The Editorial Team |

Nampak Surges as Can-Maker Extracts More Cash From Nigeria

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nampak Limited rallied the most on record after Africa’s biggest beverage-can maker said it significantly improved its ability to get cash out of Nigeria while increasing the use of hedging contracts to protect against currency fluctuations. The Johannesburg-based company expects to get $54 million out of Nigeria by the end of September, Chief Financial Officer Glenn Fullerton said by phone. The combined rate at which Nampak extracted money out of Nigeria and Angola…

Kenyan Central Bank Says Lenders Face New Era of Smaller Profits

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan lenders must adjust their business models to adapt to a new era of lower profits as interest-rate caps curb investor returns, Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Njoroge said. Return on equity in the Kenyan banking industry declined to 13.6 percent in March from 18.2 percent in June, Njoroge told reporters Tuesday in the capital, Nairobi. For the country’s biggest lenders, the drop was more severe, slumping to 23 percent…

Mutinies `Humiliated’ Ivory Coast, Parliament Speaker Says

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ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – A series of mutinies by soldiers in Ivory Coast demanding payments for supporting President Alassane Ouattara humiliated the West African nation, according to National Assembly Speaker Guillaume Soro, who once commanded the troops as a former rebel leader. “I can only note that we are despised,” Soro, 45, said in an interview Sunday at his residence in Abidjan, the commercial capital. “It’s a humiliation for us — the state, the president, myself…

Majority of South Africa’s ANC Want Zuma to Resign, Poll Shows

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African President Jacob Zuma’s public approval rating has reached an all-time low and most members of his ruling African National Congress want him to resign, according to an opinion poll released two days after he survived a second bid to oust him. Almost two-thirds of eligible South African voters want Zuma to quit, the survey released Tuesday by research company Ipsos found. About 54 percent of ANC supporters say the president should…

Glencore Renews Deal Hunt Untroubled by Memories of Debt Panic

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Commodities tycoon Ivan Glasenberg is chasing multibillion-dollar deals once again, and that’s fine with debt investors who were fleeing Glencore Plc less than 18 months ago. Glencore notes sank as low as 56 cents on the euro early last year after a commodity slump stoked concerns about the $30 billion of debt that Chief Executive Officer Glasenberg had amassed building one of the world’s largest raw-materials trader. Now, the bonds are back at around face…

HSBC Sees Buying Opportunity in South Africa Amid Zuma Turmoil

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – While some stock investors may choose to flee South Africa as political turmoil engulfs President Jacob Zuma, HSBC analysts argue the noise around the embattled leader and his ruling party makes it a good time to buy. That’s because a pick-up in the South African economy and a favourable commodity price cycle as China, the biggest consumer of metals, avoids a hard landing are positive for the local market. In…

Mobius Draws Contrast Between Iron Ore’s Wild Ride, Fundamentals

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Iron ore consumption in China will probably be sustained as Asia’s top economy builds out infrastructure, according to Mark Mobius, who highlighted what he sees as a difference between the industry’s relatively stable supply-demand fundamentals and large swings in prices. “We’ve got to separate those two things,” the executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group said in an interview in Singapore, without giving a price forecast. “Supply-demand is one thing, price…

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