Oil bubble

Spectacular launches on London's second-tier stock market rely on odd claims about assets in Africa

White Nile, an oil company set up in London late last year and with a single, disputed, Sudanese asset to its name, tempted eager London Stock Exchange (LSE) punters. The price of its shares rose by 1,000 per cent in three days; trading in them was suspended on 16 February - after, we hear, original concession-holders Total complained to the LSE. In late April, White Nile controllers Phil Edmonds and Andrew Groves announced they would fly to Kenya to finalise the deal and would also bring in oil experts to head White Nile. Analysts still saw White Nile as lacking any concession to exploit.

end of preview

To read the rest of the article you need to either log in or do one of the following:

Subscribe to Africa Confidential Find out more
Purchase this article on its own Find out more

If you have a print subscription already please click here for full access to the website.
If you have already logged in and believe you should have access to this article please contact customer services.