Finance

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…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Development banks committed a record $43 billion in climate finance last year, a jump of almost $8 billion on 2017’s figure and the biggest surge ever reported. The co-finance attached to the multilateral development bank money added another $68.1 billion, taking the year’s total to more than $111 billion, according to a report by six banks including the World Bank Group. More than a third of that total was…

Dedicated African merchant banking house, Africa Merchant Capital, is delighted to announce the appointment of Kenton Hartwell as the new General Manager for AMC Trade Finance. Kenton brings with him more than 20 years of African banking and trade finance experience. In the Africa Merchant Capital Group, Kenton will head up the fast-growing subsidiary AMC Trade Finance, offering a range of structured trade finance solutions for the African import and export markets. Kenton is a…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African equity investors got the election result they wanted, more or less. Now they’re hoping President Cyril Ramaphosa will follow up by choosing a team of competent ministers that’s lean and free of the taint of scandal. Ramaphosa is expected to announce his cabinet within the next few days and the early signs have encouraged investors: former Environment Minister Nomvula Mokonyane, accused of taking bribes, has already been ruled out. The…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Anheuser-Busch InBev NV sees further African investment after spending about $200 million on the continent since the world’s largest brewer bought SABMiller in 2016, according to Chief Executive Officer Carlos Brito. AB Inbev, based in Leuven in Belgium, has invested the bulk of that money in South Africa and Nigeria, Brito told reporters in Johannesburg on Wednesday. That includes a new brewery near Lagos, the commercial capital of Africa’s…