The Editorial Team |

African economic growth to dip to 1.6 pct this year: World Bank

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) —Growth in sub-Saharan African countries will stall to just 1.6% this year, the lowest in over two decades, a report said Thursday, as one of the world’s once fastest-growing frontiers continues to lose steam because of overdependence on oil and commodity exports, and poor policies. The disappointing rate of economic expansion is well below the global average of 2.3%, the World Bank said in its twice-annual “Africa’s Pulse” report. Just…

S&P Says Political Tension in South Africa ‘Must Be Watched’

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Political tension in South Africa is making economic reforms more challenging and must be watched, according to S&P Global Ratings. “We clearly stated that there is a concern that political tension stifles the reform effort, so that must be watched,” S&P Managing Director for sub-Saharan Africa Konrad Reuss said in an interview in Johannesburg on Thursday. “In the current climate of political tension and turmoil it’s certainly more challenging now to achieve all…

Kenya car industry urges more incentives to attract investment

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s removal of excise duty on locally assembled cars will boost the industry, but the government must make power supplies cheaper and address other concerns to draw more investment, the automobile industry association chief said on Thursday. With little growth in mature markets, automakers are looking to tap into emerging African markets, but there is plenty of competition on the continent for where they might invest. Kenya’s East African…

AfricInvest exits Générale Embellage, Algeria in $55mln deal

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ALGIERS (Capital Markets in Africa) – AfricInvest, one of the key Pan-African midcap private equity firms, is pleased to announce that its Maghreb Private Equity Fund II (MPEF II) has successfully concluded its exit from Général Emballage (GE) a leader in the manufacturing and processing of corrugated cardboard based in Algeria (www.generalemballage.com). Under the agreement, AfricInvest and the original founders, the Batouche family, have sold a 49% stake in Général Emballage to a consortium composed…

Gas shortages turn Nigeria’s Dangote to coal to power cement

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s Dangote Cement has turned to locally-mined coal to power its plants in a bid to end disruptions caused by gas shortages and lower its production costs. “All our cement plants have been converted to coal,” Aliko Dangote, the company’s billionaire majority owner and chairman, told a business conference on Thursday, adding they would use 12,000 metric tonnes of coal each day. Dangote’s move is unusual in an era…

Nigeria’s Sahara puts IPO and asset buys on ice

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s Sahara has put on hold a planned initial public offering and bond sale that was aimed at financing more oil asset purchases until the investment prospects for oil and gas improve. A year ago Sahara was pursuing a dual listing on the London and Lagos stock exchanges and road showing a bond in an effort to raise more than $1 billion to buy oil and gas assets and…

African sovereign trio add to growing appeal for sukuk

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DAKAR (Capital Markets in Africa) – Senegal has upsized its second sale of sovereign sukuk, with Ivory Coast and Togo expected to close their own deals in coming days, as Islamic finance gains traction as an alternative funding option for African sovereigns. Despite strong growth in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, Islamic finance has lagged in Africa although it could be an important growth driver for the industry as it is home to a…

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