India to build Cameroon power units in $250 mln deal

YAOUNDE, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Indian engineering firm Angelique International will build two hydro power plants in Cameroon as part of a 125 billion CFA francs ($251.5 million) aid deal, the central African country said late on Tuesday.

State-owned Export-Import Bank of India will loan the money to Cameroon, the second such deal signed between the Gulf of Guinea nation and Angelique in the past two months.

As well as power plants, the money will finance drinking water and sanitation projects.

Most of Cameroon's electricity is generated by hydroelectric power stations, but droughts can leave the country facing electricity shortages.

Cameroon's Water and Energy Minister Jean Bernard Sindeu said the deal signed on Tuesday was "a welcome relief for the millions of people living in rural Cameroon who are in dire need of electricity, drinking water and sanitation facilities."

Angelique was due to start work on the projects in July, Sindeu said.

Details of the loan repayment schedule and interest rate have yet to be finalised.

Saudi Aramco Says Oil Price Falls May Curb Investment

Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest state-owned oil company, said a further drop in crude oil prices may curtail investments needed to offset declining output in aging fields, while Oil & Natural Gas, India’s state oil explorer, said it may seek to acquire energy assets in Africa and Latin America to secure supplies.
Investment is also needed to expand production capacity to meet long-term demand growth, Chief Executive Officer Abdallah Jum’ah said in a handout distributed today at an industry summit in Beijing.

Ship unions accuse govt of apathy in hijack cases

22 Oct 2008, 0045 hrs IST, TNN
MUMBAI: While one more ship, an Indian cargo dhow with 13 crewmembers travelling from Somalia to Asia, was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday, I

ndian maritime unions declared a world-wide agitation against the governments inaction in ensuring a safe passage for seafarers in the pirate-infested area and release of the crew aboard hijacked Japanese vessel MT Stolt Valor.

A day after the agitation was launched, shipping minister TR Baalu got in touch with the unions to convene a special meeting to discuss the Japanese vessel. Under guidance from the National Union of Seafarers of India
(NUSI) and the Maritime Union of India (MUI), seafarers aboard four ships, including AB Tarapore, Desh Rakshak, Pratibha Tapi and Puneet that were scheduled to travel through the Gulf of Aden, have indefinitely postponed their departure. It would be postponed until maritime authorities furnish them with details about the action taken by the government, in MT Stolt Valor case, and also about whether it is safe for them to trade in the pirate-infested areas of Somalia.

Seafarers have already indicated that they are awaiting the response from maritime authorities failing which they will not be in a position to sail. This agitation will escalate further unless the government takes concrete steps, said general secretary of NUSI Abdulgani Y Serang.