News | - Part 24

South Africa’s S&P Rating Respite Strengthens Gordhan’s Hand

Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan emerged in a stronger position in his tug of war with President Jacob Zuma after S&P Global Ratings decided not to cut the nation’s credit rating to junk. “This means that Gordhan will not be going anywhere for the time being, unless he takes a personal decision to go,” said Susan Booysen, a politics professor at the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Governance. “This is another…

Mozambique Plans to Reorganize or Sell 20 State Companies

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MAPUTO, Mozambique, Capital Markets in Africa: Mozambique’s debt crisis has destabilized government operations and the country will have to reorganize 20 state-owned companies, privatize them or shut them down, President Filipe Nyusi said. The nation admitted in April to having $1.4 billion in loans it hadn’t disclosed to investors and last month failed to make a $178 million interest payment on one of the debts. “You are aware about the increase in our debt,” Nyusi told businessmen over…

Angola Leader Secures Economic Grip Naming Daughter as Oil Boss

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Luanda, Angola, Capital Markets in Africa: Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos tightened his family’s grip on sub-Saharan Africa’s third-biggest economy two years before he has indicated he’ll leave office by naming his billionaire daughter Isabel as chairwoman of the state oil company. The appointment “shows that President dos Santos doesn’t trust anyone else and moreover that he’s looking to have a dynastic succession,” Markus Weimer, an analyst for Horizon Client Access Inc., an energy investment advisory group, said…

MTN Slumps After Nigeria Suspends Talks on $3.9 Billion Fine

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Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: MTN Group Ltd. shares fell after Nigeria suspended talks about a $3.9 billion fine on the South African mobile-phone company while the country’s House of Representatives completes an investigation into the nature of the penalty. The stock declined as much as 2.9 percent, the most since May 12, and traded 1.5 percent lower at 126.50 rand as of 10:23 a.m. in Johannesburg, valuing the company at 233 billion rand ($15 billion)….

South Africa Maintains Rate at 7% Despite Inflation Risk in May

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Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: The pause in the South African central bank’s policy tightening cycle may be short-lived as it forecast increasing risks for inflation from a weaker rand and food prices. The repurchase rate was left unchanged at 7 percent, Governor Lesetja Kganyago told reporters on Thursday in the capital, Pretoria. Nineteen of the 25 economists in a Bloomberg survey predicted no change to borrowing costs. Five of the six members Monetary Policy Committee members preferred to keep the rate unchanged…

Nigeria | Violent Struggle Over Oil and Money Rattles Global Energy Market

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: After years of relative peace, militants are again blowing up the pipelines that criss-cross the mangrove swamps of Nigeria’s Niger River delta, reducing oil output to the lowest in almost three decades and fueling a rally in global crude prices. The resurgent conflict in Africa’s largest economy has a long history, interweaving corruption and poverty with regional rivalries and presidential politics, but at its core is money. Between 2006 and…

Investment | Ivory Coast Attracts $15.4 Billion in Pledges, Twice Its Budget

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Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Capital Markets in Africa: Ivory Coast received more than $15 billion in pledges from donors and lenders to fund its five-year development plan, almost double the amount it sought at a Paris meeting that showcased the world’s top cocoa grower as an investors’ favorite in Africa. The West African nation wanted to secure at least 4,425 billion CFA francs ($8.8 billion) in pledges to fund part of a $60 billion investment plan…

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