Southern Africa |

Steinhoff’s Wiese Said to Be in Talks for Standstill on Loan

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Steinhoff International Holdings NV Chairman Christo Wiese, seeking to stabilize the embattled retailer, is negotiating a standstill agreement on a 1.5 billion-euro ($1.8 billion) margin loan under which banks would suspend the sale of stock until next year, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. The owner of Mattress Firm in the U.S. and Poundland in the U.K. needs a lifeline after its stock plunged last week when it delayed publication of…

Heineken Starts $100 Million Mozambique Brewery in Africa Push

Posted on by The Editorial Team

MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Heineken NV, the world’s second-largest brewer, started building a $100 million plant in Mozambique as it seeks to compete with its larger competitor, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, in the southeast African country. The brewery, to be located in Maputo province, will have a capacity of 800,000 hectoliters and will start production in the first half of 2019, Heineken said in an emailed statement Monday. The world’s two beer-making giants are expanding…

Mugabe Said to Quit Over Fear of Being Zimbabwe’s Qaddafi

Posted on by The Editorial Team

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – An emotional Robert Mugabe finally agreed to end his 37-rule in Zimbabwe when army generals who had seized power told him they would not prevent protesters from storming his home unless he relented, three people familiar with the talks said. The peril from the protesters was real. Three days before they’d approached the gates of his mansion, known as “the blue roof,” in the affluent northern Harare suburb of Borrowdale. Chris…

Mugabe’s Woes Wipe Out $6 Billion From Zimbabwe’s Skewed Stocks

Posted on by The Editorial Team

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Investors dumped Zimbabwean stocks every day since the military seized power on optimism that 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe will be forced to step down. The stocks, which are denominated in U.S. dollars and were used to hedge against rising inflation, fell another 10 percent on Tuesday, bringing the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Industrial Index’s retreat since the army’s takeover on the morning of Nov. 15 to 35 percent. The bourse’s market capitalization has…

IMF Sees Tough South Africa Budget Unless Fiscal Risk Sorted

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa will face more fiscal difficulties and higher financing costs should state-owned companies’ debt continue rising and if the nation’s local debt is downgraded to junk, the International Monetary Fund said. If state entities such as cash-strapped power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. and South African Airways request more state support, the government will have to step in to help, removing fiscal space for “more socially useful activities,” Montfort…

Zimbabwe’s Mugabe Said to Risk Impeachment If He Won’t Quit

Posted on by The Editorial Team

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe could be impeached if he refuses to bow to pressure to resign, according to four officials close to mediation efforts aimed at ending a political standoff in the southern African nation. The military placed the 93-year-old Mugabe under house arrest early Wednesday and detained top officials who’d backed his wife, Grace, to succeed him. Mugabe has been made aware he could be impeached but he initially dismissed the…

Angolan Sonangol’s Fired Boss Said She Leaves $2 Billion in Reserves

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Isabel dos Santos, Africa’s richest woman, said Sonangol will be left with a financial reserve of $2 billion after she leaves as chair of Angola’s state-owned oil company. Her firing Wednesday marks the first time Angolan President Joao Lourenco has directly targeted the family of his predecessor, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled Africa’s second-biggest oil producer for 38 years and appointed his eldest daughter to the helm of Sonangol last year. She was relieved…

« 1 … 4 5 6 7 8 … 34 »