Senegal President Sall Says Nation Will Sell Bond This Year

Senegal President Sall Says Nation Will Sell Bond This Year

DAKAR, Senegal, Capital Markets in Africa: Senegalese President Macky Sall said his administration will tap the international bond market this year to fund infrastructure development and accelerate growth that’s being driven by surging peanut and rice production. The West African nation intends raising $500 million to $1 billion through the sale of a Eurobond, Sukuk or Samurai bonds, Sall said in a May 13 interview in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, where the World Economic Forum held its annual…

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Barclays Africa Mulls Investment-Bank Venture Post Parent’s Exit

Barclays Africa Mulls Investment-Bank Venture Post Parent’s Exit

Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: Barclays Africa Group Limited said it is considering a joint investment-banking venture with Barclays Plc as its London-based parent plans to further reduce its controlling stake. “At the corporate and investment bank the synergies provided a significant advantage,” Barclays Africa Chairwoman Wendy Lucas-Bull said at the Johannesburg-based bank’s annual general meeting on Tuesday. “We are looking at the issues business by business and at what the options are, like a joint venture.” Barclays sold…

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Desperate for Dollars, Investors Line Up for a Sure-Fire Loser

Desperate for Dollars, Investors Line Up for a Sure-Fire Loser

CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa: The hot trade in Egypt’s stock market is a sure thing — a guaranteed money-loser. Clients have been snapping up shares of Commercial International Bank Egypt on the Cairo market, paying in Egyptian pounds, only to turn around and sell them in London for dollars at a loss of as much as 30 percent, brokers say. Big international companies are so desperate to get dollars that they’re willing to…

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Congo Scales Back Eurobond Plans as It Seeks World Bank Help

Congo Scales Back Eurobond Plans as It Seeks World Bank Help

Kinshasa, DR Congo, Capital Markets in Africa: The Democratic Republic of Congo scaled back plans to sell $1 billion of Eurobonds and instead asked multilateral lenders for direct budgetary support after the collapse in commodity prices forced the government to cut spending. The World Bank will provide $250 million to $500 million of assistance, in addition to $100 million from the African Development Bank, pending a review in June by the International Monetary Fund of the country’s…

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Sierra Leone Pension Fund Buying Government Debt as Rates Rise

Sierra Leone Pension Fund Buying Government Debt as Rates Rise

Freetown, Sierra Leone, Capital Markets in Africa: Sierra Leone’s state-owned pension fund is increasing its holdings of government debt after rates more than doubled this year on Treasury bills sold by the West African iron-ore and cocoa producer. The National Social Security and Insurance Trust, or Nassit, is also increasing the maturities of its fixed-income investments, Alpha Keita, head of the fund’s Treasury Investment Division, said in an interview in Freetown, the capital. Nassit holds 105…

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Congo Targets Airtime Touts as Central Bank Props Franc

Congo Targets Airtime Touts as Central Bank Props Franc

Kinshasa, DR. Congo, Capital Markets in Africa: Mobile-phone airtime touts on the streets of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital have become the latest target in the government’s attempt to stop the slide of the Congolese franc. The traders who peddle mobile credit to pedestrians in Kinshasa must stop speculating on the exchange rate and sell $1 airtime cards for no more than 1,000 Congolese francs ($1.05), according to a statement issued May 11 by the office…

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We Were Sleeping, Says Kenya Central Banker After Lenders Fail

We Were Sleeping, Says Kenya Central Banker After Lenders Fail

NAIROBI, Kenya, Capital Markets in Africa: Kenya’s central bank said that it should have stepped in sooner to halt the collapse of three lenders in the past nine months and that a culture of leniency by the regulator contributed to a build-up of misconduct in the industry. “The watchdog should have barked sooner and louder,” Njoroge told lawmakers in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. “We have been asleep at the switches in terms of us failing to…

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