The Editorial Team |

The Disappearing $1.1 Billion Behind Shell, Eni Trial: QuickTake

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA are going to trial in Italy over bribery charges involving an oil field in Nigeria. Two things are unusual about the case. One is the sheer scale of the sum involved — $1.1 billion. The other is that the defendants include Eni’s Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi, the company’s former CEO and a former top executive at Shell. Hearings resume in Milan on May 14. What…

Uganda Oil Investments Seen Doubling Size of Economy by 2025

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KAMPALA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Uganda’s economy may double in size by 2025 as investments in the oil industry stimulate growth, the country’s biggest lender said. The $15 billion expected to be spent before crude production starts in 2020 will benefit a range of sectors, boosting the East African nation’s gross domestic product to $60 billion, Stanbic Bank Uganda Chief Executive Officer Patrick Mweheire told reporters Wednesday in the capital, Kampala. Participation of local companies in…

Olam Eyes Fish Farming in Africa to Tap Growing Middle Class

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Olam International Limited, one of the world’s largest food traders, is considering expanding into fish farming in Africa to tap demand from a growing and more affluent population. The Singapore-based firm is conducting a feasibility study on farming fish in West Africa, likely in Nigeria, the continent’s most populated country, Chief Operating Officer Shekhar Anantharaman said. Olam could potentially start the venture with partner and shareholder Mitsubishi Corp., which owns fish…

Ecobank to Boost Transaction Income to Reduce Lending Focus

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ecobank Transnational Inc., the most geographically diverse African lender, plans to increase revenue from transactions rather than depending on interest from loans, Chief Executive Officer Ade Ayeyemi said. “We’ve been a big lending bank, we are now moving more and more to a big transaction services bank,” he said on the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, the commercial capital of Ivory Coast. “You need to be a balanced…

Ethiopian Ruling Party Picks Leader From Protest-Hit Region

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ADDIS ABABA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ethiopia’s ruling coalition appointed a top official from the protest-hit Oromia region as leader, as the government tries to quell unrest that’s posed the biggest challenge to its rule in a quarter-century. The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front chose Abiy Ahmed, 42, a retired lieutenant general and recently appointed chairman of the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization, to succeed Hailemariam Desalegn. Abiy is now expected to be voted in by…

Shell Suspects Ex-Executive Committed Crime in Nigeria Deal

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc referred a former vice president for sub-Saharan Africa Peter Robinson to the Dutch authorities, suspecting he may have committed crimes related to an asset sale in Nigeria. The allegations of criminal misconduct by one of its employees come at a difficult time for Shell. Europe’s largest energy company and several former executives, including Robinson, are already facing a criminal trial in Milan over an alleged bribery…

Rand Bears Keep Rushing for the Exits Even as Rate Cut Looms

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Economists are predicting a South African rate cut on Wednesday. The market’s pricing in another later this year. Rand traders, it seems, couldn’t care less. Bearish bets on South Africa’s currency versus the dollar fell to the lowest level this week since before the 2008 financial crisis, even with the South African Reserve Bank poised to loosen policy while the Federal Reserve tightens, narrowing the rand’s yield advantage over the greenback. A glance…

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