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MTN Seeks Nigeria Court Injunction in $10 Billion Payment Spat

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd. applied to Nigeria’s Federal High Court to stop the government enforcing $10 billion in claims against the mobile phone company, buying itself some time as it tries to defuse the dispute. Africa’s biggest wireless carrier repeated a denial that it illegally transferred $8.1 billion out of Nigeria and owed a further $2 billion in back taxes. The crisis has wiped almost a third off MTN’s share price…

South Africa Business Confidence Drops to Lowest This Year

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African business confidence declined to the lowest level this year as industries raised concern about policy uncertainty, including the ruling party’s plan to change the constitution to make it easier to expropriate land without paying for it. The gauge dropped to 38 in the third quarter, FirstRand Ltd.’s Rand Merchant Bank unit and the University of Stellenbosch’s Bureau for Economic Research said in an emailed statement Tuesday. All sectors…

South Africa Recession Adds Risks to Revenue Estimate, Nene Says

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa may collect less revenue than forecast for the year after the economy fell into a recession, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said. “There is now additional downside risk to the tax revenue projected at the beginning of the year because of the contraction in the economy,” Nene said in an emailed copy of a speech. “Fixing our economy to ensure that it grows faster and in a more sustainable manner is…

Tokio Buys Stake in South African Insurer Hollard to Expand

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Japanese insurer Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. agreed to buy a minority stake in South Africa’s Hollard Insurance Co Ltd. to help both companies expand through Africa. Tokio Marine will pay 5 billion rand ($327 million) for a 22.5 percent shareholding in Johannesburg-base Hollard, one of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest providers of property and casualty insurance. The deal will enable Tokio to gain a foothold in markets such as South Africa and…

INTO AFRICA September 2018 Edition – Gauging 2018 African Outlook

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Welcome to the September 2018 edition of INTO AFRICA, a publication with fresh insight into Africa’s emerging capital markets. This edition reviews Africa’s economies in the first half of 2018 and its title: Gauging 2018 African Outlook. Africa is set to enjoy a modest growth uptick, and decisive policies are needed to both reduce vulnerabilities and raise medium-term growth prospects, according to the IMF. In parallel, the Brookings Institution projected the average growth in the region is to…

Ramaphosa’s South African Recession Heightens Election Risk

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – President Cyril Ramaphosa’s job of getting South Africa back on track just got a lot more perilous with the surprising news that the economy has slipped into recession. He must walk a fine line between restoring investor confidence battered by almost nine years of misrule by his predecessor, Jacob Zuma, while reducing widespread poverty. And next year’s general elections are looming. The “Ramaphoria” that buoyed the markets and the public at large after…

South African Rand Gets Cornered in a One-Way Bet as Rate Hike Seen Unlikely

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – One of the biggest differences between central banks in South Africa and Turkey is credibility, according to S&P Global Ratings. But as the rand tumbles to a two-year low amid a broad emerging-market sell-off, that strength is becoming a problem for the currency. The South African Reserve Bank’s policy of targeting inflation and leaving the rand to the markets is making it something of a one-way bet at a time…

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