The Editorial Team |

Kenya Plans $210 Million Rail Upgrade as SGR Phases Delayed

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

Posted on by The Editorial Team

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

Posted on by The Editorial Team

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

Posted on by The Editorial Team

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

Posted on by The Editorial Team

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…

Jihadist Threat Prompts Ivory Coast, Ghana to Raise Guard

Posted on by The Editorial Team

ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Some of West Africa’s biggest economies are increasingly vulnerable to attacks by Islamist militants, whose influence is spreading to the inland borders of coastal nations. Heavyweights Ghana and Ivory Coast as well as smaller neighbors Benin and Togo are strengthening security along their boundaries with Burkina Faso, which has seen a surge of attacks by al-Qaeda and Islamic State-linked insurgents this year. The raids have spread so fast that…

South Africa’s Rand Steady as Traders Wait for Poll Dice to Stop Rolling

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The rand traded in a narrow range as South Africa’s election results continued to trickle in, but don’t be fooled: the currency could tip either way as the final balance of power becomes clear. With less than half the votes counted, the ruling African National Congress has a strong lead, though with reduced majority compared with the previous election. The picture could change as results from outlying rural districts —…

« 1 … 315 316 317 318 319 … 1,077 »