ETHIOPIA
More cement plants planned
Saudi billionaire Mohammed al-Amoudi, the biggest private investor in Ethiopia, plans to build two more cement factories in the nation amid an improving investment environment. The plants would add to the $351 million (R3.6 billion) facility al-Amoudi’s Midroc Derba Cement opened in December 2011, he said yesterday. Derba Group, an amalgam of three Ethiopian companies owned by al-Amoudi, planned to invest $3.4bn in Ethiopia over the next five years, the company said in March last year. Continuing improvements in the business climate would probably lead to a “great” increase in investment, he said. – Bloomberg
ZIMBABWE
Mining wage talks deadlock
Mining companies operating in Zimbabwe and the main labour union in the industry had reached a deadlock in pay talks for next year after the workers’ group demanded that wages be more than doubled, two people familiar with the talks said. The Chamber of Mines, which represents companies, and the Associated Mine Workers Union of Zimbabwe, which represents 34 000 workers, met last Tuesday and as a result of the deadlock, the dispute was referred to the government’s National Employment Council, the people said, asking not to be identified because the dispute had not been made public. The council would meet on January 15 and would probably refer the matter to an arbitrator, the people said. The union wants employers to boost pay to a minimum of $800 (R8 129) a month for diamond mines, $700 for platinum mines and $573 for gold and other mineworkers, while the chamber is demanding an inflation-linked adjustment, according to position papers presented at last week’s meeting. The current minimum wage for all mineworkers is $227. Annual inflation was 0.59 percent in October. – Bloomberg
ANGOLA
Lontra gas well ‘of global scale’
Cobalt International Energy’s latest Lontra well off Angola found more natural gas than the company had expected, it said yesterday. The well flowed 2 500 barrels of gas condensate and 39 million cubic feet of gas a day during tests in Block 20, the company said. “It is clear that Lontra is a discovery on a global scale,” Cobalt chief executive Joseph Bryant said. “Although the field contains more gas than our pre-drill estimates, it is beneficial that Lontra is offshore near Luanda, where we believe there is a potentially large emerging market for gas.” – Bloomberg
GABON
Eurobond yield minimum set
Gabon fixed the minimum yield on eurobonds it planned to issue as part of an exchange of $1 billion (R10.16bn) of existing debt at 6.125 percent, the arrangers of the deal said yesterday. The nation was replacing securities due in 2017 through a combined exchange and tender offer, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered said. The new notes will mature in 2024, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified. Gabon first sold eurobonds in 2007 with a coupon of 8.2 percent. Yields on the securities have risen by 21 basis points this year to 3.69 percent. – Bloomberg