Burkina Faso Gets Solar Plant After Energy Policy Change

Burkina Faso Gets Solar Plant After Energy Policy Change

OUAGADOUGOU (Capital Markets in Africa) – Burkina Faso signed an agreement to build a solar plant in the first such deal after the West African nation adopted legislation that authorizes private investment in the energy sector. Windiga Energy Inc. of Canada will install 85,000 photovoltaic panels to generate about 20 megawatts in the north-western outskirts of the capital, Ouagadougou, the country’s energy minister, Alfa Omar Dissa, told reporters after the signing ceremony on Tuesday. The project…

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LeapFrog invests US$180mn in Enterprise Group Ghana

LeapFrog invests US$180mn in Enterprise Group Ghana

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – LeapFrog Investments, the profit-with-purpose investor in emerging markets, today announces a total investment of US$180mn in Ghanaian financial services market leader, Enterprise Group Limited (Enterprise Group). The transaction draws from a US$350mn separately managed account, LeapFrog Strategic African Investments (LSAI), which was established in 2016 to access high growth markets in Africa. The Enterprise Group commitment represents LeapFrog’s largest investment to-date and marks the first investment of LSAI, a fund…

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Julius Berger Eyes Oil, Power Deals to Curb Nigeria Risk

Julius Berger Eyes Oil, Power Deals to Curb Nigeria Risk

LAGOS (Capita Markets in Africa) – Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, the largest construction company by market value in the West African nation, plans to acquire oil assets and expand into the power industry as it seeks to diversify its business and stay competitive after the country’s worst economic slump in decades. The Abuja-based company, which derives two-thirds of its earnings from government contracts, is also considering bidding for business in other countries in the region,…

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Etisalat Nigeria Faces Hunt for New Owner After Talks Fail

Etisalat Nigeria Faces Hunt for New Owner After Talks Fail

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) Etisalat Nigeria faces a search for a buyer and operator after a consortium of banks seized control of a 45 percent stake from Emirates Telecommunications Corp. following the failure of talks about a $1.2 billion loan. A group of 13 Nigerian lenders ordered the Abu Dhabi-based company to transfer the shareholding to United Capital Trustees Ltd. by June 23, the operator of Nigeria’s fourth-biggest wireless carrier said in a statement Tuesday. Etisalat Nigeria…

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Dangote Cement May Shut Ethiopian Plant Over Mining Disputes

Dangote Cement May Shut Ethiopian Plant Over Mining Disputes

ADDIS ABABA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Dangote Cement Plc, controlled by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, said it may shut its operations in Ethiopia if authorities in the central state of Oromia don’t reverse an order to cement makers to hand over control of some parts of their businesses to local young people. Oromia state’s East Shewa Zone administration wants the Nigerian company to outsource its pumice, sand and clay mines to youth groups or…

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Nigeria Rolls Out $2 Billion Brazil-Like Social-Welfare Plan

Nigeria Rolls Out $2 Billion Brazil-Like Social-Welfare Plan

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria is rolling out its first national social-welfare program modeled partly on Brazil’s Bolsa Familia in a bid to boost a weak economy and curb poverty by giving cash to its poorest citizens and ensuring their children go to school. The government of Africa’s most-populous nation is investing 500 billion naira ($1.5 billion) in the initiative this year and is talking to the World Bank about a $500 million…

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South Africa Inflation Rate Rises for First Time in 2017

South Africa Inflation Rate Rises for First Time in 2017

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s inflation rate rose for the first time this year in May after food-price growth quickened from the slowest pace since December 2015. Consumer-price inflation accelerated to 5.4 percent from 5.3 percent in April, matching the median estimate of 22 economists in a Bloomberg survey and staying within the central bank’s target range for a second month. Prices increased 0.3 percent in the month, Statistics South Africa said in a report…

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