Finance

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)…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote said revenue at his group of companies may rise seven-fold to $30 billion a year by 2030. Africa’s richest man, worth $12.6 billion, also said tax payments from his Lagos, Nigeria-based Dangote Industries Ltd. would exceed $1 billion annually in about five years, according to a speech he gave Thursday in Ghana’s capital, Accra. Dangote, 61, derives almost 75 percent of his wealth from Dangote Cement Plc, according…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Singapore-based Indorama Corp. Pte. Ltd. will raise $1 billion of debt via one of its units to build a second fertilizer line in Nigeria. Indorama Eleme Fertilizer & Chemicals Ltd. will get $100 million from the World Bank’s investment arm, the International Finance Corp., and the rest from lenders including Standard Bank Group Ltd., Standard Chartered Plc, the European Investment Bank and the African Development Bank, according to a statement from…