Buhari Grapples With Widening Crises as Nigerian Vote Looms

Buhari Grapples With Widening Crises as Nigerian Vote Looms

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Islamist militant attacks, gasoline shortages, worsening violence over grazing land, simmering unrest in the southeast — the crises keep mounting for Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari less than a year before general elections. The most recent setback came on March 1 when suspected Boko Haram Islamist militants killed three United Nations aid workers and eight soldiers in an attack in the north-eastern town of Rann, about two weeks after they kidnapped more…

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MTN Is Said to Plan $500 Million Nigeria Share Sale in 2018

MTN Is Said to Plan $500 Million Nigeria Share Sale in 2018

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd. plans to raise about $500 million from the sale of shares in its Nigerian business during the first half of the year, fulfilling the terms of a deal struck with the West African nation to settle a record fine, according to people familiar with the matter. Standard Bank Group Ltd. and Citigroup Inc. have been advising Africa’s largest mobile-phone company on the disposal of as much as…

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Nigeria Hires Citi, StanChart, Stanbic for $2.5 Billion Eurobond

Nigeria Hires Citi, StanChart, Stanbic for $2.5 Billion Eurobond

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria hired Citigroup Inc., Standard Chartered Plc and Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc to help it sell $2.5 billion of Eurobonds, possibly in the first quarter. “The minister confirmed this at the Federal Executive Council briefing on Wednesday,” Oluyinka Akintunde, media adviser for Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun, said by text message on Thursday. The government rehired the group of lenders who managed its Eurobond sales late last year. Proceeds from the issuance will be used to refinance…

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In Nigerian `Cash-and-Carry’ Politics, Ambition Is Constant

In Nigerian `Cash-and-Carry’ Politics, Ambition Is Constant

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – At recent rallies of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress for next year’s general elections, the list of speakers is often dominated by former members of the opposition People’s Democratic Party who switched sides. Former ministers, two-term governors and other senior officials who served with the PDP during its 16-year rule take turns to denounce the “corruption and waste” of their erstwhile party while touting the virtues of President Muhammadu…

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Gas Flaring Law Error Cost Nigeria Billions of Dollars, Says Finance Minister

Gas Flaring Law Error Cost Nigeria Billions of Dollars, Says Finance Minister

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Africa’s top oil producer plans to make gas flaring more costly for companies that have escaped the payment of billions of dollars despite being fined, Nigerian Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said. In the “legal framework for the gas-flaring penalty, it was drafted as a charge. A charge is tax deductible,” Adeosun said in a January 23 interview. “So, what do the international oil companies do? They flare, they pay the charge…

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Nigeria May Cut Interest Rates Before July, Emefiele Says

Nigeria May Cut Interest Rates Before July, Emefiele Says

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s central bank could start cutting interest rates in the first half of the year as inflation eases, Governor Godwin Emefiele said. Once inflation gets to low double digits “and high single digit happens, then it should be easy for MPC to begin to look at easing,” Emefiele said Wednesday in an interview at his office in Abuja, the capital. “I want to think that between the end of the first…

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Activity Expands in African Economies as Stability Boosts Demand

Activity Expands in African Economies as Stability Boosts Demand

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Business activity in some of sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest economies is expanding due to increased demand and the return of political stability. Purchasing Managers Indexes published on Thursday showed expansion in companies in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia in December. In South Africa, the continent’s most-industrialized economy, the index fell and remained below the neutral mark of 50 for the fifth straight month as the fiscal outlook remains challenging and…

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