Catalyst acquires strategic interest in Kensta Group

Catalyst acquires strategic interest in Kensta Group

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Catalyst Principal Partners LLC (Catalyst) has announced its acquisition of a significant minority interest in Kensta Group (Kensta).  Kensta Group is a 52-year-old third generation family business, with headquarters in Kenya and operations in five East African countries. Since inception, Kensta, through its various investments has played a pivotal role in the east African printing and packaging Industry and has been instrumental in changing the face of office automation…

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Barclays Shares Surge After Report Suggests Africa Group Sale Imminent

Barclays Shares Surge After Report Suggests Africa Group Sale Imminent

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Barclays plc shares rose to the near top of the FTSE 100 Wednesday after a report from Sky News suggested the bank will announce the sale of a substantial stake in its troubled African division. The deal could raise around £1.6 billion ($2 billion) for the British lender while reducing its stake in the Johannesburg listed Barclays Africa Group from 51% to around 28%, Sky reported. Barclays stock rose…

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Trouble Brews for OPEC as Expensive Deep-Sea Oil Turns Cheap

Trouble Brews for OPEC as Expensive Deep-Sea Oil Turns Cheap

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Reports of deep-sea drilling’s demise in a world of sub-$100oil may have been greatly exaggerated, much to OPEC’s dismay. Pumping crude from seabeds thousands of feet below water is turning cheaper as producers streamline operations and prioritize drilling in core wells, according to Wood Mackenzie Ltd. That means oil at $50 a barrel could sustain some of these projects by next year, down from an average break-even price of about $62 in…

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South Africa Posts Third Straight Monthly Trade Surplus in April

South Africa Posts Third Straight Monthly Trade Surplus in April

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa recorded a surplus on its trade account for a third straight month in April as imports of equipment components decreased. The 5.1 billion-rand ($388 million) surplus with March’s revised 11.3 billion-rand surplus, the Pretoria-based South African Revenue Service said in an emailed statement Wednesday. The median of four economist estimates compiled by Bloomberg was for a surplus of 7.4 billion rand. A smaller trade gap eases pressure on the current account,…

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South Africa Removes Eskom CEO Molefe After Bungled Rehire

South Africa Removes Eskom CEO Molefe After Bungled Rehire

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa will remove Brian Molefe as chief executive officer of Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. less than three weeks after his controversial return to the state power utility. Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown will appoint an acting CEO within 48 hours, after a committee of cabinet ministers asked by President Jacob Zuma to review Molefe’s reinstatement found that the decision was incorrect, she told reporters in Cape Town on Wednesday. Brown has asked the…

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Dangote to Invest $1 Billion in Nigeria Rice Production

Dangote to Invest $1 Billion in Nigeria Rice Production

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Dangote Group is making a five-year investment of at least $1 billion to grow and process rice in seven Nigerian states, bringing sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest importer of the grain closer to its goal of self-sufficiency. Dangote Rice Ltd., a unit of the Lagos-based company, plans to increase cultivation of paddy, or raw rice, to 150,000 hectares (371,000 acres) and harvest an annual 1.7 million metric tons by 2019. Most of…

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Kenyan Challenger Says No Violence If President Vote Is Fair

Kenyan Challenger Says No Violence If President Vote Is Fair

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga pledged to keep his bid to unseat President Uhuru Kenyatta free of violence, while warning that his supporters may rise up if they suspect rigging. “We do not expect any violence,” Odinga told reporters in Nairobi, the capital, on Tuesday. “It’s not in our hands. If elections are free and fair, I don’t think there would be any. Violence will come if somebody interferes with the electoral process.”…

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