ANGOLA

BP, Total, Eni and other international majors were awarded concessions to explore in Angola's ultra-deep water blocks known as pre-salt blocks, Angola's state-owned oil firm Sonangol said on Monday.

Angola's much-delayed stock market will not open this year as many of the country's companies do not meet the requirements needed to participate on a bourse, the government said.

Paris-based telecoms equipment giant Alcatel-Lucent SA and three of its subsidiaries have agreed to pay a combined $92 million penalty to settle a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation into the global sales practice of Alcatel S.A. prior to its 2006 merger with Lucent Technologies Inc.

Angola is hoping to get back on the world’s tourism map with Tarpons – a fish majorly found in Atlantic waters known for their fighting abilities and large size.

Ivory Coast's incumbent President has yet again reiterated that despite domestic and international pressure, he would not abdicate. Observers fear that a renewed civil war in the country is almost inevitable.

Cote d'Ivoire's disputed president, Laurent Gbagbo, has announced that he would be willing to engage with the rival faction of Alassane Ouattara. In a televised address, he announced that the international community had declared a war on the African nation. The incumbent president also called on the Opposition to leave Abidjan's Golf Hotel and return to their homes.

The European Union agreed on Monday to ban Cote d'Ivoire's incumbent President, Laurent Gbagbo and his aides, the BBC reported. The Gbagbo regime is likely to be slapped with harsh sanctions from the West. The sanction could also include freezing the personal overseas assets of the president and his men and issuing visa bans.

Crude production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) dropped in November by around 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 29.1 million bpd, a Platts survey of oil industry officials and analysts showed on Monday.