The Editorial Team |

Barclays Africa Faces Apartheid-Era Investigation on Bankorp

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Barclays Africa Group Ltd. is being investigated by South Africa’s graft ombudsman over whether it received undue state support when it bought Bankorp during the apartheid era, and whether it should repay the money. The Barclays unit said it’s “regrettable” that a preliminary report by the ombudsman was leaked to the media, adding that the document contains “several factual and legal inaccuracies.” The Johannesburg-based lender, then known as Absa, did not benefit from…

South African President Won’t Accept Third ANC Leader Term

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African President Jacob Zuma said he won’t accept a nomination for a third term as head of the country’s ruling party, which is “ready” for a woman to take over the leadership. The 105-year-old African National Congress will choose a new president at a national conference in December when Zuma’s term ends. His ex-wife and the outgoing African Union chairwoman, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and ANC Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa are seen as frontrunners for the position. …

Former Africa heads at Carlyle and KKR to set up regional investment firm

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LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The former regional heads for Africa at private equity giants KKR and Carlyle are setting up an investment firm, Arkana Partners, to target local equity investments of up to $100 million. Kayode Akinola told Reuters on Wednesday that he was leaving KKR to join forces with Marlon Chigwende, who left his role as Africa chief at rival Carlyle in 2016, as private equity opportunities in Africa are often seen as…

Nigerian Leader to Offer Asylum to Defuse Gambia Crisis

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari headed to Gambia to defuse a political crisis sparked by President Yahya Jammeh’s refusal to step down after he lost elections last month. Buhari will present a plan approved by Nigeria’s lower house of parliament on Thursday to offer Jammeh asylum, as part of efforts to persuade him to leave office. The plan is intended to “prevent violence which could engulf the region,” Abdulrazak Namdas, spokesman for the…

Army Is Ouattara Achilles’ Heel as Ivory Coast Economy Roars

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ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – As Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara presides over Africa’s fastest-growing economy and leads a ruling coalition that’s just won a fresh majority in parliament, he still faces a key threat to national stability: the army. A two-day mutiny by soldiers demanding better pay and living conditions that paralyzed several cities last week was the second uprising in three years. It showed that the world’s biggest cocoa producer is still vulnerable after…

Banks Batten Down in Mozambique as Bond-Coupon Payment Looms

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Africa’s largest banks are ensuring they protect themselves and their clients from the potential fallout if Mozambique defaults on its government debt next week. Standard Bank Group Ltd., the continent’s biggest lender by assets, is holding liquidity in excess of regulatory requirements in its Mozambique unit “to cater for funding withdrawals during periods of stress,” said Finance Director Arno Daehnke. FirstRand Ltd.’s consumer-banking business, First National Bank, is holding all of…

Investec Bets on Gold With Purchase of South African Lime Miner

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JOHANNESSBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Investec Plc’s private-equity unit bought Idwala Industrial Holdings Co., a producer of lime supplying South Africa’s gold, base metal and chemical industries, as commodity prices rebound on demand from China. The buyout firm bought the business from Old Mutual Plc, Ethos Private Equity Ltd. and Kagiso Tiso Holdings Co. in December, Jacci Myburgh, the head of Old Mutual’s private equity division in Cape Town, said in an interview. He declined…

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