Private Equity

JOHANNESBURG (Bloomberg) — South Africa’s ports and rail operator, Transnet SOC Ltd., is taking steps to counter adverse weather conditions that have increasingly been interrupting deliveries. Transnet’s freight-rail unit was forced to slow iron ore and manganese deliveries last month because of damage caused by tropical cyclone Eloise, the company said in a statement. Heavy rains scoured away soil at the base of the rail tracks, leading to derailments and line closures, it said. “Increased…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Funding for African startups slowed for the first time after nearly 10 years of growth as investors in the fledgling tech scene were put off by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to venture capital firm Partech Partners. Companies on the continent raised $1.43 billion in 2020, down 29% from a year ago, Partech Partners said in a report. Just two deals above $50 million closed last year compared with 10…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — MTN Group Ltd. appointed Citigroup Inc. and Standard Bank Group Ltd. to advise on a sale and lease back of some of the carrier’s South African telecom towers, according to people familiar with the matter. Africa’s largest mobile-phone company by sales is looking to raise between 5 billion rand ($333 million) and 10 billion rand from the deal, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. and some other Redditor favorites extended January’s advance on Monday, while GameStop Corp.’srally paused, as brokerages removed trading restrictions from all but the most volatile stocks. AMC rose 19% to $15.83 in premarket trading, while GameStop erased earlier gains and was little changed at $323 as of 8:10 a.m. in New York. The video-game retailer surged 1,625% last month, propelled by day traders using Reddit…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Viruses mutate all the time, including the novel coronavirus that’s caused the global Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the changes have no apparent effect. But recent variants that have emerged in the U.K., South Africa, and Brazil are causing particular concern. Studies suggest they are more contagious, and some evidence points to the U.K. strain being more deadly. An increase in infections has led to a surge in hospitalizations and…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South Africa’s government is unlikely to force retirement funds to plow money into specific companies or projects, an industry body of fund managers and insurers said. Of the economic plans under discussion to revive South Africa’s economy, none are calling for prescribed assets to be used as a solution, the Association for Savings and Investments South Africa Chief Executive Officer Leon Camphersaid in an emailed statement. The African National Congress…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nigeria plans to introduce an infrastructure-focused fund that will be accessed by investors for as long as 10 years to boost growth after the pandemic, according to the state-owned Bank of Industry. The lender is seeking the approval of the government for the fund to start, “hopefully by early next year or towards the end of this year,” Chief Executive Officer Olukayode Pitan said at a virtual investor conference…