The Editorial Team |

Citigroup Sees More Nigerian Companies Tapping Overseas Markets

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Citigroup Inc. is seeing increased demand from Nigerian companies planning to raise cash in international capital markets to expand amid renewed investor interest in West Africa. “The major concern for most corporates as well as potential investors last year was the elections and the possible implications for policy direction, especially from an exchange-rate perspective,” Akin Dawodu, the lender’s Nigerian head, said in the commercial hub of Lagos. With the vote…

Meltdown of State Companies Imperils South Africa’s Finances

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – A meltdown at some of South Africa’s biggest state companies is intensifying, placing the nation’s finances at risk and frustrating President Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to attract new investment and resuscitate a moribund economy. While monolithic power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., which is tottering on the brink of insolvency, has dominated recent headlines, arms manufacturer Denel SOC Ltd., the South African Broadcasting Corp. and South African Airways have joined the list of…

Airtel Africa IPO Expected to Price at Bottom End of Range

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bharti Airtel Ltd.’s initial public offering of its Africa unit is expected to price at 80 pence a share, the bottom of its range of 80 pence to 100 pence, according to terms seen by Bloomberg. The books, which close at 2 p.m. in London on Thursday, are oversubscribed on the full size of the deal, the documents show. Bharti is seeking to raise $750 million on Friday through listings in London…

Billionaire General Bets on Property With Fortune Forged in Oil

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Kings Arms Hotel is a 300-year-old inn next to London’s Hampton Court Palace, once the home of Henry VIII. It’s poised to open soon after refurbishment, with rooms costing about 250 pounds ($318) a night. Guests can dine on traditional fare in the Six restaurant, a reference to the monarch’s many wives, or grab a pint on the terrace. In this most English of settings, it’s fitting the owner…

Back to 2008 in Zimbabwe as Currency That Wrecked Lives Returns

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HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – For Zimbabwe’s government, the reintroduction of the national currency a decade after its demise is a return to “normalcy.” For most of the country’s citizens, it’s a bitter reminder of years of hyperinflation, which destroyed their savings and left them bartering for daily basics. “Remember 2008, when you needed trillions of dollars to buy bread? In Zimbabwe time goes backward,” said Edwin Mapondera, 34, who sells wooden sculptures in the affluent…

Moody’s Sees South Africa’s Credit Rating Outlook as Stable

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Moody’s Investors Service said South Africa’s credit-rating outlook is stable, giving the country’s new government more time to tackle key challenges such as low economic growth and embattled state-owned companies to ward off junk status. With May’s national elections over, the new government “will put forward policies to continue tackling the main credit challenges, including a low growth, steadily rising debt, leveraged state-owned enterprises and weakened institutions,” Moody’s said….

African Behemoth of 200 Million Awakens to Retail Banking

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – After years of ignoring consumers, Nigerian lenders are making an unprecedented push into retail banking. Increased technology use and urbanization are opening up a market of almost 200 million people where less than half of adults are banked. Drawn by the vast potential of an untapped market, banks also have little choice as they face competition from wireless carriers with over 160 million users, and the central bank demands they lend…

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