The Editorial Team |

Argentina Mining Gets Macri Boost as Tough Election Looms

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Argentina is eyeing its first major new mining project in two decades, nudged forward by President Mauricio Macri’s market-oriented policies. But there’s no guarantee he’ll be around to take credit. Argentina’s economy is tanking with the central bank hiking interest rates to ease inflation and save the peso, the worst-performing currency in emerging markets. That could put Macri on shaky ground as he heads toward a presidential election in October where he could…

Economists Split on S. Africa Avoiding Moody’s Negative Cut

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa may just be able to cling onto the stable outlook of its sole investment-grade rating this week, helping it stay clear of a forced selloff of billions of rand of its debt. Economists are divided on what Moody’s Investors Service will do when it potentially makes an announcement on South Africa’s credit assessment Friday. Half the participants in a Bloomberg survey expect it to maintain a stable…

Damage From Southern African Cyclone May Top $1 Billion, UN Says

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MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – A cyclone that tore across southern Africa this month may have destroyed more than $1 billion of infrastructure, the United Nations said, as the death toll from the storm climbed to more than 700. After devastating Mozambique’s port city of Beira, Tropical Cyclone Idai damaged roads, bridges and dams as it moved toward eastern Zimbabwe. More than 100,000 houses were partially or completely destroyed, according to the UN. It also ruined…

MTN Drops as Nigeria Urges Court Not to Block $2 Billion Penalty

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd. shares fell almost 7 percent after Nigeria’s government said Africa’s biggest mobile operator evaded taxes and urged a Lagos court not to block a $2 billion penalty. The High Court of Lagos should throw out the Johannesburg-based company’s attempt to stop it from paying backdated taxes, T. A. Gazali, a government lawyer, said in court Tuesday. Wole Olanipekun, a lawyer for MTN, said Nigeria’s attorney-general, who imposed…

Back to the Marc Rich Days as U.S. Probes Commodity Traders

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Not since the days of fugitive oil merchant Marc Rich has the commodities trading industry faced so much global scrutiny. The biggest independent oil and metals trading houses, including Vitol Group, Trafigura Group Ltd., Glencore Plc., Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. and Gunvor Group Ltd., are facing bribery and corruption investigations in jurisdictions ranging from Brazil to Switzerland and, most importantly, the U.S. The multitude of investigations echoes the early 1980s, when then-U.S….

Zambia’s Loss-Making Power Utility Seeks Steep Tariff Hikes

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LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zambia’s state-owned electricity provider has applied to the energy regulator for tariff increases that will see some prices more than triple as it seeks to return to profit. For commercial users, Zesco Ltd. has requested to raise charges to 1.85 kwacha per kilowatt-hour ($0.15) from 0.52 kwacha, it said in a statement on its website. For the biggest users, Zesco asked to increase tariffs to 0.36 kwacha per kilowatt-hour, from…

Nigerian Mogul Tony Elumelu Targets $2.5 Billion Power Build-Out

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian business mogul Tony Elumelu plans to invest as much as $2.5 billion in power projects across Africa’s electricity-starved biggest oil producer. The chairman of United Bank for Africa Plc and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc will make the investments through a subsidiary, Transcorp Power Ltd., to help boost power supply in the West African nation, he said in a March 22 interview. He declined to give details on the time frame. Africa’s most populous…

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