The Editorial Team |

Standard Bank’s First-Half Profit Rises 14% as Impairments Drop

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Standard Bank Group Ltd., Africa’s largest lender by assets, said first-half profit rose 14 percent after impairments dropped and costs were contained. Net income climbed to 12.3 billion rand ($937 million) from 10.8 billion rand a year earlier, the Johannesburg-based lender said in a statement on Thursday. Earnings per share excluding one-time items, known locally as headline earnings, advanced 11 percent to 7.56 rand beating the 7.44 rand median estimate of…

Aliko Dangote – Richest Man in Africa to Invest Abroad After $10 Billion Oil Bet

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – “Nothing is impossible.” These three words are on a plaque that Aliko Dangote keeps on his office desk in Lagos, Nigeria, constantly reminding Africa’s richest man how to approach the world. Dangote, who was worth $12.3 billion as of mid-August, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is modest in his personal life but bold in business.Presiding over an empire that includes cement, freight, infrastructure, agriculture, and—soon—oil refining, Dangote, 60, possesses a…

Africa’s Richest Man Will Fire Wenger If He Buys Arsenal

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote’s first order of business if he succeeds in buying English Premier League soccer club Arsenal will be to fire the manager, Arsene Wenger. Dangote, Africa’s richest man with a net worth of $11.1 billion, has coveted the team since becoming a supporter in the mid-1980s, he said in an interview. He’ll consider making an offer once the construction of an $11 billion oil refinery in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, is completed…

Kenya Pulls Back From Brink as Vote Dispute Heads for Court

Posted on by The Editorial Team

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya pulled back from the brink of a violent electoral dispute after the main opposition buckled to international pressure and agreed to contest the outcome in court. The country has been on a knife-edge since President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the winner of an Aug. 8 vote that his main rival, Raila Odinga, said was stolen. There have been clashes between security forces and opposition supporters in slums in Nairobi, the capital,…

No Witch Hunt’ for S. Africa’s ANC Rebels, Mantashe Says

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Johannesburg (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s ruling African National Congress won’t try to expose its lawmakers who voted in secret with the opposition in the no-confidence motion against President Jacob Zuma, the party’s secretary-general said. “There will be no witch hunt for those who voted with the opposition,” Gwede Mantashe said in a post on his Twitter account on Tuesday. “We don’t know who voted what way.” More than two dozen members of the ANC backed…

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

Posted on by The Editorial Team

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…

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

Posted on by The Editorial Team

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…

« 1 … 660 661 662 663 664 … 1,077 »