?

Countdown begins to Expo 2020 Dubai

Here’s why Nigeria’s huge Dangote oil refinery has been delayed until the end of 2020

Expo 2020 Dubai: Role of Mastercard explained

First World Majlis Expo 2020 to take place in Africa

Ethiopia’s prime minister says 2020 vote will be free, what you need to know…

Rwanda targets billions annually from mineral exports

How Africa will benefit from closer economic ties with Dubai

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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