Moody’s Places Access Bank, Diamond Bank Ratings Under Review

Moody’s Places Access Bank, Diamond Bank Ratings Under Review

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Moody’s Investors Service Ltd. placed on review for downgrade Access Bank Plc’s ratings and an upgrade for Diamond Bank Plc’s ratings. The reviews are on Access Bank’s foreign-currency deposit ratings and long-term counter-party risk rating and assessment, among others, Moody’s said Tuesday in an emailed statement. Some of the ratings under review for an upgrade at Diamond include its Caa1 long-term deposit ratings and its Caa3 baseline credit assessment, it said….

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Foreigners Are Back to Gobble Up Egypt’s Local-Currency Debt

Foreigners Are Back to Gobble Up Egypt’s Local-Currency Debt

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – It appears foreign investors can no longer resist the allure of some of the juiciest yields in emerging markets. In debt auctions held this week, they bought 30 percent of Egyptian local-currency Treasury bills and more than half of longer-dated bonds, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Tuesday. They acquired all of the five-year securities sold a day earlier, in what the ministry labeled a clear sign of…

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Absa CEO Ramos to Retire After Steering Split From Barclays

Absa CEO Ramos to Retire After Steering Split From Barclays

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa)) – Absa Group Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Maria Ramos will step down after overseeing the split from Barclays Plc, an alliance blamed for the loss of retail market share at South Africa’s third-largest bank. The stock rallied the most among its Johannesburg-based peers on Tuesday in the wake of Ramos’s pending exit. Absa, once the nation’s largest mortgage lender, fell behind after Britain’s Barclays acquired control in 2005. Now that the U.K. bank has sold…

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New Nemesis Threatens South Africa’s Ruling ANC Before Vote

New Nemesis Threatens South Africa’s Ruling ANC Before Vote

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Just when South Africa’s ruling party thought it was on the way to rebuilding its image before this year’s election, along came Angelo Agrizzi. A former executive at services company Bosasa, Agrizzi has captivated the nation with televised testimony at a judicial panel probing graft during Jacob Zuma’s presidency about how the firm won state contracts worth billions of rand by bribing top African National Congress officials. He also said the…

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Zimbabwe Attacks Said to Be Organized in Defiance of Mnangagwa

Zimbabwe Attacks Said to Be Organized in Defiance of Mnangagwa

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa is being defied by members of his ruling party who are orchestrating a violent crackdown after demonstrations this month, government and military officials said. Door-to-door raids in urban townships by police and men in military uniform are continuing more than a week after a three-day strike was called following a more than doubling of fuel prices, the people said on the condition of anonymity. Abuses range from…

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Senegal Raises Stake of State Oil Company Under New Code

Senegal Raises Stake of State Oil Company Under New Code

DAKAR (Capital Markets in Africa)  – Senegal’s National Assembly approved a new oil code as a string of major discoveries off its coast are expected to make the West African nation an oil exporter in coming years. The code increases the stake of state-run oil company Petrosen to as much 30 percent in new projects, Oil Ministry spokesman Barthelemy Sene said by text message in response to questions Monday. It will apply fixed percentages for…

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Nigeria Opposition Leader Calls Top Judge Suspension Illegal

Nigeria Opposition Leader Calls Top Judge Suspension Illegal

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa)  – Nigeria’s main opposition figure, Atiku Abubakar, said President Muhammadu Buhari breached the constitution by suspending the nation’s top judge just weeks before a general election in Africa’s biggest oil producer. The president’s move on Jan. 25 to temporarily replace Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen, citing allegations of a false asset declaration, has triggered a political crisis because the Supreme Court would probably have to rule on any challenges to the fairness of the vote….

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