INTO AFRICA November 2017 Edition: Islamic Finance: Africa’s New Momentum

INTO AFRICA November 2017 Edition: Islamic Finance: Africa’s New Momentum

Welcome to the November 2017 edition of INTO AFRICA, a publication with fresh insight into Africa’s emerging capital markets.  As the global business environment adapts to the new normal and the implications of a post-oil economy, Africa continues to be an increasingly important component of global growth. In particular, the expansion of Islamic finance in Africa is providing new growth opportunities and propelling faster trade and economic growth in the continent. Against this dynamic backdrop,…

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Noble Group Buys Into African Project Amid Default Concerns

Noble Group Buys Into African Project Amid Default Concerns

LILONGWE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Noble Group Limited may be losing money on Asian operations, selling assets in the U.S., and battling concerns it’ll default, but the Hong Kong-based commodity trader has decided that now’s the right time to boost its presence in Africa with a bet on the electric vehicle boom. The company is investing 500,000 pounds ($655,000) in an obscure mining project in Malawi, emerging as Mkango Resources Ltd.’s top shareholder, according to statements from…

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South African Airways Meeting Banks to Discuss Debt Rollover

South African Airways Meeting Banks to Discuss Debt Rollover

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African Airways will meet a group of domestic lenders on Tuesday to negotiate the refinancing of about 6 billion rand ($423 million) in outstanding loans, according to its new chief executive officer. The banks have in principle agreed to extend the loan terms, Vuyani Jarana, who took the helm at the loss-making airline on Nov. 1, said during an interview at Bloomberg’s Johannesburg office on Monday. The group is…

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Glencore’s Role in Paradise Papers: What You Need to Know

Glencore’s Role in Paradise Papers: What You Need to Know

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The activities of Glencore Plc, the world’s biggest commodity trader, are under scrutiny after a massive leak of confidential information from offshore law firm Appleby Global Group Services Limited. Glencore was one of the top clients of Appleby, which even had a “Glencore Room” at its Bermuda office that kept information on the trader’s 107 offshore companies, according to an investigation led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Appleby suffered…

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Kenyan Politician Files Petition to Overturn Vote Rerun Result

Kenyan Politician Files Petition to Overturn Vote Rerun Result

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) A Kenyan politician lodged a petition at the Supreme Court challenging the validity of last month’s repeat presidential elections, arguing the vote breached the law and wasn’t free and fair. The petition was filed by Harun Mwau, a former legislator, the Judiciary’s spokeswoman, Lilian Mueni, said by phone from the capital, Nairobi. The Independent Electoral & Boundaries Commission proceeded with the Oct. 26 vote rerun despite opposition candidate Raila Odinga’s withdrawal. The…

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Traders Aren’t Yet Calling an End to Nigeria’s Naira Problem

Traders Aren’t Yet Calling an End to Nigeria’s Naira Problem

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian officials are increasingly confident the naira’s troubles are over for good. Some investors disagree. Portfolio inflows have risen in the past three months with crude prices increasing above $60 a barrel and money managers taking heart from a new foreign-exchange trading window, in which the naira has converged with the black-market rate. That prompted central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele and Patience Oniha, the head of the nation’s Debt Management Office, to tell…

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Glencore’s Big Electric Car Bet Carries Plenty of Risk

Glencore’s Big Electric Car Bet Carries Plenty of Risk

KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Democratic Republic of Congo has been presented as a Glencore Plc trump card, but that’s not to say this particular mining play is without risk. On Monday, journalists delving into the so-called Paradise Papers shed more light on Glencore’s activities in the mineral-rich African country, including a loan it made in 2009 to an entity affiliated with controversial Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler.  For reasons of brevity, I won’t…

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