Finance

ADDIS ABABA (Capital Markets in Africa) — Ethiopian Airlines Group is prepared to come to the rescue of stricken carriers around Africa, even as the continent’s biggest airline deals with its own mounting losses and grounded planes due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Talks are underway with the government of Mauritius about the revival of the island nation’s state carrier, which was put into administration last month, Ethiopian Chief Executive Officer Tewolde GebreMariam said in an interview on Tuesday. And…

KAMPALA (Capital Markets in Africa) — Uganda plans to borrow 330 million euros ($361 million) from Spain’s Corporate Internationalisation Fund to refurbish its colonial-era meter-gauge railway, the Ministry of Finance said. At least 24.6 million euros will fund the first rehabilitation phase, the ministry said in a statement without providing details. The government of East Africa’s third-biggest economy received financing proposals from the Spanish government and other European Club Association members, it said. Uganda wants…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has won praise for his response to the coronavirus outbreak. Now, he’s risking a public backlash after members of his cabinet reversed some of his measures and made racially charged statements. South Africa identified its first case of the virus on March 5 and imposed a stringent lockdown three weeks later, shutting schools and businesses and confining everyone but essential workers to their homes….

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Private creditors have articulated the problems that will have to be overcome if a plan to ease the debt burden of the world’s poorest nations as they counter the coronavirus pandemic is to get their support. Legal and financial limitations will probably force investors to waive debt payments case by case, the Washington-based Institute of International Finance said in a letter to the leaders of the International Monetary Fund, the World…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Private creditors are exploring ways to join an initiative to waive debt payments from poor countries, potentially opening a new chapter in efforts to avert sovereign defaults in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Creditors will work in the coming weeks on reference terms for voluntary private-sector participation in debt-relief efforts, the Paris Club and the Institute of International Finance, a trade group that represents the world’s biggest banks and…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — The International Monetary Fund approved $3.4 billion in emergency funding to Nigeria, the single biggest disbursement for any country yet with the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement, IMF Deputy Managing Director Mitsuhiro Furusawa said that the pandemic and the plunge in oil prices are severely impacting Nigeria and that the funds will provide much-needed liquidity to respond to the urgent balance of payments needs. He also called for the…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — The Nigerian Senate approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to raise 850 billion naira ($2.2 billion) in domestic markets, scrapping plans to sell Eurobonds this year. Lawmakers in the committees for finance and appropriation will work with the finance minister on the details of the borrowing plan, Senate President Ahmed Lawan said during Tuesday’s plenary session “Conditions in the international capital market may not be favorable for the issuance of…