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The Pan-African Economy in Brief: Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Benin:
Eiffage Energy will soon start the construction of the Illoulofin solar power plant (25 MW):
In Benin, the construction of the Illoulofin solar power plant with a capacity of 25 MW will start soon. The Ministry of Energy has, in fact, handed over the construction site, located in Pobè to the company in charge of the project, Eiffage Energie Service. The power station will be the first of this scale built in Benin. The work is scheduled to last 15 months. The construction of the Illoulofin solar power plant will last 15 months. Its production will be sold to the national electricity network under an agreement concluded for 25 years at a price of 34.1 CFA francs per kilowatt-hour, the lowest electricity tariff applied to date in the country.


Côte d’Ivoire:
Kodal will start gold exploration at Dabakala by the end of November:
Kodal Minerals plans to begin an exploration program on its Dabakala gold project in Côte d'Ivoire by the end of November 2020. The stated objective is to test the mineralization of the project, pending the receipt of a mining permit for its flagship Bougouni lithium project in Mali.


Nigeria:
The start of rehabilitation work at the Port Harcourt refinery, scheduled for the first quarter of 2021:
The Nigerian Public Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has reported that rehabilitation work on the 210,000 bpd Port Harcourt refinery is expected to commence during the first quarter of next year. It should be noted that the last maintenance work carried out on the plant dates back to the year 2000. "The pipeline modernization is in tandem with the refinery rehabilitation project that we have promised to complete by 2023. I am pleased to announce that the funding issue that had stalled the second phase of the Port Harcourt refinery rehabilitation has been resolved. The contract for the second phase will soon be awarded and work will begin in the first quarter of 2021," commented Mele Kyari, Chief Executive Officer of NNPC.


Cameroon:
Government extends GDC's Matanda gas exploration licence:
In Cameroon, gas and condensate producer and distributor Gaz Du Cameroun (GDC) has been awarded an extension of its Matanda exploration license by the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Technological Development. This new extension will take effect on December 17 for a period of one year. In accordance with Cameroonian positive law, this authorization will be confirmed in the coming weeks by a presidential decree.


South Africa:
Pick n Pay launches into mobile telephony:
PnP mobile launched its cell phone services in South Africa a week ago. The new Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) - a subsidiary of the South African retailer Pick n Pay - has decided to enter the highly competitive local telecommunications market to offer a better service to a population in which its consumers number in the thousands.