The Markets

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. reduced the intensity of rotating power cuts on Friday — the country’s ninth straight day of scheduled blackouts — after imports from Mozambique were partially restored. South Africa’s supply from the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric system was cut about a week ago when Cyclone Idai damaged pylons in neighboring Mozambique. The loss of imports compounded an existing shortfall in South Africa after several of…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – European stocks opened steady following a mixed trading session in Asia, as British stocks fall after new Brexit developments. With only one week left of trading, European equities are heading for their best quarter since 2015. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.2 percent, led by gains in technology shares. Deutsche Bank AG jumped 2.6 percent as the German lender said it sees 2019 revenue slightly higher than in 2018. European…

ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ivory Coast said it opened a tender to secure 500 billion CFA francs ($865 million) in commercial loans from offshore lenders as the West African nation seeks cheaper options than selling international bonds to finance its budget. In addition to the loans, the country will issue 900 billion francs in debt securities on the regional market to meet its finance needs of 1.4 trillion francs for the year, Prime…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – While daily rolling blackouts in South Africa are disrupting businesses and the lives of its people, the country’s stock market is powering ahead. As of Tuesday’s close, Johannesburg’s benchmark stock index is heading for its best quarter since September 2013 and poised to advance for a fourth consecutive month, the first time that’s happened since May 2016. The 8.3 percent in gains this year has pushed stocks to their highest in…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria may have about the best-performing Eurobonds in emerging markets this year, but the West African nation says it will prioritize borrowing from concessional lenders such as the World Bank and African Development Bank as it looks to rein in interest payments. “If you were to ask me if we’re going to issue Eurobonds this year, I’d say we’ll explore all the options,” Patience Oniha, head of the Debt Management…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana will work with the market to determine the tenure of possible longer-dated bonds for a future debt issuance after raising $3 billion this week, said Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. The world’s second-biggest cocoa producer sold Eurobonds in a three-part dealwith an average maturity of seven, 12 and 31 years after receiving $19.9 billion in offers, Ofori-Atta said in an interview Wednesday with Nejra Cehic and Manus Cranny on Bloomberg Television. Last…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Damage caused by Cyclone Idai to pylons in Mozambique that carry power to neighboring countries may take weeks to repair, a state-power company official said. The damage to Mozambican infrastructure has exacerbated rolling outages in South Africa, where state-owned utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. is struggling to bring faulty generating units back online. Mozambique’s 2,075-megawatt Cahora Bassa hydropower dam supplies almost three-quarters of its output to South Africa along a 1,400-kilometer…