Finance

LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – A company with ties to Africa’s richest woman, Isabel dos Santos, is threatening to seek compensation from the Angolan government after losing concession rights to build a $1.5 billion port near the capital, Luanda. The decision to withdraw the contract to build and operate the Barra do Dande port appears to be yet another step by President Joao Lourenco to ease the grip of his predecessor’s family on the nation’s economy. Lourenco…

DAR ES SALAAM (Capital Markets in Africa) – ARM Cement Ltd. will convert 21.6 billion shillings ($208 million) owed by its Tanzanian unit into equity, Chief Executive OfficerPradeep Paunrana said. The Nairobi-listed company guaranteed Maweni Limestone Ltd.’s debt, including facilities amounting to 5 billion shillings loaned by the Trade and Development Bank, Development Bank of Southern Africa Ltd. and the East African Development Bank. ARM’s auditors raised concerns over the loan because the company had not…

DAR ES SALAAM (Capital Markets in Africa) – Swala Oil & Gas Tanzania Plc extended by two weeks the second and third closing off as much as $130 million investment in Orca Exploration Group Inc.’s Mauritian unit to July 13 from June 29, the company said. Extension to the second and third closing dates “have been necessary because of the preferred change of listing venue” for $50 million of bonds, the Dar es Salaam-based company said in…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Steinhoff International Holdings NV is gauging takeover interest in businesses including clothing chain Pepco as the scandal-hit retailer prepares for the next phase of a recovery plan, according to two people familiar with the matter. The South African company has informally sounded out potential buyers for Pepco including private equity firms, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the plans aren’t public. The profitable chain, with more…

KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – A court in the Democratic Republic of Congo suspended a hearing about a lawsuit brought by a former shareholder of a Glencore Plc-owned cobalt and copper mine. The case was put on hold pending a decision by the country’s Court of Appeal on whether the High Court should have jurisdiction over the case, Judge Roger Songambele said at the court Monday in the capital, Kinshasa. Congolese-American businessman Charles Brown, a…

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – ARM Cement Ltd., a Kenyan manufacturer of the building material, said Wednesday it began restructuring its balance sheet and needs to cut its debt further after its cash flow was “crippled” by the poor performance of its unit in Tanga, Tanzania. “The Tanga plant has not performed as expected since 2015 due to issue beyond our control,” the Nairobi-based company said in a statement in the Standard newspaper. “For…