Finance

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya Airways Plc announced a return to a fuel-hedging strategy that it partly blamed for driving the company to record losses in recent years. Fuel costs make up about a quarter of the airline’s costs, Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Mikosz told reporters in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. KQ, as the company is known, abandoned fixed-price fuel contracts in 2016 when they locked it out of rock-bottom oil prices and caused it…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The biggest threat posed by South Africa’s new Mining Charter may be to mines that haven’t been dug yet. The draft rules, published Friday by Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe, lay out several requirements for new mining rights, including that nearby communities and employees each get a 5 percent free-carried interest in either the asset or the company that owns it. The charter is aimed at distributing the industry’s wealth…

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – The significant rise in oil prices over the past year has big implications for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where hydrocarbons still play a pivotal role in the economy. Despite this change, it’s imperative that countries in the region stay resolved to cut their dependence on oil and make their economies more diverse and resilient. Just a year ago, crude was trading below $50 a barrel, amid stories…

KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Glencore Plc reached a deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s state mining company to end a legal dispute and save of one of its most important growth projects. The agreement involves a $5.6 billion debt-to-equity swap for Katanga Mining Ltd., effectively reducing the debt load of the subsidiary which Glencore co-owns with Gecamines. The deal also involves a one-time payment of $150 million to Gecamines and waiver of…

LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Vedanta Resources Plc is considering building a 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant for as much as $400 million in Zambia, where it’s copper unit is the biggest consumer of electricity. The company decided last week to also study the construction of a hydroelectric plant because its Konkola Copper Mines unit pumps 350 million liters (94 million gallons) of water daily, Deshnee Naidoo, chief executive officer of the company’s Africa base-metals unit, said…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. agreed to sell a minority stake to CITIC Metal Co., making the Chinese conglomerate the largest shareholder in the Canadian mining company and bumping founder Robert Friedland to second place. CITIC will pay C$3.68 apiece for 196.6 million common shares, a premium of about 14 percent to the June 8 closing price. Ivanhoe will use the proceeds of approximately C$723 million ($555 million) to invest in the Vancouver-based…