Finance

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…

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tullow Oil Plc reduced its 2019 production forecast for the second time in three months as technical glitches in Ghana continued to cast a shadow. Full-year output is now seen at 89,000 to 93,000 barrels of oil a day, reflecting delays in well completion at the African country’s TEN project, Tullow said Wednesday. It’s a further setback for a company that relies on the continent for more than 90% of…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Trade & Development Bank, a trade financier with 22 African countries as members, plans to return to the market sooner than planned to raise $100 million as borrowing costs become more favorable. “There’s a strong possibility that we would be tapping by the end of 2019,” Chief Executive Officer Admassu Tadesse said in an interview in Port-Louis. “It could be $100 million dollar – we would see that as a more…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The World Trade Organization indicated that WTO members have put in place 20 new trade-restrictive measures between mid-October 2018 and mid-May 2019, compared to 40 measures between mid-May 2018 and mid-October 2018. Trade restrictive measures consisted of 16 import-related restrictions and four export-related measures. The WTO members introduced an average of three trade-restrictive measures per month during the covered period, down from eight measures per month between mid-May 2018…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Truworths International Holdings Ltd. fell the most in five months in Johannesburg as the South African retailer joined the ranks of those feeling the pain from the U.K.’s ailing shopping streets. Truworths said Tuesday British footwear subsidiary Office had started debt restructuring talks with its lenders in the face of the “depressed retail trading environment.” The stock slumped as much as 6.5%, the biggest drop since January, making it the second-worst performer among…

ADDIS ABABA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Abiy Ahmed plans to double jobs created in 2019-20 as he implements a reform agenda that opens up the economy for more foreign investment. Africa’s second-most populous nation will probably create 3 million jobs in the year starting July 8 compared with 1.4 million in the previous 12 months, Abiy told lawmakers in the capital, Addis Ababa. Most of the jobs will come from small businesses, he said. While…