The Markets

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Bond investors are pouring money back into riskier debt in search of higher returns as Covid-19 flare-ups and clampdowns have money managers bracing for interest rates to remain low for a long time. Five of the six U.S. junk bonds that companies sold on Wednesday were increased in size to accommodate heavy demand, and yields ended up being lower than initially targeted on the deals. In the secondary market, notes…

LAGOS(Capital Markets in Africa) — Local investors are piling into Nigeria’s short-term debt even though rising inflation means that they are reaping negative real returns. Prices increases in Africa’s largest economy accelerated for a 13th straight month in September, according to data released by the statistics agency on Thursday. Even so, rates on Treasury Bills slipped to the lowest levels seen in more than 10 years at an auction on Wednesday. The one-year bill sold…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — The global derivatives market looks set to accelerate its exit from Libor with the impending release of standardized contractual terms designed to ease the transition to new rates. The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, the trade group for the industry, will publish its hotly anticipated Libor protocol on Oct. 23 after receiving approval from the U.S. Department of Justice, ISDA said in a statement on Friday. The publication “will effectively fire…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The January 2021 launch of fallbacks for derivatives contracts that reference Libor will still make it challenging for the industry to adopt new term rates referencing the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) before Libor ceases to be quoted at end-2021, Fitch Ratings says. Development of a SOFR term reference rate relies on sufficient liquidity in the SOFR-based USD derivatives market, which remains thin compared to traded notionals for USD…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nigeria’s first industrial gold project is on course to enter production next year, and its success will be crucial for boosting mining in Africa’s biggest oil producer, the country’s mines minister said. Thor Explorations Ltd. is spending $98 million to develop the project, which will have an annual average output of 80,000 ounces. The Canada-based company’s Segilola mine in the southwest should yield gold by the end of the first…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — The Nigerian Stock Exchange will start clearing and settlement of exchange-traded derivative products in the second quarter of next year as it seeks to deepen the financial market of Africa’s biggest crude producer. The Lagos-based bourse has obtained approval in principle from the Securities and Exchange Commission to operate NG Clearing Ltd., a central counterparty clearing house, it said in an emailed response to questions on Tuesday. The company…

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) — Kenya Airways Plc needs at least $500 million to ride out the coronavirus crisis after first-half revenue plunged almost 50%, Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka said in an interview. The carrier, which is 49% state owned, must also be fully nationalized alongside Kenya Airports Authority, which runs the Nairobi hub, under a holding structure similar to that of regional leader Ethiopian Airlines Group, he said. “If we don’t restructure the airline,…