Nigeria | Violent Struggle Over Oil and Money Rattles Global Energy Market

Nigeria | Violent Struggle Over Oil and Money Rattles Global Energy Market

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: After years of relative peace, militants are again blowing up the pipelines that criss-cross the mangrove swamps of Nigeria’s Niger River delta, reducing oil output to the lowest in almost three decades and fueling a rally in global crude prices. The resurgent conflict in Africa’s largest economy has a long history, interweaving corruption and poverty with regional rivalries and presidential politics, but at its core is money. Between 2006 and…

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Zimbabwe Cement Industry Demands Dangote Face Import Tariffs

Zimbabwe Cement Industry Demands Dangote Face Import Tariffs

HARARE, Zimbabwe, Capital Markets in Africa: Zimbabwe’s cement industry has called on the government to impose tariffs on imports from international manufacturers including Dangote Cement Plc of Nigeria, which it says is undercutting local makers of the building material and threatening jobs. The government should impose a tariff of $50 a metric ton on cement made at a lower cost in other countries and then sold in Zimbabwe, the Cement and Concrete Institute of Zimbabwe said in a…

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Bank of America Closes Long Nigeria Trades, Seeing Oil Correction

Bank of America Closes Long Nigeria Trades, Seeing Oil Correction

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Bank of America closes recommendation to short ZAR/RUB, long Russia 2043 Eurobond vs Turkey 2043, seeing crude oil “vulnerable to a correction” in short term, analysts David Hauner and Arko Sen say in note to clients. Also closes long Nigeria 2023s vs Ivory Coast 2024s trade. In long term Bofa remains positive on oil, seeing Brent “consistently above $50” from 4Q in 2017. In addition, Bofa continues to likes…

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Investment | Orange Targets Expanding Nigerian Companies Adopting More IT

Investment | Orange Targets Expanding Nigerian Companies Adopting More IT

LAGOS. Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Orange SA’s business-services unit has opened its first sales office in Nigeria as local companies seek to expand outside their domestic market and cut technology costs amid an economic slowdown fueled by the fall in crude-oil prices. Orange Business Services is aiming for annual double-digit sales growth from its office in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, Giorgio Heiman, vice president in charge of Africa, told reporters in the city on Tuesday….

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Opportunity | The Commodity That No One Knows About But Everybody Wants to Buy

Opportunity | The Commodity That No One Knows About But Everybody Wants to Buy

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: The world’s mines and steel plants got so devalued during the commodity slump that some were just given away by owners struggling to cut losses or debt. But there’s at least one metal that’s been attracting a lot of attention. Niobium — named for a Greek goddess who became a symbol of the tragic mourning mother — is used to produce stronger, lighter steel for industrial pipes and aircraft parts. It is mined in…

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Nigeria’s Currency Chaos Deepens as Bets on Devaluation Rise

Nigeria’s Currency Chaos Deepens as Bets on Devaluation Rise

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: As investors increasingly bet the bottom will drop out of the naira and the vice president hints at a devaluation, the man who calls the shots – President Muhammadu Buhari, who has resisted letting the currency weaken since coming to power a year ago, likening it to “murder” — has kept quiet. “I won’t believe it until I see presidential ownership of it,” Alan Cameron, an economist at Exotix Partners…

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South African Rand Slumps as Gordhan Breaks Silence on Talk of Arrest, Firing

South African Rand Slumps as Gordhan Breaks Silence on Talk of Arrest, Firing

Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: The rand slumped as much as 2 percent against the dollar and bonds fell as concern intensified around the role of South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, who broke his silence over reports that he may be arrested and dismissed. The rand was 1.7 percent lower at 15.8106 by 12:26 p.m. in Johannesburg, the weakest since March 15 on a closing basis and the worst performance among 31 major and developing…

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