Finance

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Sirius Minerals Plc plunged as its plans to build a $3.8 billion mine in the northeast of England were thrown into doubt after the company suspended a $500 million bond sale. The setback to a critical part of Sirius’s financing plan is the latest blow in almost a decade of efforts to build its giant potash mine. It’s so far had to overcome environmental opposition, concerns about demand prospects…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc got caught into the same earnings trap as many of its peers, reporting second-quarter earnings that fell well short of expectations as the slowing global economy hit everything from natural gas to chemicals. Profit in Shell’s integrated gas division was down by 25%, but earnings were lower across all of its businesses, including upstream oil and gas production, and refining and chemicals. “We’ve seen some very…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria has set up a task force to recover about 5.5 trillion naira ($15 billion) of bad loans taken over during a banking crisis more than a decade ago. The loans are owed to the Asset Management Corp. of Nigeria, known as Amcon, which bought them over during the 2009 banking crisis, the Abuja-based presidency said on its Twitter account Tuesday. The group includes the Economic and Financial Crimes…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, could attract more U.S. investment if the oil and gas sector becomes less opaque and a fuel-price peg is removed, according to a U.S. official. “Nigeria needs to think strategically about what is going to make it a more attractive destination,” Brent Omdahl, commercial counselor at the U.S. Department of Commerce, said in an interview in Lagos. “Our investors are willing to compete on…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – A financial crisis confronting South Africa’s state power utility has become a national debt problem. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni Tuesday unveiled a second multi-billion dollar bailout for Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. within five months, aid that may force the cash-strapped government to increase borrowing and taxes. That could in turn trigger a credit-rating downgrade and massive outflow of funds, raise the cost of new debt and stymie efforts to revive the…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria is facing the risk of never recovering about 5.5 trillion naira ($15 billion) of bad loans taken over during a banking crisis more than a decade ago. That is how much the state-owned Asset Management Corp., or Amcon, still has to collect from Nigerian companies that have failed to repay the debts they once owed lenders, Chief Executive Officer Ahmed Kuru said at a conference in Lagos on Wednesday. Delays in…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – A pocket-busting rescue plan for Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. is better than no plan at all. That seems to be the message from investors after Finance Minister Tito Mboweni on Tuesday unveiled a second multi-billion dollar bailout for the struggling state-owned electricity company. That may force the cash-strapped government to increase borrowing and taxes, putting the nation’s credit rating at risk. Even so, the cost of insuring South Africa’s government debt against default gapped lower…