The Editorial Team |

Banks Batten Down in Mozambique as Bond-Coupon Payment Looms

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…

Nigeria to Partner Schlumberger on Chad Basin Oil Exploration

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s state oil explorer said it’s on the verge of a deal with Schlumberger Ltd. to help in its search for commercial deposits in inland basins away from the restive Niger River delta region. Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. and the world’s largest oil-services provider will carry out joint exploration and risk assessment studies in the frontier basins, including the Chad basin, Babatunde Adeniran, chief operating officer in charge of ventures, said…

Election Vexing Foreigners Makes Kenya Stocks Cheapest on Record

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Investor trepidation seven months from Kenyan general elections has turned the country’s stocks into the worst-performers of 2017, and driven valuations to the weakest on record. The Nairobi Securities Exchange All-Share Index has fallen 6.9 percent to the lowest since September 2013, the biggest slump among 94 benchmarks tracked by Bloomberg. The looming Aug. 8 vote has prompted concerns of a repeat of violence that marked voting in 2007 and foreign investors, who…

Foreigners Dump S. African Stocks in Longest Streak for 5 Months

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Foreigners were net sellers of South African stocks for the first four days of this week, the longest sequence in almost five months, as they reduced holdings in companies including some of the country’s largest retailers. Retailers Shoprite Holdings Ltd., Mr. Price Group Ltd., and Woolworths Holdings Ltd. were among stocks most heavily sold by foreign investors, along with Richemont, Naspers Ltd. and MTN Group Ltd., figures from Johannesburg’s stock…

Emerging Markets Gain in Week as Investors Ponder Trump Policies

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Emerging-market currencies headed for their longest stretch of weekly gains in 20 months as investors questioned the pace of possible U.S. interest-rate increases. Ukraine’s hryvnia tumbled the most among peers and Turkey’s lira retreated after the biggest surge in more than a year. The MSCI gauge of developing-nation currencies climbed for a second day. A similar equity measure was little changed on Friday, on course for its third weekly advance. Brazil’s…

Cash Is King in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe as Dollar Supply Dries Up

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HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Walk into Pedzai Nyika’s furniture factory in Zimbabwe’s capital and he’ll offer a 20 percent discount straight away — provided you pay in cash. He’s not alone. A shortage of banknotes gripping the southern African nation has become so dire that business are offering huge discounts to cash-paying customers and limiting the amounts they can charge on credit cards or refusing to accept them altogether. “I am desperate. Business is…

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