The Editorial Team |

Steinhoff Wins Reprieve as Creditors Agree to Hold Fire on Debts

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Steinhoff International Holdings NV soared more than 50 percent after winning support from a majority of its key creditors for a standstill agreement through the end of June, giving the scandal-hit retailer breathing space to avoid insolvency proceedings. The so-called support letter for Steinhoff’s restructuring plan is the first step taken by creditors toward a debt agreement with the South African company, which in December reported accounting wrongdoing that wiped more than…

Africa Debt Servicing Costs Surge and Changes in Government Financing

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – S&P Global Ratings indicated that the debt-servicing costs of 11 out of 17 rated Sub-Saharan African (SSA) sovereigns that are under the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative have increased significantly since 2011. The HIPC, which is an initiative of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund mainly, is a debt-relief program for countries that are unable to service their debt. The agency said that the initiative reduced…

Moody’s Changes Cameroon’s Outlook To Negative, Affirms B2 Rating

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YAOUNDE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) has changed the outlook on the Government of Cameroon’s issuer local and foreign currency ratings to negative from stable and affirmed the B2 ratings. The decision to change the outlook to negative reflects a rising likelihood that Cameroon’s fiscal strength will continue to weaken due to persistent spending pressures to fund its infrastructure investment program to support growth. Recent fiscal overruns and weak financial health…

African Private Equity Funds raise $700mn in first four months of 2018

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Research provider Preqin indicated that 388 private equity (PE) funds raised a total of $114.6bn to invest in emerging markets (EMs) in 2017, compared to 639 EM-focused PE funds that raised $105.3bn in 2016. The aggregate capital raised in 2017 by EM-focused PE funds represented the second highest level since 2008. Also, the number of PE funds with a primary focus on EMs accounted for 32% of total PE funds, while the…

Algerian Economy Facing Significant Challenges – IMF Says

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ALGIERS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The International Monetary Fund indicated that Algeria continues to face significant challenges because of the sharp decrease in global oil prices since 2014. It noted that Algerian authorities are facing wide fiscal and current account deficits, declining foreign currency reserves and a slowdown in economic activity, despite the considerable fiscal consolidation measures implemented in 2017. It projected real GDP growth to accelerate from 1.6% in 2017 to 3% in 2018…

Tunisian Risks to Macroeconomic Stability Increase – IMF says

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TUNIS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The International Monetary Fund considered that Tunisian authorities remain committed to the implementation of urgent economic reforms to reduce the country’s macroeconomic and fiscal imbalances. It indicated that the economy showed signs of recovery, with real GDP growing by 2.5% in the first quarter of 2018, its highest level since 2014, supported by strong agricultural production and exports. Also, it noted that the current account deficit narrowed because of a…

Nigerian Banks’s Capital ratio at 3.4% under high stress scenario

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Moody’s Investors Service conducted a scenario analysis to measure the solvency of Nigerian banks under a base-case scenario and an alternative stress scenario during the 2018-19 period. It noted that the base-case scenario reflects its current macroeconomic forecasts for Nigeria, while the stress scenario measures the banks’ capacity to withstand high stress conditions and includes a set of assumptions for loan and asset growth and income reductions, among other…

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