Finance

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt is considering tapping the international sukuk market in the coming fiscal year, as it looks to diversify funding sources to drive forward its economic revival efforts. The Sharia-compliant issuance, either in dollar or euro-denominated sukuk, which Finance Minister Mohamed Maait hopes will happen in fiscal 2018-19, would mark a revival of a plan shelved since 2013 when the government under then-Islamist President Mohamed Mursi issued the law to pave the way for…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Glencore Plc has set its ambitions on expanding in South Africa, the homeland of its chief Ivan Glasenberg. As the company’s former business partner and new President Cyril Ramaphosa promises an economic recovery, Glencore is reaping profits from coal and chrome assets as prices rise. The company announced in October a $1 billion deal to buy Chevron Corp.’s oil refining and fuel service stations in South Africa and considered a bid for the Optimum coal…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s pledge to switch to digital TV by the end of next year may free up spectrum for wireless operators such as Vodacom Group Ltd. And MTN Group Ltd., while also allowing smaller companies to enter the telecommunications market. Vodacom and MTN, South Africa’s top two mobile-phone companies, have long bemoaned the lack of available spectrum for broadband as they struggle to grow their businesses in Africa’s most industrialized economy….

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Gold producer Acacia Mining Plc slumped in London trading after majority shareholder Barrick Gold Corp. withdrew a timetable for resolving a dispute with Tanzania’s government. Barrick had previously said it would provide Acacia with a detailed proposal by the end of June, after taking control of negotiations aimed at settling a number of issues, including lifting Tanzania’s ban on the export of mineral concentrates. Nine months since announcing a preliminary deal, the Toronto-based…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – In 2011, two companies linked to South African billionaire Christo Wieseoffered top managers an option to buy shares in the businesses they were running. Plenty of companies do that, but not necessarily with this additional sweetener: The executives in question received bank loans to buy the stock — loans that were guaranteed by the company in the event they couldn’t be repaid. Clothing retailer Pepkor Holdings Pty Ltd., now part…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria said its budget deficit will narrow this year even as the government ramps up spending to spur a stuttering economy. The fiscal shortfall will close to 1.74 percent of gross domestic product from 2.18 percent in 2017, according to a presentation delivered Thursday by Budget Minister Udo Udoma in Abuja, the capital, a copy of which was emailed to reporters by his ministry. Of the 2 trillion naira ($5.5 billion)…