South African Rating Cut a Serious Risk, De Beers CEO Says

South African Rating Cut a Serious Risk, De Beers CEO Says

JOHANNESBURG, Capital Markets in Africa: South Africa is in deep danger of losing its investment-grade credit rating and needs to reassure investors of its commitment to regulatory certainty and fiscal stability, said Bruce Cleaver, the chief executive officer of De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer. “South Africa is in a slightly difficult place right now,” Cleaver said in an interview with Bloomberg TV at the U.S.-Africa Business Forum in New York on Wednesday. “I think the threat of…

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Indian Summer Comes to Emerging Markets as Fed Spurs Fresh Gains

Indian Summer Comes to Emerging Markets as Fed Spurs Fresh Gains

LAGOS, Capital Markets in Africa: The Federal Reserve has given fresh impetus to emerging markets. As Russia joined Argentina in announcing Eurobond sales, stocks from Istanbul to Johannesburg rallied at least 1.6 percent, South Africa’s rand extended its longest winning streak since 2013 and Standard Chartered Plc recommended buying the lira, this quarter’s worst-performing major currency outside of Latin America. Pledges to keep monetary policy accommodative from the Fed and Bank of Japan this week have emboldened the…

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Richest African Dangote Plans to Buy Arsenal in Four Years

Richest African Dangote Plans to Buy Arsenal in Four Years

LAGOS, Capital Markets in Africa: Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, plans to buy London-based Arsenal soccer team within four years. Dangote, a Nigerian worth $10.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, announced his intention to buy the club last year. He said he needs to wait for his business prospects to improve and his investments in gas pipelines and an oil refinery to play out before making the acquisition. “There’s no doubt” he’ll buy Arsenal and “it’s not a…

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Nigeria hunts down 700,000 firms in tax crackdown to offset oil slump

Nigeria hunts down 700,000 firms in tax crackdown to offset oil slump

LAGOS, Capital Markets in Africa: Nigeria has hunted down 700,000 firms that have never paid taxes as the country seeks new revenue sources to offset low oil prices that have pushed Africa’s biggest economy into its first recession in more than 20 years, its tax chief said. Tunde Fowler, executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), said in a rare interview that he also expected 10 million individuals to be discovered by December…

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OPIC Finances Wind Farm in Senegal, Solar Developer in Nigeria

OPIC Finances Wind Farm in Senegal, Solar Developer in Nigeria

LAGOS, Capital Markets in Africa: The Overseas Private Investment Corp. lent $250 million to fund a wind project in Senegal. The Taiba N’Diaye wind farm is in western Senegal is expected to have a capacity of 158 megawatts once complete, the U.S. government’s development finance institution said in an e-mailed statement. OPIC has partnered with Lekela Power, a joint venture between Dublin-based Mainstream Renewable Power Ltd. and private equity investor Actis LLP, to build the project. It is…

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Morocco’s Managem posts 63 pct slide in first-half net profit

CASABLACA, Capital Markets in Africa: Morocco’s biggest mining company Managem posted a 63 percent drop in first-half net profit to 52 million dirhams ($5.35 million) on Thursday, citing weak global commodities prices. Managem said it was hit by a 12 percent slide in silver prices, a 21 percent drop in both copper and cobalt and a 16 percent decline in zinc during the first six months of 2016. Controlled by the Moroccan royal family’s holding…

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Kenyan Geothermal Gets $60 Million From African Development Bank

Kenyan Geothermal Gets $60 Million From African Development Bank

NAIROBI, Capital Markets in Africa: The African Development Bank will lend $60 million to finance a geothermal power project in Kenya. The funds will go to state-owned Geothermal Development Co. to buy three drilling rigs, according to Gabriel Negatu, regional director at the Abidjan, Ivory Coast-based financial institution. Kenya “has enormous potential in geothermal power capacity which it has not fully exploited,” Negatu said in an interview in Nairobi. The country has been tapping geothermal power in…

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