South Africans Must Urge Zuma to Go, AngloGold Chairman Says

South Africans Must Urge Zuma to Go, AngloGold Chairman Says

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African businesses and citizens “require courage” to “protect their sovereignty” and must urge President Jacob Zuma to quit before his term ends in 2019, the chairman of the world’s third-biggest gold producer said. The business community “must accept it’s a valid voice,” AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. Chairman Sipho Pityana, 57, said in a speech at a mining conference in Johannesburg Wednesday. “If we each continue to keep our heads down, protecting our…

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FirstRand Considers Nigerian Acquisitions as Valuations Ease

FirstRand Considers Nigerian Acquisitions as Valuations Ease

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – FirstRand Limited, Africa’s biggest bank by market value, said it’s considering acquisitions in African countries including Nigeria where the slide in oil prices and a devalued currency has undercut prices. “Asset prices in jurisdictions such as Nigeria have recently become much more realistic,” Chairman Laurie Dippenaar said in the Johannesburg-based company’s annual report, published on FirstRand’s website on Tuesday. “We feel more comfortable to look for opportunities to deploy shareholder capital…

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Top Forecaster Says Gold May Recover ‘Shine’ on Global Risks

Top Forecaster Says Gold May Recover ‘Shine’ on Global Risks

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Gold’s worst plunge in 14 months may yet reverse. Looming risks from the U.S. presidential election in November to Britain starting talks to leave the European Union next year may boost its role as a haven, said Barnabas Gan, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. in Singapore. Increasing shale oil output in the U.S. is also likely to cool the surge in crude prices, curbing inflation, he said. “As quickly as gold…

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Barclays Agrees to Sell Egyptian Unit to Attijariwafa Bank

Barclays Agrees to Sell Egyptian Unit to Attijariwafa Bank

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Barclays Plc agreed to sell its Egyptian business to Morocco’s Attijariwafa Bank as the British firm shrinks its global operations and speeds up the sale of unwanted assets. The deal will probably be completed by the end of this year, the London-based lender said in a statement Tuesday. The disposal will boost the bank’s common equity Tier 1 ratio by 0.1 percentage point, reducing risk-weighted assets by about 2 billion pounds…

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Congo Backs Billionaire Gertler After Och-Ziff Allegations

Congo Backs Billionaire Gertler After Och-Ziff Allegations

KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Democratic Republic of Congo defended Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler’s business dealings in the mineral-rich country, five days after he was linked to a bribery investigation by U.S. authorities. “For us an attack on him is an attack on the Congo,” Barnabe Kikaya Bin Karubi, President Joseph Kabila’s chief diplomatic adviser, said in an interview Tuesday in the capital, Kinshasa. “Mr. Gertler’s businesses are legitimate. He pays his taxes, making…

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MTN Said to Seek More Than $1 Billion From Dollar Bond Sale

MTN Said to Seek More Than $1 Billion From Dollar Bond Sale

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd. is seeking more than $1 billion from the sale of two dollar bonds as Africa’s biggest wireless carrier by sales returns to the Eurobond market for the first time since 2014, according to a person familiar with the situation. The Johannesburg-based company is seeking to raise at least $500 million apiece from five- and 10-year bonds, said the person, who asked not to be identified as details…

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Africa’s Biggest Money Manager Grows at Slowest Pace in 7 Years

Africa’s Biggest Money Manager Grows at Slowest Pace in 7 Years

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Public Investment Corp.’s growth in assets under management fell to the slowest pace in seven years after equity markets dropped and South Africa’s economy slowed to levels not seen since the 2009 recession. Assets increased by 2.4 percent to 1.85 trillion rand ($136 billion) in the 12 months ended March 31 from 1.81 trillion rand a year earlier, the Pretoria-based PIC, which manages the bulk of South Africa’s government employees’…

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