The Editorial Team |

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

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…

Pound Advances as Rees-Mogg Revives Hopes for May’s Brexit Deal

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LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The pound climbed as Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg signaled he could back the U.K. Prime Minister’s deal to leave the European Union, keeping alive the possibility that her plan may eventually pass through Parliament. Sterling reversed earlier declines to lead gains across the Group-of-10 currencies as Rees-Mogg said Theresa May’s deal was “better than not leaving at all.” Rees-Mogg leads an influential grouping of lawmakers, the European Research Group, who have opposed her…

U.S. Construction Slowdown Fears Stoked by Ferguson Outlook

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LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Stocks of U.S. construction-industry suppliers declined in London after Ferguson Plc, a wholesaler of heating and plumbing products viewed as a bellwether for the sector, forecast annual profit at the low end of analysts’ estimates. “After a strong revenue performance in the first half, our growth rate has moderated recently in line with conditions in our markets,” the FTSE 100 constituent said in a statement Tuesday. The update reflected a “sharp slowdown”…

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