Ivory Coast Cocoa Farmers See Bumper Crop After Slow Start

Ivory Coast Cocoa Farmers See Bumper Crop After Slow Start

ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – This year’s cocoa harvest in top producer Ivory Coast may be starting slowly, but farmers say volumes will catch up in a few months and are forecasting another big crop to follow last season’s record. Heavy rains in June and July caused flowers to fall off trees and while farmers have started reaping some pods, there are a lot fewer than this time last year, said Salam Pelega, the head…

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Dreams of Europe Life Spur Perilous Journey From West Africa

Dreams of Europe Life Spur Perilous Journey From West Africa

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kadi Bah saw people starving in the Sahara desert and drowning in the Mediterranean during her failed six-month odyssey to reach Europe. But as soon as the United Nations plane bringing her back home from Libya to Ivory Coast touched down, she was hatching plans to try again. “I’ll be so proud of myself if I can make it to Europe; I’ll tell everybody I managed to leave,” the…

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Ecobank’s Ivory Coast Unit Is Said to Plan IPO to Fund Expansion

Ecobank’s Ivory Coast Unit Is Said to Plan IPO to Fund Expansion

ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ecobank Transnational Inc.’s Ivory Coast unit plans to raise 45 billion CFA francs ($79 million) in an initial public offering on West Africa’s regional stock exchange, according to two people familiar with the matter. The share sale will begin by October, pending approval by the regulator, Regional Council for Public Savings and Financial Markets, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information hasn’t been made public. The listing…

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Ivory Coast Said to Attract Almost $10 Billion in Eurobond Bids

Ivory Coast Said to Attract Almost $10 Billion in Eurobond Bids

ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ivory Coast attracted almost $10 billion in bids for its Eurobond auction on Thursday in a sale that came less than a month after a four-day mutiny by soldiers, according to a person familiar with the matter. The West African nation received about $4.8 billion in orders for the dollar portion of its debt sale and a further 4.4 billion euros ($4.9 billion) for the second tranche by the…

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Mutinies `Humiliated’ Ivory Coast, Parliament Speaker Says

Mutinies `Humiliated’ Ivory Coast, Parliament Speaker Says

ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – A series of mutinies by soldiers in Ivory Coast demanding payments for supporting President Alassane Ouattara humiliated the West African nation, according to National Assembly Speaker Guillaume Soro, who once commanded the troops as a former rebel leader. “I can only note that we are despised,” Soro, 45, said in an interview Sunday at his residence in Abidjan, the commercial capital. “It’s a humiliation for us — the state, the president, myself…

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IMF Sees `Subdued’ Growth Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa

IMF Sees `Subdued’ Growth Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic growth outlook is “subdued” as the region’s oil producers delay policy adjustments needed to trigger and sustain expansion momentum, the International Monetary Fund said. The area’s gross domestic product will probably expand 2.6 percent this year from 1.4 percent in 2016, the IMF said in an emailed copy of its Regional Economic Outlook. The modest recovery from the worst performance in more than two decades last year will…

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Ivory Coast Economy Remains ‘Solid’ Despite Challenges, PM Says

Ivory Coast Economy Remains ‘Solid’ Despite Challenges, PM Says

ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ivory Coast’s economy is strong despite challenges including a slump in cocoa prices and social unrest, according to Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly. “The fundamentals of the Ivorian economy are solid, as evidenced by the growth that we’re experiencing,” Coulibaly said in an interview on state TV late Thursday. “But we’re confronted with numerous challenges.” The government of the world’s biggest cocoa producer cut this year’s budget by a 10th…

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