Page 9 - AfrOil Week 36 2021

AfrOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT AfrOil

On that day, the Kenya Transporters Association Earlier this week, ministry officials said that Juba
(KTA) announced that it had advised its mem- had ordered policemen and soldiers to escort
bers, which number more than 5,000, to halt all fuel tankers and other trucks bringing in freight
shipments to South Sudan. so that “obstacles that cause delay on the high-
“Following increased lawlessness and inse- way to Juba will be removed.”
curity along [the] Nimule-Juba highway that It remains to be seen whether the ministry’s
has seen several drivers killed and trucks either statement has any impact. Byron Kinene, the
burnt or vandalised, we wish to advise all trans- chairman of Regional Lorry Drivers & Trans-
porters not to risk the lives of their drivers and porters Association (RLDTA), an umbrella
their trucks by continuing to offer transport group representing independent Ugandan
services to South Sudan, as the country remains trucking organisations, told The EastAfrican in
highly volatile,” KTA said in a statement signed late August that Juba had not always upheld its
by its chairman, Newton Wang’oo. promises in the past. Truckers hauling freight
South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and fuel to Juba have been complaining of fre-
has pledged to provide security along the roads. quent attacks since at least 2017, he said. ™

INVESTMENT
IFC agrees to help finance BCI Holding’s

polyurethane projects in Egypt, Algeria

EGYPT/ALGERIA INTERNATIONAL Finance Corp. (IFC), the
private-sector arm of the World Bank, agreed
to provide a $30mn loan to finance UAE-based
BCI Holding’s expansion of the production of
polyurethane raw materials, systems and speci-
alities in Egypt, Algeria and Nigeria.
In a press release, IFC said the loan will sup-
port the company’s expansion of an existing
production facility in Egypt and the commis-
sioning of new factories in Algeria and Nigeria.
The financing will help BCI develop regional The company aims to expand an existing facility in Egypt (Photo: BCI Holding)
supply chains for polyurethane, a versatile prod-
uct used in insulation, footwear, packaging and than 80 direct jobs and several hundred indirect
other industries. BCI’s signature technology, jobs in the supply chain and through employ-
used to convert recycled scrap PET into poly- ment multiplier effect.
ester polyol for insulation, has the potential to BCI Holding is a subsidiary of a leading regi-
support circular economy initiatives, which are nal third generation family business with man-
aimed to build resilience, generate business and ufacturing facilities and operations in the UAE,
economic opportunities. Egypt, Turkey, Italy, Jordan and Lebanon. The
Expansion of the production facility in Egypt group employs more than 800 people and has
and building of the two additional factories in been active in industry, trade, agriculture and
Algeria and Nigeria is expected to produce more real estate development since 1957. ™

ONGC Videsh may join Sangomar JV

SENEGAL ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas invest- Bloomberg earlier this week that OVL was eye-
ment arm of India’s state-owned Oil & Natu- ing a stake of 20-40% in RSSD. They did not say
ral Gas Corp. (ONGC), may seek to acquire a how much the Indian company might pay for
minority stake in RSSD, the joint venture set up the asset but reported that Woodside Energy, the
to explore and develop Sangomar, an oil-bearing Australian firm that is serving as operator of the
block offshore Senegal. Sangomar project, had teamed up with Jefferies
Sources familiar with the matter told Financial Group (US) to discuss the deal.

Week 36 08•September•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9