Harmony Gold Ready for Acquisition After Paying Down Debt

Harmony Gold Ready for Acquisition After Paying Down Debt

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…

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

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

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…

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African Bank Investments Makes a Come Back After 30-Month Hiatus

African Bank Investments Makes a Come Back After 30-Month Hiatus

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – African Phoenix Investments Ltd., the holding company resurrected from the remnants of failed African Bank Investments Ltd., started trading 30 months after being suspended, with volumes far exceeding all other shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The securities started trading at 55 cents, before falling to 50 cents as of 10:19 a.m. in Johannesburg, giving the company a market value of 751 million rand ($56 million). Almost 24 million shares…

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Ghanaians Hoarding Dollars Put Cedi on Course for 19-Month Low

Ghanaians Hoarding Dollars Put Cedi on Course for 19-Month Low

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghanaians are holding on to their dollars after government data showed the nation’s budget deficit was wider than expected, setting the currency on track for the weakest close since June 2015. The cedi was among the worst performers in the world this year after data showed the nation’s budget shortfall in the first 11 months of 2016 was more than 2 percentage points higher than the government’s target. The cedi declined 0.7…

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West Africa Oil Floods to Asia in Latest Sign of OPEC Impact

West Africa Oil Floods to Asia in Latest Sign of OPEC Impact

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – West African oil producers will next month send the most crude to Asia in at least five years, the latest sign of how refineries in the world’s biggest demand region are scouring the world to replace supplies cut by OPEC’s Middle East producers. Shipments on the trade route, among the longest for supertankers, are set to soar to 2.19 million barrels a day in February, the highest level since…

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Record Egypt-Tied Note Issuance Highlights IMF Loan Cheer

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Investors are rushing back to structured notes tied to Egypt following a currency float and an International Monetary Fund loan last quarter, six years after a revolution that had scared them off. Citigroup Inc. issued all four of the recorded credit-linked notes this month raising a total of 2.3 billion Egyptian pounds ($121 million), the most for a single month on record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The biggest was…

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Lonmin Drops Most in a Year as Output Falls at Biggest Shaft

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Lonmin Plc, the world’s third-largest platinum miner, plunged the most in more than 12 months after stoppages at its biggest shaft caused output to slide. Lonmin dropped as much as 19 percent in London on Thursday, the largest intraday decline since Dec. 18, 2015, and traded at 143.5 pence as of 1:32 p.m. local time. It was the worst performer on the FTSE SmallCap Index. Fiscal first-quarter ore production at…

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