The Editorial Team |

Kenya Central Bank Holds Key Interest Rate After Four Cuts

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) — Kenya’s central bank maintained its benchmark interest rate to allow the effects of four consecutive cuts filter to the economy. The monetary policy committee retained the rate at 7%, Governor Patrick Njoroge said in an emailed statement Wednesday. That matched the projection of one of the three economists in a Bloomberg survey. The panel has reduced the rate by 200 basis points since November. Key Insights: The decision was a “surprising…

Carlyle Spins Out African Team as It Ends Plans for New Fund

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — Carlyle Group Inc. is spinning out its sub-Saharan African team to a new company formed by the managers of its $700 million regional fund, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The alternative asset manager is hiving off the fund after deciding against raising a follow-on fund to the one it closed in 2014, most of which has been invested, the person said, asking not to…

Nigerian Bourse CEO Sees Further Delays in IPOs Amid Virus

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — The Nigerian Stock Exchange expects more delays in initial public offerings as the coronavirus pandemic weighs on Africa’s second-biggest market, according to the chief executive. “We don’t think we will see IPOs in the short term, given some of the uncertainties Covid-19 has brought,” CEO Oscar Onyema said at a virtual conference on Wednesday. Companies seeking to raise capital are showing a preference for rights issues and private placements,…

Equity Group’s Profit Tumbles as Provisions at Kenyan Bank Soar

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Nairobi (Capital Markets in Africa) — Kenya’s biggest bank by market value boosted provisions for loan losses more than sevenfold in the first quarter as the coronavirus struck East Africa’s largest economy. Equity Group Holdings increased provisions to 3.12 billion shillings ($29 million) compared with 410 million shillings a year earlier, while the board decided to withdraw its 2019 dividend to conserve cash during the pandemic, the Nairobi-based lender said in a statement on Thursday. First-quarter…

Zambia Chooses Lazard as Financial Adviser for Debt Restructure

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LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) — Zambia appointed Lazard Freres as financial adviser to help it restructure its external debt, the Finance Ministry said. The contract is worth $5 million and will last three years, the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. “The government has no intention of unilaterally restructuring debt without consulting creditors,” Treasury Secretary Fredson Yamba said in the statement. “We will respect agreements and diligently use market-based instruments in our debt…

African Lender to Probe AfDB’s President Following U.S. Pressure

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ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) — The African Development Bank’s board agreed to an independent probe of its president, Akinwumi Adesina after the U.S. rejected an internal investigation that cleared him of allegations of favoritism, according to two people familiar with deliberations on the matter. Africa’s largest multilateral lender decided on the inquiry after several governments backed U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s criticism of a bank-led examination into the allegations, the people said, asking not to…

Urgent Food Help to Africa Strained as Covid-19 Adds to Hunger

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Fatou Fofana used to be able to support herself, her baby daughter and two other children by selling spices and stock cubes on the outskirts of Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s biggest city. But measures to contain the coronavirus have reduced her earnings to about $2 a day, leaving her reliant on local food aid to survive. The 39-year-old’s market stall was closed by authorities enforcing the country’s lockdown in late…

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