Finance

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Anglo American Plc agreed to sell its New Largo coal project in South Africa to a group of black-controlled companies, bringing it closer to an exit from operations designed to supply coal to the country’s power plants. Anglo will sell New Largo to Seriti Resources Pty Ltd., Coalzar Pty Ltd. and South Africa’s Industrial Development Corp. for 850 million rand ($71 million), the company said in a statement Monday. State-owned power…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Deutsche Bank AG’s Wealth Management currently does not advise to invest in crypto-currencies, according to Markus Mueller, Global Head of Chief Investment Officer. Problematic issues include high volatility, possible price manipulation and data loss or data theft, he told Bloomberg News in an interview. “We do not recommend that. It’s only for investors who invest speculatively,” he said. “There is a realistic risk of total loss.” According to Mueller, recent price increases…

HARARE (capital Markets in Africa) – Tharisa Plc Chief Executive Officer Phoevos Pouroulis met Zimbabwe’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, on Jan. 18, as the Cyprus-based platinum and chrome mining company seeks opportunities in the country with the world’s second-biggest reserves of the metals. Pouroulis was accompanied to the meeting in Mnangagwa’s office in Harare, the nation’s capital, by executives including Gregory Taurog, the company’s marketing and sales director, and Hans van Wyk, the operations director of subsidiary Tharisa Minerals….

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – The European Investment Bank may double its loans to Kenya this year to fund power plants, roads, and other infrastructure projects, the lender’s regional representative said. Financing has been agreed in principle for deals worth about 375 million euros ($465 million), Catherine Collin, EIB regional representative for East Africa, said in an interview Wednesday in the capital, Nairobi. Last year, the lender signed commitments totaling 182 million euros, she said. “Kenya…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Steinhoff International Holdings NV’s quest for cash has yielded about $1.1 billion from asset sales as the embattled retailer struggles to stay afloat. The question is whether the relatively small steps it’s taken can forestall more radical ones.  Since revelations last month of accounting irregularities, Steinhoff sold the company jet, shed stakeholdings and sought to refinance debt to free up funds. It even ended its sponsorship of the rugby team at Stellenbosch University,…