Finance

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egyptian real estate developer Medinet Nasr Housing plans to invest about 700 million Egyptian pounds ($40 million) on construction this year as it begins selling the non-residential parts of its Taj City project east of Cairo. The Cairo-based company expects to start sales in the office district in the fourth quarter and will begin talks with hotels in the second half after finishing plans for the hospitality element of the project,…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – It seems it will take more than “Ramaphoria,” as they call it in South Africa, to spur the country’s corporate debt issuers into action. South African assets have rallied since Cyril Ramaphosa was elected leader of the ruling African National Congress in December, setting him on a path to replace Jacob Zuma as the country’s president last month. With economic growth accelerating, inflation slowing and the new administration acting against corrupt officials, business…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Steinhoff International Holdings NV, the retailer that’s wiped out more than $12 billion of value since an accounting scandal exploded in December, plans to reward directors for having to do more work than usual. Steve Booysen, head of Steinhoff’s audit and risk committee and part of the supervisory board’s independent committee, is due a once-off payment of 200,000 euros ($247,000) “to cover the additional work undertaken during the period…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African media company Naspers Ltd. is cashing in a tiny sliver of one of the greatest venture-capital investments ever. The company is selling $10.6 billion of shares in Tencent Holdings Ltd., equal to 2 percent of the stock in the Chinese operator of the WeChat messaging service, the Cape Town-based company said in a statement Thursday. The sale comes hours after Tencent, Asia’s most valuable company, warnedit will sacrifice short-term margins, spending…

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Karo Resources, a company linked to mining entrepreneur Loucas Pouroulis, will spend $4.2 billion on a Zimbabwean platinum project in the first big investment since President Robert Mugabe’s ousting in November. The deal is the largest to date in Zimbabwe’s mining industry, Mines Minister Winston Chitando said. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared the “country open for business” as he seeks to revive the economy and attract investment.  “It is not business as usual anymore,”…

SOUTH SUDAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Sudan will raise oil production by 30 percent when output resumes “soon” at a field damaged by conflict four years ago, Petroleum Minister Ezekiel Lul Gatkuoth said. Greater Pioneer Operating Co. will initially pump about 40,000 barrels per day, raising national output to about 175,000 barrels, Gatkuoth said in response to questions sent by Facebook Messenger on Thursday. GPOC’s owners include China National Petroleum Corp., Malaysia’s Petroliam National…