Economics & Markets

IMF cuts Africa’s GDP growth to 4.5% on oil plunge

April 14, 2015 | Africa, Economics & Markets

London, UK | – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its economic growth forecast for sub-Saharan Africa this year by 1.25 percentage points as plunging oil prices force exporters to curb spending plans. Gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to expand 4.5%, down from 5% in 2014, the Washington-based lender said in its World Economic Outlook. Further weakening of growth in China or Europe could reduce demand for African exports and curtail foreign investment in infrastructure and mining, it said. Nigeria and Angola, Africa’s biggest …

Oil rebounds after Libya’s largest field shuts

February 24, 2015 | Commodities & Oilprice, Economics & Markets

London, UK | – Brent crude oil rose more than $1 to around $60 a barrel on Tuesday as Libya’s largest oilfield stopped production, and traders awaited US oil inventory data to see whether it would show another large increase. The Sarir oilfield in Libya shut because of a power cut, in a further blow to exports from the Opec member. Brent futures for April were up $1.10 at $60.00 a barrel by 1435 GMT, recovering from an earlier low of $58.10 US crude was …

Nigeria will call emergency OPEC meeting if oil rout continues

February 24, 2015 | Economics & Markets, OPEC

New York, U.S | – Nigeria will call an extraordinary meeting of Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) if crude oil prices slip any further, the country’s oil minister said in an interview with the Financial Times, in a sign of growing alarm over the impact of oil’s collapse on oil-producing economies. “We’re already talking with member countries,” said Diezani Alison-Madueke in the interview published on Monday. As Opec president, she is responsible for liaising with member countries and the producer group’s secretary-general in …