The Editorial Team |

Egypt’s $12 Billion IMF Talks: A Guide to What to Expect

CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa: Egyptian officials are holding talks in Cairo with the International Monetary Fund over a loan to help finance the government’s economic program. Egypt is seeking $12 billion over three years. The most-populous Arab country has had a tumultuous relationship with the IMF since the 2011 uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak, turning down two initial loan accords. Some of the topics likely to be discussed — new taxes, cuts to…

Standard Chartered Climbs as Impairment Drop Signals Turnaround

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Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: Standard Chartered Plc rose as much as 5.7 percent in London trading as first-half loan impairment charges fell by a third, showing further progress in Chief Executive Officer Bill Winters’s plan to turn around the bank. The shares were up 5.3 percent at 11:01 a.m. in London, after provisions for bad loans declined to $1.1 billion in the first half, below the $1.56 billion Citigroup Inc. analysts had estimated. Operating costs…

Citi Sees Oil Bears ‘Gone Wild’ at $40 as Outages to Persist

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: While oil bears go “wild” at crude’s retreat to $40 a barrel, there’s some comfort on the way for the bulls, according to Citigroup Inc. As prices plunge and are pulled below support levels amid concerns over swelling global stockpiles, some supply disruptions including those in Nigeria are set to persist and crude at $40 a barrel may spur demand, according to a report from the bank dated Aug. 2. Crude has declined since…

Ghana Pitches Eurobond to Investors Just as Costs Rise

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ACCRA, Ghana, Capital Markets in Africa: Ghana’s latest plan to sell Eurobonds is starting to unravel. As the West African nation markets its fifth sale of dollar securities in nine years, its bonds are faltering as investors fret about the government’s commitment to fiscal targets in an election year. Ghana’s $1 billion of bonds due 2023 have tumbled, pushing yields up by 75 basis points since July 22 to 10.4 percent on Tuesday, compared with a 48…

Kenya Bank Profits Drop First Time in 16 Years on Costs

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NAIROBI, Kenya, Capital Markets in Africa: Kenya’s banking industry last year recorded the first decline in profit since 1999 as costs outpaced income in the wake of two failures and more onerous regulations. Pretax profit across the sector declined 5 percent to 134 billion shillings ($1.3 billion) in the 12 months through December, according to the central bank’s Bank Supervision Report, released in the capital, Nairobi, on Tuesday. That came as a 16 percent increase in…

Egypt Ministry Seeks Bank Proposals for 2016 Dollar Bond Sale

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CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa: Egypt requested proposals to issue dollar bonds in 2016, part of its efforts to shore up reserves and end a dollar shortage that is hampering economic growth. In an advertisement published in the Financial Times newspaper, the Finance Ministry announced it was seeking lead managers for the issue. The deadline for submitting proposals is Aug. 11, it said. Egyptian officials are in talks with the International Monetary Fund to secure a…

Chinese Furniture Fashion Ravages West Africa’s Savannas

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LAGOS, Capital Markets in Africa: No one paid much attention to the gnarled, yellow-blossomed rosewood trees dotted around farmsteads in northern Ivory Coast until Chinese-backed buyers started offering money for the timber. Fast forward five years and Ivory Coast is looking back at a tumultuous time in the logging industry, with confusion over permits, illegal harvesting of trees, seizures of trucks, and finally, a blanket ban on rosewood exports in 2014. “We simply had no idea; for…

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