Features | - Part 177

Nigerian lawmakers to probe national grid firm over $2 bln of foreign loans

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s lower house of parliament will investigate $2 billion of foreign loans which the state-owned national electricity grid operator may have raised without official approval, lawmakers said on Wednesday. The investigation could be a blow to efforts to improve Nigeria’s creaking power infrastructure, which is often blamed for hobbling growth in Africa’s largest economy. Nigeria privatized most of its power sector in 2013 but retained control of the dilapidated…

Nigeria looks to food exports to boost FX income after oil shock

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria is looking to boost agricultural exports to earn more hard currency, and aims to cut imports of rice and wheat which together cost it almost $4 billion a year, Agriculture Minister Audu Ogbeh told Reuters. Nigeria emerged from recession in the second quarter as oil revenues rose, but growth was sluggish. The government has touted agriculture as a way to wean the country off its oil dependence, improving…

Kenya Electoral Official Quits Saying Vote Won’t Be Credible

Posted on by The Editorial Team

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – A top Kenyan electoral official resigned and fled the East African nation a week before a scheduled rerun of an annulled presidential vote, saying it won’t be credible. Independent Electoral & Boundaries Commission staff face intimidation by political actors and protesters, senior personnel are serving partisan interests and the training of presiding officers is being rushed, Commissioner Roselyn Akombe said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. Akombe said by phone she’s…

Kenyan Electoral Authority in Disarray a Week Before Vote Rerun

Posted on by The Editorial Team

KENYA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Preparations for Kenya’s presidential election rerun next week are in disarray after a top official of the commission organizing the vote resigned and fled the East African nation and its chairman said his efforts to ensure a credible ballot are being thwarted. Roselyn Akombe quit the Independent Electoral & Boundaries Commission, citing issues including the intimidation of staff by “political actors” and protesters, and she accused unidentified senior personnel…

Rio, Ex-CEO Face Fraud Charges on $3.7 Billion Coal Calamity

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Rio Tinto Group’s calamitous $3.7 billion coal deal in Mozambique, involving a plan to barge the fuel hundreds of kilometres down the Zambezi River, keeps coming back to haunt the world’s second-biggest miner — already grappling with another African misadventure. U.S. authorities filed fraud charges against London-based Rio, former Chief Executive Officer Tom Albanese and ex-Chief Financial Officer Guy Elliott, claiming they inflated the value of the coal assets acquired in 2011. The unit…

Merkel Faces `Divided’ Germany as Talks on Coalition Begin

Posted on by The Editorial Team

BERLIN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Angela Merkel is facing pressure to put her stamp on Germany’s next government as the chancellor begins talks on uniting four disparate parties into a coalition to govern Europe’s biggest economy. Almost a month after her Christian Democratic-led bloc emerged weakened from a national election, Merkel meets separately with the pro-market Free Democratic Party and the Greens on Wednesday to sound out the potential for a pact on cabinet posts and policy….

Kenya Opposition Suspends Vote Protests as Supporters Killed

Posted on by The Editorial Team

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s main opposition group suspended protests calling for electoral reform as it accused the government of deliberately targeting supporters in a series of killings since the country’s annulled presidential election in August. The death of a student in the western city of Kisumu on Monday was the latest in a series of murders as the country gears up for a rerun of the election next week, National Super Alliance…

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