Private Equity in Africa: A Force for Good

Private Equity in Africa: A Force for Good

“What improves the circumstances of the greater part can never be regarded as an inconvenience to the whole. No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable.”- Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations Although Adam Smith, often referred to as the father of modern capitalism, may have not have been a proponent of businesses pursuing charitable activities, he clearly believed in a society…

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Exxon Said to Join Qatar to Look at Giant Africa Gas Deal

Exxon Said to Join Qatar to Look at Giant Africa Gas Deal

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Exxon Mobil Corp. and Qatar Petroleum have teamed up to look at energy assets in Mozambique, home to some of the biggest natural-gas discoveries in a generation, according to four people with knowledge of their plans. The companies are considering buying stakes in gas fields owned by Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Eni SpA, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential. They have a strong relationship and often discuss…

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Brexit Offers Lifeline on $800 Billion Emerging Company Debt

Brexit Offers Lifeline on $800 Billion Emerging Company Debt

LAGOS, Capital Markets in Africa: Britain’s vote to exit the European Union has thrown a lifeline to emerging-market companies facing an $800 billion wall of maturing debt. By hindering the Federal Reserve’s plan to raise interest rates, the referendum result has led to speculation borrowing costs will remain lower for longer as policy makers attempt to prevent Europe’s turmoil turning into a recession. This means developing-nation companies that borrowed when it was cheaper to do so won’t have…

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Managing and Mitigating Risk in Mergers and Acquisitions

Managing and Mitigating Risk in Mergers and Acquisitions

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: A fragile global economy, coupled with local market uncertainty, and concerns over the recovery of equity markets followed by a business environment that places increasing pressures on profitability has significantly increased the complexity of deal making today. Corporate governance issues are paramount and regulatory and compliance issues demand that greater caution be exercised in ensuring that proper due diligence is conducted in assessing transactions and their associated risks. Notwithstanding…

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Kenya Bank | Capital Injection Gives Fresh-Faced Kenyan Bank Room to Expand

Kenya Bank | Capital Injection Gives Fresh-Faced Kenyan Bank Room to Expand

NAIROBI, Kenya, Capital Markets in Africa: A series of capital injections is giving a small Kenyan bank the space to expand at a time when many lenders in East Africa’s largest economy are struggling to overcome the fallout of three failures in the industry in the space of eight months. Equatorial Commercial Bank Ltd. renamed itself Spire Bank and plans to grow its market share to 1 percent by 2019 from 0.5 percent, Chief Executive Officer…

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Market Watch | Emerging Markets Extend Losses as Concern Over Brexit Resurfaces

Market Watch | Emerging Markets Extend Losses as Concern Over Brexit Resurfaces

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Emerging-market stocks fell for a second day and currencies headed for the longest streak of losses in three weeks as investors switched to haven assets on concern the Brexit contagion is spreading. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index dropped 1.4 percent to 820.19 at 12:08 p.m. in New York, paring its gains this year to 3.3 percent. A gauge of currencies slid for a third day after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said Tuesday the…

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African Private Equity: Reassess our Trades, To Buy, Sell or Hold?

African Private Equity: Reassess our Trades, To Buy, Sell or Hold?

NIGERIA, Capital Markets in Africa: In September 2012, we at White Lake wrote an article called “Patterns, Predictions and Profits: the Powerful Case for African Private Equity” – our macro investment thesis at that time for Africa. The title speaks for itself -investment professionals always have a view – and we were pounding the table in support of African PE, albeit with some risk caveats. Let’s assume at that time we “bought” African PE as…

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