Egypt Weighs $4 Billion Eurobond Sale in January, Official Says

Egypt Weighs $4 Billion Eurobond Sale in January, Official Says

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt plans to return to the international debt markets in January to raise as much as $4 billion to fund the budget deficit, a Finance Ministry official said. The ministry may approach investment banks to select advisers for the possible sale within three months, the official told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity because the plans have yet to be finalized. The amount and the timing would depend on market…

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Less Predictable South Africa Policy May See Moody’s Rating Cut

Less Predictable South Africa Policy May See Moody’s Rating Cut

Johannesburg (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s credit rating may be cut to junk if its policies become “even less predictable” or shift in a way that could undermine the economy, Moody’s Investors Service said. Policy uncertainty and political turmoil have increased in the last two months as the nation’s anti-graft ombudsman instructed lawmakers to change the central bank’s mandate, the mines minister published new regulations that the industry says undermine investment and President Jacob Zuma’s…

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Namibia Cuts Rate for First Time in 5 Years as Inflation Slows

Namibia Cuts Rate for First Time in 5 Years as Inflation Slows

WINDHOEK (Capital Markets in Africa) – Namibia’s central bank reduced its key rate for the first time since 2012 as consumer prices rose at the slowest pace in almost two years last month and the economy contracts. The Monetary Policy Committee reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.75 percent, Bank of Namibia Deputy Governor Ebson Uanguta told reportersWednesday in capital, Windhoek. Inflation in the southwest African nation, the world’s biggest producer of marine diamonds, was 5.4…

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Nigeria Seeks to Diversify From Oil With $41 Billion of Rail

Nigeria Seeks to Diversify From Oil With $41 Billion of Rail

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria has started a $41 billion railway expansion to reduce dependence on oil and diversify its struggling economy by improving transport links to allow the movement of goods around the country and to ports. “The plan we have now will go to every nook and corner,” Transport MinisterRotimi Amaechi, 52, said in an interview in the capital, Abuja. Africa’s biggest oil producer is going through its worst economic slump in…

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Standard Bank Seeks to Raise $3 Billion for Ugandan Oil Pipeline

Standard Bank Seeks to Raise $3 Billion for Ugandan Oil Pipeline

KAMPALA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Standard Bank Group Ltd.’s Ugandan unit plans to raise $3 billion for a crude pipeline by the second half of next year as the East African country prepares to start oil production by 2020. Stanbic Bank Uganda was appointed alongside Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. as joint financial adviser for the 1,445-kilometer (898-mile) pipeline, Patrick Mweheire, the chief executive officer of the Kampala, Uganda-based business, said in an interview on…

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South Africa Court Scraps Bid to Alter Central Bank Role

South Africa Court Scraps Bid to Alter Central Bank Role

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s High Court scrapped a bid by the nation’s anti-graft ombudsman to change the central bank’s inflation-targeting mandate. The Public Protector’s instruction that lawmakers should start a process to change the constitution and amend the Reserve Bank’s mandate is set aside, Judge Cynthia Pretorius said in a ruling. The judgment removes the risk of politicians interfering in the functioning of the central bank and may ease concerns about…

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Africa’s Biggest Copper Mine Hit by Zambian Power Restrictions

Africa’s Biggest Copper Mine Hit by Zambian Power Restrictions

LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zambia is cutting power to mines including Africa’s biggest copper site, the Kansanshi pit owned by First Quantum Minerals Ltd., escalating a fight over tariffs. “They have still got some significant amount of power for them to operate, but obviously their operations will not be at 100 percent because of the power restrictions,” Energy Minister David Mabumba told reporters Tuesday in Lusaka, the capital. Glencore Plc has said it halted production…

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