The Editorial Team |

Best-Performing Metals as Hard to Trade as They Are to Find

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Even if you’d heard of this year’s best-performing metals, betting on them would probably have been a struggle. Ruthenium, iridium and the somewhat better known rhodium — used mostly in specialized products like hard disks, spark plugs and auto catalysts — have trounced almost all major commodities tracked by Bloomberg. Prices are up at least 33 percent this year as demand improved for raw materials that are among the world’s rarest and…

Nigeria to License Drones in New Rules for Unmanned Aircraft

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria plans to license drones used for both commercial and private purposes under new regulations governing unmanned aircraft, the head of the civil aviation agency said. “We have proposed regulations already,” Dele Sasegbon, director of general aviation at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, told reporters Thursday in the capital, Abuja. “For the integration of unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system, we have to do it seamlessly.” Steps have…

Potash Plan Spurs $98-Million Road Link in Horn of Africa

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Djibouti contracted a Kuwaiti company to build a $98-million road link to enable landlocked Ethiopia to ship its first potash output from a new Red Sea port, officials said. Kuwait City-based Mohammed Abdulmohsin Al-Kharafi & Sons Co. is constructing the 128-kilometer (79.5-mile) road connecting the harbor to the border, while Ethiopia plans to provide an 11-kilometer stretch on its side, according to Aboubaker Omar Hadi, the chairman of Djibouti’s ports authority….

Nigeria Signals Willingness to Agree on Oil Production Cap

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria signalled its willingness to cap its oil production to support OPEC’s efforts to ease a global supply glut. The output limit would come into play when Nigeria can stably pump 1.8 million barrels a day, the country’s oil minister Emmanuel Kachikwu told reporters Wednesday in Abuja. That’s about 100,000 barrels more than it’s currently producing. The country’s output has recovered this year after militant attacks had damaged export pipelines and…

Years of Gridlock Face South Africa as Rules Paralyze Mining

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Executives from Sibanye Gold Ltd., South Africa’s biggest gold miner, were in Los Angeles in the final stages of a roadshow with U.S. bond fund managers last month when a bombshell hit from back home. The government had introduced shock new rules requiring local mines to be 30 percent black-owned in perpetuity, toughening existing requirements and implying hefty dilution for shareholders. South African stocks tumbled and bond yields rose that day. The…

Ghana Oil Boon Not Enough to Plug Budget Hole as Prices Drop

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – A surge in Ghana’s oil output this year may do little to ease the West African nation’s fiscal strains as crude prices are lower than what it budgeted, eroding the gains from extra production. This year’s average Brent crude price of $52 a barrel is below the $56 forecast in the budget, which could complicate the state’s plans to narrow the fiscal deficit. Output is set to climb by more than…

Kenya Says Election Jitters Pose Risks to Growth Prospects

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Political uncertainty surrounding Kenyan elections next month and a dry-up in banks’ lending to businesses and individuals could hurt the short-term growth prospects of East Africa’s biggest economy, according to the Treasury. The Aug. 8 elections may create uncertainty that could weaken foreign and local investor confidence, Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge said in a statement on the ministry’s website on Thursday. “The economy remains vulnerable to the shocks emanating from the…

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