Barclays Flags ‘Black Swan Threats’ to Commodities in 2017

Barclays Flags ‘Black Swan Threats’ to Commodities in 2017

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Watch out for the unexpected in commodities in 2017. Barclays Plc said raw materials markets from energy to metals face the high likelihood of disruptions, giving a laundry list of possible threats including a default by Venezuela, riots in Chile and a trade war with China. “The new politics of populism and protectionist trade policies have the potential to disrupt global supply and demand assumptions for various commodities,” analysts including Michael Cohen and…

Read More

MTN Said to Weigh Selling $500 Million in Shares of Ghana Unit

MTN Said to Weigh Selling $500 Million in Shares of Ghana Unit

ACCRA, Capital Markets in Africa: MTN Group Ltd., Africa’s largest mobile-phone operator by sales, is considering selling about $500 million in shares of its Ghana business, according to people familiar with the matter. The company is approaching high-net-worth individuals in the country about a private placement of a 35 percent stake in the Ghana unit, valuing it at about $1.5 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. No…

Read More

Former OPEC President Optimistic There Will Be Deal in Algiers

Former OPEC President Optimistic There Will Be Deal in Algiers

ALGIERS, Capital Markets in Africa: Chakib Khelil, the former Algerian energy minister who steered OPEC the last time it decided to cut supply, said he’s confident the group will reach an accord next week as low oil prices force members to act. With most of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries now producing near full capacity, it should be straightforward to promise no further increases, said Khelil, who was the group’s president in 2008 when it agreed…

Read More

Kenyan Bond Yields at 14-Month Lows as Rate Cap Hurts Stocks

Kenyan Bond Yields at 14-Month Lows as Rate Cap Hurts Stocks

NAIROBI, Capital Markets in Africa: Yields on Kenyan government bonds dropped to the lowest in 14 months after a new law capping interest rates charged by commercial banks sparked a stock market slump, sending investors scurrying for the safety of fixed-income securities. Kenyan shilling debt has returned 6.7 percent this quarter, compared with the 3.9 percent average return of high-yield local-currency sovereign debt monitored by Bloomberg. The benchmark stock index plunged 9.2 percent in the…

Read More

Market Watch | Emerging-Market Currency Price Swings Widen as Lira Bounces Back

Market Watch | Emerging-Market Currency Price Swings Widen as Lira Bounces Back

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: A rebound in the Turkish lira after a failed coup attempt helped boost some developing-nation exchange rates that were hurt by the turmoil as a gauge of emerging-market currency volatility rose from an 11-month low. The lira gained 1.7 percent, following a 4.6 percent plunge on Friday, helping to lift currencies such as South Africa’s rand. The JPMorgan Emerging Market Volatility Index, a gauge of price swings, jumped 1.3 percent from the lowest…

Read More

Foreign and Local Investors abandon Nigerian Stocks ….

Foreign and Local Investors abandon Nigerian Stocks ….

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa — Total equity transactions at the Nigerian Stock Exchange  decreased by 23.93% from N110.56 billion recorded in December 2015 to N84.1 billion (about US$0.43 billion) in January 2016. In comparison to the same period in 2015, total transactions decreased by 55.67% from the N189.72 recorded in January 2015, the figure released by the bourse. In addition, domestic investors conceded about 3.14% of trading to foreign investors as domestic transactions…

Read More

Nigeria aims to raise US$1 Billion Eurobond to fund budget deficits

Nigeria aims to raise US$1 Billion Eurobond to fund budget deficits

Lagos, Nigeria, Capital Markets ion Africa — Nigeria plans to sell as much as US$1 billion of Eurobonds to help fund a record budget deficit, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun stated on Friday in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The Finance Minister explained that the country is planning to hold non-deal roadshows to meet investors and explain the government’s fiscal policies and monetary policies to resuscitate growth. She said:   “We’re looking at a maximum of…

Read More
1 2