The Editorial Team |

Glencore Said to Face U.K. Bribery Probe Over Congo Dealings

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The U.K.’s white-collar crime prosecutor is preparing to open a formal bribery investigation into Glencore Plc and its work with Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler and the leader of Democratic Republic of Congo, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Investigators at the Serious Fraud Office plan to seek formal approval for a full probe into Glencore’s dealings in Congo, said the people, who declined to be identified because the matter isn’t…

How Saving Steinhoff Became Heather Sonn’s 14-Hour-a-Day Mission

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Chairwoman seeks a ‘fair outcome’ for stakeholders after accounting scandal brings giant retailer to the brink Until December, Heather Sonn was running a small investment firm in Cape Town. Then an accounting scandal erupted at Steinhoff International Holdings NV and she was tapped to chair the board. The 46-year-old says she accepted the non-executive role because she felt a duty to those affected by the crisis, which has wiped more than 95…

Congo Billionaire Seeks French Loan to Develop Iron-Ore Railway

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KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Paul Obambi, a billionaire investor in the Congo Republic, is in talks with French lenders to fund a railway he’s building to export iron ore. Obambi’s company SAPRO SA is negotiating with “a consortium of banks” to finance the 450-kilometer (280-mile) track that will link the southwestern town of Mayoko to a port at Pointe Noire, he said in a phone interview from Paris on Tuesday. Construction is expected…

Egypt Holds Rates as Oil Price Rise Stokes Inflation Worries

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CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Thursday, as the government prepares for a new round of fuel subsidy cuts against a backdrop of rising global oil prices. The bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, headed by Governor Tarek Amer, held the overnight deposit rate at 16.75 percent — in line with predictions by five out of eight economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The overnight lending rate was kept at…

Bank of England Steps Up Research on Digital Currency Effects

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Central-bank issued digital currencies could help the transmission of monetary policy, according to a Bank of England report. “Monetary policy would be able to operate much as it does now, by varying the price or quantity of central bank money, and that transmission may even strengthen for a given change in policy instruments,” said the working paper, published on Friday and written by researchers including Jack Meaning and Emily Clayton. A…

Ivory Coast Is Said to Near $530 Million Thermal-Power Deal

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ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ivory Coast is close to completing a deal with the local unit of France’s Eranove SA for the construction of a thermal-power plant that could expand the country’s generation capacity by almost a fifth, according to two people familiar with the matter. The 300 billion CFA franc ($530 million) gas-fired facility will be owned by Cie Ivoirienne de Production d’Electricite, known as Ciprel and operator of the West African nation’s biggest…

Nigerian Lawmakers Raise 2018 Spending Plans to $25 Billion

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian lawmakers increased spending plans for 2018 by almost 6 percent from what President Muhammadu Buhari proposed in November. Of the new suggested budget of 9.1 trillion naira ($25 billion), 3.5 trillion naira is for recurrent expenditure, 2.8 trillion naira for capital spending and 2.2 trillion naira for debt servicing, according to a paper of proceedings in the House of Representatives released Tuesday. Provisions are also made for statutory transfers and…

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