Company News in Brief

Heineken loses operational control of facilities in Congo's war-hit eastHeineken has lost operational control and withdrawn its staff from its facilities in conflict-affected areas of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the Dutch brewer said on Friday.The beverages giant said in March that its operations in three eastern cities would remain suspended until it was safe to reopen, after some of its breweries were hit and its depots raided during fighting between the army and rebels.But on Friday, the beer maker said the situation had deteriorated further, and that armed personnel had taken control of its facilities in Bukavu and Goma - eastern Congo's two biggest cities, now under rebel control - and nearby areas."The conditions required to operate responsibly and safely are no longer present and as of 12th June 2025, we have lost operational control," it said in a statement.Heineken's Congo unit, Bralima, still operates in other parts of the country not affected by the conflict, the company said, adding that it would continue assessing the evolving situation.The group owns four breweries in Congo, producing Heineken beer as well as other popular brands like Primus and Amstel. The Bukavu facilities employed around 1,000 people both directly and indirectly, it had said previously.-REUTERS Mozambique energy minister optimistic on TotalEnergies' plan to resume LNG projectMozambique's energy minister said on Friday the government has not received a request from TotalEnergies to lift a force majeure declaration on its $20-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project there, but he is optimistic about the oil major's plan to resume its development this summer.The force majeure will be lifted as soon as the project's operator determines conditions are in place to resume operations, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Estevao Pale told reporters in Tokyo, after meeting with Japan's industry minister, Muto Yoji.The plant will have an annual capacity of 13.12 million metric tons.French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies is the project's operator with a stake of 26.5%, followed by Mitsui & Co with 20%. Mozambique's state-owned ENH has 15%, and Indian state companies and Thailand's PTTEP own the rest. -REUTERS Namibia central bank holds repo rate to safeguard rand pegNamibia's central bank left its main interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, saying it wanted to safeguard the local currency's peg to South Africa's rand and that global risks were limiting its ability to ease policy.It was the second meeting in a row where the bank has kept its repo rate at 6.75% after four rate cuts before that."The MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) was wary of the prevailing uncertainty from fundamental global economic and trade policy shifts," the Bank of Namibia said in a statement."The escalating Middle East conflict and its potential ramifications for global inflation and growth could not be overlooked."The central banks of Namibia and neighbouring South Africa often move in lockstep given the 1:1 peg between the Namibian dollar and the rand .But after South Africa cut rates by 25 basis points to 7.25% last month Namibia said on Wednesday that it wanted to reduce the interest rate differential between the two countries in the interest of orderly capital flows.Namibia's international reserves are sufficient to cover about 3.7 months of imports, the central bank said.It expects real economic growth to marginally improve to 3.8% in 2025 and 4.0% in 2026, from an estimated 3.7% last year.The bank lowered its inflation projections for 2025 and 2026 to 3.9% and 4.3% respectively, reflecting a smaller-than-anticipated rise in administered prices and a stronger exchange rate. Inflation stood at 3.5% in May versus 3.6% in April.-REUTERS

Company News in Brief

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