The Editorial Team |

Brexit Delay Rekindles Allure of U.K.’s Junk Bond Market

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Broadband and pay TV provider Virgin Media is the latest company braving the U.K.’s unloved debt market to raise funds following a lengthy delay to Britain’s departure from the European Union. The company sold 300 million pounds ($390 million) of bonds late on Wednesday as part of a $1.2 billion equivalent deal. On the same day, Co-Operative Group, which provides a range of services from funerals to supermarkets, also sold 300 million…

The U.K.’s Big Saudi Bribery Probe Is Stuck in Legal Limbo

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LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nearly a year after the U.K. Attorney General sought external legal advice on the country’s most sensitive bribery case, the logjam surrounding the saga appears no closer to easing. More than 14 months ago, the Serious Fraud Office, the U.K.’s top white collar crime prosecutor, asked the Attorney General to approve charges against former employees of a unit of Airbus SE. It alleged that the Riyadh-based subsidiary, GPT Special Project Management,…

Kenya Plans $210 Million Rail Upgrade as SGR Phases Delayed

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya will spend $210 million on linking and upgrading older tracks with its new standard-gauge railway as it abandons a plan to extend the Chinese-funded project to Uganda’s border that would have created a faster export route to the Indian Ocean for landlocked neighbors. Of the sum, $60 million will fund a 43-kilometer (26.7 mile) meter-gauge line that will act to connect the old and new railways, according to…

Anadarko Eyes Go-Ahead for Huge LNG Plant as Bidding War Rages

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MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Anadarko Petroleum Corp. plans to give the go-ahead next month for its $20 billion Mozambique liquefied natural gas project, one of the assets caught in the middle of a bidding war for the driller. Texas-based Anadarko will announce a final investment decision for the facility on June 18 in Maputo, the explorer said Wednesday in a statement. All issues between the company and the government of Mozambique have been resolved, it…

Emirates Profit Slumps to Seven-Year Low as Oil Hits Margins

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Emirates Group, owner of the world’s biggest long-haul airline, suffered a 44% decline in annual earnings as higher oil prices, a stronger dollar and lower occupancy levels hit margins at a time when the Dubai-based company faces increasing competition from rivals. Net income shrank to 2.32 billion dirhams ($632 million) in the year through March, the lowest since fiscal 2012, according to a statement Thursday. Staff won’t get a bonus after…

As Diamond Reshapes Africa Ambitions, a Kenyan Bank Benefits

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bob Diamond’s change in strategy to build Atlas Mara Ltd. into a pan-African lender are helping a rival Kenyan banker fulfill a long-held objective of expanding on the continent. The company founded by the former Barclays Plc chief executive officer in 2013 is exiting four of the seven African nations in which it operates in return for 6.3 percent of Nairobi-based Equity Group Holdings Plc. That gives James Mwangi, the CEO of Kenya’s biggest…

Equity Targets $4.2 Billion of Loans in Mobile-Banking Venture

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Equity Group Holdings Plc expects to lend as much as 420 billion shillings ($4.2 billion) during the next five years through a venture with Kenya’s largest mobile-phone operator by targeting small businesses. The nation’s biggest lender by market value and Safaricom Plc said last month they agreed to collaborate on financial services for their combined base of more than 30 million customers, ending a nine-year-long rivalry. Safariom “will support us to…

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