Finance

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt is the world’s best carry trade. It may stay that way for a while longer if the government gets its wish and strikes another deal with the International Monetary Fund. The Arab nation’s local-currency bonds have handed investors a 23% return this year, five times the emerging-market average. And the Egyptian pound’s 7.3% gain against the dollar is the most globally after Russia’s ruble. Demand has been strong in large…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Citigroup Inc. is seeing increased demand from Nigerian companies planning to raise cash in international capital markets to expand amid renewed investor interest in West Africa. “The major concern for most corporates as well as potential investors last year was the elections and the possible implications for policy direction, especially from an exchange-rate perspective,” Akin Dawodu, the lender’s Nigerian head, said in the commercial hub of Lagos. With the vote…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – A meltdown at some of South Africa’s biggest state companies is intensifying, placing the nation’s finances at risk and frustrating President Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to attract new investment and resuscitate a moribund economy. While monolithic power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., which is tottering on the brink of insolvency, has dominated recent headlines, arms manufacturer Denel SOC Ltd., the South African Broadcasting Corp. and South African Airways have joined the list of…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Standard Chartered Plc are among global firms postponing the transfer of several billion euros of capital outside the U.K. despite regulatory pressure to complete the move. Other lenders including Citigroup Inc. have only shifted part of the assets they were planning to relocate due to the delays in Brexit, people familiar with the plan said. During meetings with the European Central Bank and German regulators, executives at the…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Naspers Ltd.’s biggest shareholder is considering whether to reduce its 245 billion rand ($16.5 billion) stake in Africa’s biggest company because of concern it’s overexposed to a single stock, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund is being encouraged by its manager, the Public Investment Corp., to reduce its Naspers shareholding of about 16%, said three of the people, who asked…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa)  – Barrick Gold Corp. has bought itself three more weeks to consider making a formal offer to buy out the minority shareholders of its African unit Acacia Mining Plc. The Toronto-based miner received an extension until July 9 from the UK takeover panel, Acacia said in a statement. The previous deadline was set to expire Tuesday. Acacia also said it’s open to an offer, “subject to the price offered being fair and commanding…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Seplat Petroleum Development Co. plans to raise $200 million in loans from banks to fund a gas project it jointly owns with the Nigerian government. It will appoint an arranger “shortly after” an investor meeting scheduled for June 26, Chief Financial Officer Roger Brown said on Thursday in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. It will raise an additional $80 million through vendor financing, or equipment suppliers, to complete its financing requirement for a…