Company News in Brief
Barrick Mining’s gold complex placed under state control in MaliCanada’s Barrick Mining had its Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex in Mali placed under state control by a court on Monday in a major escalation of a dispute over taxes and ownership.
A former Malian health minister, Soumana Makadji, will take over as provisional administrator for six months, the presiding judge said.
Barrick in a statement said it believes those actions, which led to the temporary suspension of its operations, were unjustified.
“Justice was neither heard, nor served,” Issaka Keita, one of Barrick’s lawyers, told Reuters. The Loulo-Gounkoto complex, which accounted for 14% of the company’s output, has been suspended since January amid a standoff between the company and the government over taxes and ownership. The government, a shareholder in the mining complex, in May asked the Bamako Commercial Court to appoint an administrator, signalling its desire to reopen the complex amid record-high global gold prices.
– REUTERS
Togo suspends RFI and France 24 for three months, communications authority saysTogo has suspended broadcasts of French state-funded international news outlets RFI and France 24 for three months, its communications authority said on Monday, accusing them of a lack of impartiality and rigour. The suspension comes as tensions are rising between the West African country’s leader Faure Gnassingbe and the opposition.
Two opposition parties - the Democratic Forces for the Republic and the National Alliance for Change - called this move a “constitutional coup” that could extend his rule for life.
RFI and France 24 have been covering opposition protests against the new constitution that created Gnassingbe’s new role.
“A number of recent broadcasts have relayed inaccurate, tendentious and even factually incorrect statements, damaging the stability of republican institutions and the country’s image,” Togo’s communications authority said in a statement.
In a joint statement, both outlets reaffirmed their commitment to journalistic principles and said that their management was willing to clear up any misunderstanding with the authority.
– REUTERS
Fitch raises Ghana’s ratings to ‘B-’, pushing it closer to investment gradeRatings agency Fitch upgraded Ghana’s ratings to “B-” from “restricted default” on Monday, saying the country has normalised relations with a significant majority of its external commercial creditors. The gold producing nation is recovering from its most severe economic crisis in decades, after facing challenges in its critical cocoa and gold industries which forced the government to restructure its debt.
“We expect Ghana will fully complete its external debt restructuring by end-2025,” Fitch said in its report.
Ghana’s finance minister, Cassiel Ato Forson, announced in March that the new government will make steep spending cuts this year to recover the economy.
Rival agency S&P Ratings had revised Ghana’s foreign currency issuer rating to “CCC+” from “selective default” in May, citing improvement in creditworthiness as it nears completion of its debt restructuring. President John Dramani Mahama, who took office in January, has vowed to boost the economy and create jobs. Fitch also assigned “stable” outlook to the country.
– REUTERS
Starlink to South Africa: ‘We are ready to invest’Starlink has taken aim at what it has described as “misleading claims” in sections of the media about its views on South Africa’s black empowerment laws and reiterated that it is keen to get an operating licence as soon as possible. The company, which is owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, said in a letter to trade, industry & competition minister Parks Tau that it remains keen to invest in the country and will do so if it isn’t required to sell shares in its local licensee to South African investors. Under current licensing rules crafted by communications regulator Icasa, Starlink would need to sell 30% of the equity in its local licensee to “historically disadvantaged persons”. However, communications minister Solly Malatsi has said he’d like to see those rules changed so that international investors that can’t sell equity in their local operations can provide “equity equivalents”, including investing in areas such as education and skills development.– TECHCENTRAL
A former Malian health minister, Soumana Makadji, will take over as provisional administrator for six months, the presiding judge said.
Barrick in a statement said it believes those actions, which led to the temporary suspension of its operations, were unjustified.
“Justice was neither heard, nor served,” Issaka Keita, one of Barrick’s lawyers, told Reuters. The Loulo-Gounkoto complex, which accounted for 14% of the company’s output, has been suspended since January amid a standoff between the company and the government over taxes and ownership. The government, a shareholder in the mining complex, in May asked the Bamako Commercial Court to appoint an administrator, signalling its desire to reopen the complex amid record-high global gold prices.
– REUTERS
Togo suspends RFI and France 24 for three months, communications authority saysTogo has suspended broadcasts of French state-funded international news outlets RFI and France 24 for three months, its communications authority said on Monday, accusing them of a lack of impartiality and rigour. The suspension comes as tensions are rising between the West African country’s leader Faure Gnassingbe and the opposition.
Two opposition parties - the Democratic Forces for the Republic and the National Alliance for Change - called this move a “constitutional coup” that could extend his rule for life.
RFI and France 24 have been covering opposition protests against the new constitution that created Gnassingbe’s new role.
“A number of recent broadcasts have relayed inaccurate, tendentious and even factually incorrect statements, damaging the stability of republican institutions and the country’s image,” Togo’s communications authority said in a statement.
In a joint statement, both outlets reaffirmed their commitment to journalistic principles and said that their management was willing to clear up any misunderstanding with the authority.
– REUTERS
Fitch raises Ghana’s ratings to ‘B-’, pushing it closer to investment gradeRatings agency Fitch upgraded Ghana’s ratings to “B-” from “restricted default” on Monday, saying the country has normalised relations with a significant majority of its external commercial creditors. The gold producing nation is recovering from its most severe economic crisis in decades, after facing challenges in its critical cocoa and gold industries which forced the government to restructure its debt.
“We expect Ghana will fully complete its external debt restructuring by end-2025,” Fitch said in its report.
Ghana’s finance minister, Cassiel Ato Forson, announced in March that the new government will make steep spending cuts this year to recover the economy.
Rival agency S&P Ratings had revised Ghana’s foreign currency issuer rating to “CCC+” from “selective default” in May, citing improvement in creditworthiness as it nears completion of its debt restructuring. President John Dramani Mahama, who took office in January, has vowed to boost the economy and create jobs. Fitch also assigned “stable” outlook to the country.
– REUTERS
Starlink to South Africa: ‘We are ready to invest’Starlink has taken aim at what it has described as “misleading claims” in sections of the media about its views on South Africa’s black empowerment laws and reiterated that it is keen to get an operating licence as soon as possible. The company, which is owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, said in a letter to trade, industry & competition minister Parks Tau that it remains keen to invest in the country and will do so if it isn’t required to sell shares in its local licensee to South African investors. Under current licensing rules crafted by communications regulator Icasa, Starlink would need to sell 30% of the equity in its local licensee to “historically disadvantaged persons”. However, communications minister Solly Malatsi has said he’d like to see those rules changed so that international investors that can’t sell equity in their local operations can provide “equity equivalents”, including investing in areas such as education and skills development.– TECHCENTRAL
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