To say that Kenya Electricity Generating Company Limited, or KenGen as it is more commonly recognised, plays an important role in the economic development of the African nation is, to all intents and purposes, a gross understatement. The reason for this is that KenGen alone is responsible for producing almost 80 percent of the electricity consumed in the country.

Every person involved in gold mining or trading must have been shaken when the gold price slumped in mid April, so it’s reassuring to hear that one well-respected investor, the Canadian financier, Frank Giustra, said recently that he has complete faith in the continuation of the bull run. When it comes to investment Giustra has been so right for so long that it’s encouraging to know he is on Endeavour Mining’s Strategic Advisory Board.

10. Agricultural Bank of China

China
$111,493 million

Since it was first discovered in the country in the 1920s, copper has been one of Zambia’s most important sources of income. Five years after its independence from British rule in 1964 Zambia was classified as a middle-income country, with its GDP, then among the highest of any African nation, buoyed by what where at the time soaring copper prices. The history of decline in Zambian copper production, as opposed to the growth that was witnessed for example in Chile over the same period, is well known.

The current downstream director will take over the Anglo-Dutch energy giant on 1 January 2014, succeeding Peter Voser who will leave in March 2014 after spending 29 years with the company.

Mr Van Beurden joined the Royal Dutch Shell group of companies in 1983 and had held a number of technical and commercial roles in the upstream and downstream businesses. During his time with the group he has worked in the US, the Netherlands, Malaysia and the UK.

The talks, aimed at removing trade and investment barriers, come at a time when tensions remain raised over claims surrounding the actions of the US National Security Agency.

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel was keen to stress on Thursday however that the talks remain the "highest priority".

The Group has announced that it is planning to buy a controlling stake in Thailand's Bank of Ayudhya. Japan's biggest lender has agreed to buy a 75 percent stake in the Thai bank for up to $5.6 billion.

The deal would also see General Electric end its investment in Ayudhya, which goes back to 2007 when it bought a 33 percent stake in the bank.

Japanese financial firms have been increasingly expanding into South East Asia, attracted as they are to strong growth opportunities.

With an estimated 40 trillion cubic feet (tgf) of liquid natural gas (LNG) contained in its contracted exclusive economic zone (EEZ) Cyprus hopes to establish itself as an energy hub for the eastern Mediterranean, its primary export market being Europe.