Africa in brief

Rwanda hosts first tantalum-tracking blockchainRwanda’s mining boss announced on Tuesday the world’s first blockchain project to track tantalum from the pit-face to the refinery, part of a push to woo investors seeking a conflict-free source of minerals.The project is the work of Circulor, a British start-up specialised in blockchain, and Power Resources Group (PRG), which has mining and refining operations in Rwanda and Macedonia.Francis Gatare, chief executive of Rwanda’s Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board, said it was vital for Rwanda to prove it was a conflict-free source of tantalum, used amongst other things in mobile phones, and other minerals.“Blockchain is one of the technologies that has demonstrated capabilities of providing a more efficient and effective way of delivering traceability for commodities,” Gatare told Reuters.The Rwandan government is seeking to harness its mineral wealth to boost its economy, still recovering from genocide of 1994, when an estimated 800 000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in just 100 days.It is also seeking to fight off allegations its resources are being blended with smuggled minerals that can be used to fuel conflict in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.-Nampa/ReutersZambia says new mining taxes will not hit operationsMining companies operating in Zambia will still be able to meet their operational costs even after the government implements higher taxes, the finance minister said on Wednesday.“At the proposed taxes we are confident that mining companies will be able to meet their operational costs,” finance minister Margaret Mwanakatwe told parliament.-Nampa/ReutersGermany's Voith to supply turbines for Ethiopia's Renaissance DamGerman mechanical engineering conglomerate Voith has signed an agreement to supply turbines for a US$4 billion dam Ethiopia is building along the River Nile, state-affiliated media said on Wednesday.The 6 000 megawatt Grand Renaissance Dam is the centrepiece of the Horn of Africa country’s bid to become the continent’s biggest power exporter.The agreement with Voith, which has already supplied 13 out of the dam’s 16 turbines alongside France’s Alstom, was made after the government, due to delays, cancelled a contract with its military-run Metals and Engineering Corporation (METEC) to provide the remaining three turbines, sustaining losses. “The contract was awarded to Voith in a tender floated two weeks ago at a US$5.9 million discount from each (of the three) turbine,” Fana Broadcasting Corporation quoted METEC’s commercial operations head Abdulaziz Mohammed as saying.Italian firm Salini Impregilo remains the main contractor building the dam, while METEC was the contractor for the electromechanical and hydraulic steel structure divisions of the project.In August, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed acknowledged that the dam would face a delay of several years having initially been expected to be completed by 2020.The government plans to restructure METEC, which is set to be renamed as the National Metal Engineering Corporation.-Nampa/ReutersSouth Africa slump batters smaller neighbours South Africans aren’t the only ones struggling through the country’s economic slump.The fortunes of Lesotho, Namibia, and Eswatini - formerly known as Swaziland - are beholden to developments in their larger neighbour with their exchange rates pegged to the rand, the worst-performing major currency against the dollar this year. The three nations, together with Botswana, also derive revenue from a customs-sharing pool that gains and falls on South African trade.The continent’s most-industrialised country is struggling through a recession, but the central bank is hamstrung in cutting its key rate from 6.5% as it strains to contain inflation spurred by higher oil costs and a 13% drop in the rand versus the dollar.That’s made it tough for officials in Lesotho, Namibia, and Eswatini to stimulate sluggish activity through looser monetary policy because they have to keep their rates in line to maintain the peg. Botswana, whose currency isn’t tied to the rand, has cut its benchmark to 5%.“Lesotho and Swaziland remain very susceptible to the effects of regional developments,” said Jee-A van der Linde, an economist at Paarl, South Africa-based NKC African Economics. With South Africa being the largest contributor to the customs union, revenue for other countries “is therefore likely to be lower in the near term,” he said.Receipts from the 108-year-old Southern African Customs Union - the world’s oldest such arrangement - account for about 40% of government revenue for Lesotho and Eswatini, and about 30% for Namibia and Botswana. South Africa has paid an average of almost R50 billion (US$3.5 billion) to the pool in each of the past four fiscal years.-Fin24

Africa in brief

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