The Markets | - Part 196

Moody’s Says Ghana Deficit Will Heighten Currency Volatility

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana’s worse-than-expected budget deficit will heighten currency volatility and elevate the nation’s funding demands to finance previously undisclosed arrears of 7 billion cedis ($1.6 billion), according to Moody’s Investors Service. The discovery of the payment arrears reverses Ghana’s progress on consolidating its fiscal deficit since 2015 under an International Monetary Fund program, Moody’s said in an e-mailed statement on Monday. The shortfall is also weighing on debt dynamics and will undermine the…

African Issuers Scrutinized After Mozambique’s Bond Default

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – After Mozambique’s default, investors are wondering who’s next in Africa. Bloomberg’s sovereign credit risk model — which uses data including budget deficits, foreign reserves, non-performing bank loans and political instability to calculate default probabilities — flags four candidates among African Eurobond issuers: Senegal, Tunisia, Ghana, and Zambia. Mozambique became the first African country to default on dollar bonds since Ivory Coast in 2011 when it failed to settle an almost $60 million…

Expect No Mercy After Default, Bondholder Tells Mozambique

Posted on by The Editorial Team

MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Mozambique became the first African nation to default since 2011 after failing to make an interest payment on a Eurobond before the grace period ended, according to a bondholder. The southern African nation did not pay a $60 million coupon on its $727 million of notes due in January 2023 by the close on Thursday, Lutz Roehmeyer, a fund manager at Landesbank Berlin Investment, said in an e-mailed response to questions. “The view on…

Been-Here-Before Feeling Saps Ghana Bonds Amid $1.6 Billion Hole

Posted on by The Editorial Team

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa)- The West African nation’s ballooning budget gap has dismayed investors betting the combination of a new government and an International Monetary Fund program would bring the country’s finances under control. The discovery of a 7 billion-cedi ($1.6 billion) hole is reviving memories of 2015 when Ghana’s economy was in tatters amid a slowdown in commodity prices and excessive spending. “There were some hopes that finally, under the previous government, and with the IMF’s…

Nigeria Heads to London, U.S. for First Eurobond Since 2013

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria will meet investors this week for its first Eurobond sale in more than three years as Africa’s most populous nation battles an economic contraction and the worst dollar squeeze in almost a decade. Beginning Friday, officials will hold roadshows in London and the U.S. before the proposed issue of 15-year bonds, the country’s longest-maturity dollar notes yet, according to a person familiar with the matter, who is not…

Harmony Gold Ready for Acquisition After Paying Down Debt

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Harmony Gold Mining Co., South Africa’s third-largest miner of the metal, said it’s ready to make an acquisition after increasing production and paying off its debt in the six months to December 31. “We’ve identified some targets, we’re working on those targets,” Chief Executive Officer Peter Steenkamp said on a call with reporters Thursday. The purchase will likely be in Africa or Papua New Guinea, he said. Harmony made a profit…

MTN to Merge Nigeria Tower Assets in $788 Million Share Exchange

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd., Africa’s largest mobile-phone operator, said it will merge its shareholdings in Nigerian tower operators into a single asset by switching a stake worth about 10.6 billion rand ($788 million) from one company to another. The carrier will exchange a 51 percent stake in the owner of INT Towers Ltd. for a larger shareholding in Lagos-based IHS Holding Ltd., the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Wednesday. The deal will…

« 1 … 194 195 196 197 198 … 255 »