The Editorial Team |

Obama’s Africa Power Plan Falls Short, Leaving Continent in Dark

LAGOS, Capital Markets in Africa: President Barack Obama’s signature initiative for Africa — a $9.7 billion plan to double electricity access in the world’s poorest continent — has fallen well short of its goals, so far producing less than 5 percent of the new power generation it promised. Obama announced Power Africa three years ago with an ambitious goal: to add 10,000 megawatts of power and supply electricity to 20 million households within five years. As…

Bob Diamond Says Carlyle Ends Support for Barclays Africa Offer

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG, Capital Markets in Africa: Bob Diamond, co-founder of African banking group Atlas Mara Ltd., said Carlyle Group LP has withdrawn support for a potential joint acquisition of Barclays Plc’s African unit. The U.S. buyout firm ended its backing for the potential joint bid for a stake in Barclays Africa Group Ltd. for various reasons, Diamond, 65, said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio in New York on Wednesday. Regulators made it clear that they weren’t keen on an offer…

Ivory Coast Leader Sees Steady Growth of 9 Percent Through 2017

Posted on by The Editorial Team

ABIDJAN, Capital Markets in Africa: Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said he expects an economic growth spurt in the west African nation that’s outpaced all its continental peers to last until at least through next year, and said the country is looking everywhere for investors as it recovers from internal conflict. Ivory Coast has no preference for either public or private investment on whether investors come from “China, the Gulf States” or anywhere else, Ouattara said in…

Vodafone Squeezed in Egypt as State-Backed Partner Turns Rival

Posted on by The Editorial Team

CAIRO, Capital Markets in Africa: Vodafone Group Plc is getting squeezed in Egypt as its state-backed partner embarks on a solo push into wireless services — crowding the market with a fourth provider while potentially leaving its U.K.-based ally to fend for itself. To finance its own network, Telecom Egypt may sell its 45 percent stake in an existing venture with Vodafone, according to two analysts who have been briefed by the company. The options range from an initial…

U.A.E. Warns OPEC Against Any Hasty Decision on Oil in Algiers

Posted on by The Editorial Team

ALGIERS, Capital Markets in Africa: OPEC must find a “sustainable” way to stabilize oil markets in any agreement its members may reach when they meet next week in Algeria, the United Arab Emirates’ energy minister said. The group’s 14 members may discuss proposals to limit production in an attempt to shore up crude prices at talks planned on Sept. 28. Oil-producing countries previously considered freezing output to counter a global supply glut that cut prices…

Kenyan Regulator Says Rate Caps Complicates Monetary Policy

Posted on by The Editorial Team

NAIROBI, Capital Markets in Africa: Kenya’s decision to introduce caps on commercial-lending rates is complicating monetary policy, Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Njoroge said. “With the rate caps, it’s not clear which way to go,” Njoroge told reporters in the capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday, a day after the central bank cut its benchmark rate by 50 basis points to 10 percent. The limits on borrowing rates may result in a “perverse reaction” among banks and lead to riskier…

Gold Digger Turns Alchemist Chasing Billions Hidden in Waste

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG, Capital Markets in Africa: With gold output in South Africa mired in a multiyear decline, the country’s biggest producer is turning to an overlooked and potentially cheaper source of supply: the dump. About 6.5 million ounces valued at $8.5 billion is buried inside mammoth mounds of discarded mine waste at sites owned by Sibanye Gold Ltd. They’re leftovers from more than five decades of excavation west of Johannesburg. But there’s a catch. The traces are so small that…

« 1 … 829 830 831 832 833 … 1,077 »