Eskom Deepens South Africa Power Cuts as Moody’s Flags Risk

Eskom Deepens South Africa Power Cuts as Moody’s Flags Risk

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s debt-laden power utility raced to stabilize the grid by resorting to the most intense supply cuts in four years while Moody’s Investors Service warned a plan to fix it fell short. Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. implemented so-called stage 4 rotational power cuts from 1 p.m. That involves taking 4,000 megawatts of demand out of the system to prevent its complete collapse. The reductions come as Moody’s Investors Service…

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Wall of Male Prejudice Stifles Women’s Rise in Nigerian Politics

Wall of Male Prejudice Stifles Women’s Rise in Nigerian Politics

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – When Bolanle Aliyu decided to run for governor of Oyo State in southwestern Nigeria, even her husband was initially reluctant to support her. Aliyu knew it was going to be tough once she entered the boisterous and sometimes violent world of Nigerian politics. She’d have to figure out how to fund her campaign and deal with corrupt party officials demanding bribes for everything from nomination forms to ensuring her…

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Private equity funds raise $426bn in 2018

Private equity funds raise $426bn in 2018

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Research provider Preqin indicated that 1,175 private equity (PE) funds raised a total of $426bn in capital commitments worldwide in 2018, compared to 1,670 PE funds that raised $565.8bn in 2017. Also, it said that 214 buyout funds raised $229bn in 2018, or 53.8% of total capital commitments, followed by 605 venture capital funds with $78.9bn (18.5%) in raised capital, 155 growth funds with $59.1bn (13.9%) in capital commitments,…

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Ramaphosa Sets Out Plans to Revive South African Economy

Ramaphosa Sets Out Plans to Revive South African Economy

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa unveiled plans to revive the flagging economy and create jobs, including removing obstacles to investing and doing business, attracting more tourists, and stepping up the fight against graft. “We are undaunted by the considerable difficulties we have yet to overcome,” Ramaphosa said in his annual State-of-the-Nation address in Parliament in Cape Town on Thursday. “Above everything else, we must get our economy working again.” The keynote…

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RioZim Halts Output as Central Bank Fails to Make Payments

RioZim Halts Output as Central Bank Fails to Make Payments

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) = RioZim Ltd. halted production at its three gold mines after Zimbabwe’s central bank failed to provide foreign currency the company needs to keep operating. The shutdown is the second by RioZim since October. It’s the latest indication of how businesses are struggling to keep going as a dearth of foreign exchange causes shortages of food and fuel in the southern African nation. RioZim said it suspended output after the central…

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Ghana May Auction Eurobonds With or Without Final IMF Review

Ghana May Auction Eurobonds With or Without Final IMF Review

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghanaian Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said the country could proceed with a sale of Eurobonds even before the International Monetary Fund completes a final review of the nation’s extended credit-facility program. The finance ministry will next week name transaction advisers for a planned issuance of as much as $3 billion, after which the lenders will test investors’ appetite for a sale, Ofori-Atta said Friday in an interview in the capital, Accra. “After…

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Mandela’s Widow to Credit Suisse: Write Off Mozambique Debt

Mandela’s Widow to Credit Suisse: Write Off Mozambique Debt

MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Mozambique shouldn’t repay any of the loans it got from Credit Suisse AG as part of a $2 billion sovereign debt scandal that’s seen three former employees and an ex-finance minister arrested, a group of non-governmental organizations said. “We demand that Credit Suisse publicly declare that the Mozambican people should not pay a single cent on those debts,” the group said in a letter to the bank signed by…

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