Finance

DAKAR (Capital Markets in Africa) — An Orange SA West African subsidiary is issuing debt on the regional market for the first time to take advantage of higher demand for digital services amid the coronavirus pandemic. The outbreak of Covid-19 and subsequent lockdowns has made a plan by Dakar-based Sonatel’s to raise 100 billion CFA ($171 million) particularly timely, Chief Executive Officer Sekou Drame said in an interview. The bond sale is the largest in the history…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — African countries may get debt relief from China more easily than private creditors amid a global push to blunt the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on poor nations, a Johns Hopkins University study shows. China has written off $3.4 billion and restructured or refinanced about $15 billion of debt in Africa over the past decade without slapping penalties or seizing assets from borrowers, it said. The study was…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — Apple Inc. is preparing to announce a shift to its own main processors in Mac computers, replacing chips from Intel Corp., as early as this month at its annual developer conference, according to people familiar with the plans. The company is holding WWDC the week of June 22. Unveiling the initiative, codenamed Kalamata, at the event would give outside developers time to adjust before new Macs roll out…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — The Trump administration has expressed little concern over climate change as it pursues its goal of American dominance in the energy market. Federal judges say it should be concerned. At least six times since President Donald Trump took office, courts have rebuked the Interior Department for selling drilling rights or advancing oil projects without adequately considering the consequences to a warming planet. The decisions have jeopardized high-stakes oil…

ADDIS ABABA (Capital Markets in Africa) — Ethiopia is looking to its national carrier to help it navigate economic shocks from the coronavirus pandemic at a time when airlines across the world are approaching governments for bailouts. The Horn of Africa country has relied on the Ethiopian Airlines’ network, connecting Africa to the Middle East, Asia, Europe and North America, to increase its exports by 13% to $2.4 billion in 10 months, according to Prime Minister Abiy…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — Steinhoff International Holdings NV is paying for forensic auditors at PwC to help South African anti-corruption police investigate alleged financial wrongdoing that brought the retailer to the brink of collapse. While PwC completed its own more than the 3,000-page probe on behalf of Steinhoff last year, legal authorities have shown little sign of progress in identifying those responsible for transactions that caused Steinhoff to report accounting regularities in late…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — The Federal Reserve may have stoked one of the strongest corporate debt market rallies in decades, but it’s too soon to declare an all-clear for credit with the economy facing a potentially rocky road ahead. Sure, U.S. investment-grade borrowing costs have retreated to near all-time lows, and companies have sold $1 trillion of bonds at the fastest pace on record — evidence that merely announcing a plan to pump liquidity…