West Africa | - Part 14

Barrow Sworn in as Gambian President as Ex-Leader Seeks Deal

BANJUL (Capital Markets in Africa) – Adama Barrow was sworn into office as the president of Gambia at a ceremony in neighboring Senegal as mediators sought to negotiate an amnesty deal with the outgoing leader to stave off military intervention by West African states. Barrow, 51, decided to take his oath at the Gambian embassy in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, after Yahya Jammeh, who lost the presidential election, refused to leave office and called for new elections….

Nigeria raises local currency bonds at yields below inflation

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LAGOS (Reuters) – Nigeria has raised 214.95 billion naira ($704.18 mln) in local currency bonds at its first auction this year, with the debts sold at yields below galloping inflation, the Debt Management Office said on Thursday. Though yields were higher than at its last auction in December, the debt office said it received subscription of 235.05 billion naira for the bonds at the auction held on Wednesday. Annual inflation in Nigeria climbed to a…

Africa’s Biggest Bank Chasing Nigerian Deals After Oil Slump

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The crisis in Nigeria is throwing up opportunities for Africa’s largest bank. FirstRand Limited, which is seeking an acquisition of mid-sized lender in the continent’s most populous nation, is also considering one other target after ending talks with two lenders because of differences over price, Chairman Laurie Dippenaar said. The Johannesburg-based company would prefer an institution with a big branch network, though is unlikely to buy any of the country’s large banks,…

Nigerian Equity Market Sustained Rally in Banking Sector buoys Market Performance

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – It was a positive trading day for Nigerian equities market as the All Share Index (ASI) added 18bps to close at 26,373.83 points. Consequently, market capitalization improved by N16.5bn to settle at N9.1tn. Today’s positive performance was driven by further gains in Tier-1 lenders – ZENITH (+2.1%), ETI(+4.3%) and ACCESS (+2.9%). Market activity, however, remained mixed as volume traded improved by 17.1% to settle at 174.0m units while value traded fell 68.7% to settle at…

Nigeria Plan to Link Mines to Steel Mill Seen as Buhari Test

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s plan to build a railway to supply iron ore to its idle Ajaokuta steel plant could be the biggest sign yet that President Muhammadu Buhari is implementing his policy to diversify away from oil. The project began in 1979 with what the World Bank in 2002 called obsoleteSoviet technology, and has never been finished. Authorities want to revive it as part of Buhari’s efforts to lessen the economy’s dependence on crude, which accounts for…

Citigroup, Top Africa Loan Arranger, Sees M&A Boosting Lending

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Citigroup Inc., sub-Saharan Africa’s top loan arranger in 2016, expects increased sovereign demand and mergers and acquisitions to drive lending in the region this year as low valuations spur deals. “Lots of financing activity is expected in 2017,” Aziz Rahman, the bank’s head of corporate finance in the region said in an interview on Monday. Loans to sovereigns and corporates will increase as M&A deals rise and infrastructure spending picks…

Gambia’s Jammeh Imposes State of Emergency, Defying Region

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BANJUL (Capital Markets in Africa) – Gambian President Yahya Jammeh declared a 90-day state of emergency two days before he’s supposed to hand over power to the winner of last month’s election, as West African nations prepared to send a military force to remove him from power. In a speech on state TV late Tuesday, Jammeh said the measure was necessary because of the “unprecedented and extraordinary amount of interference” in the Dec. 1 ballot. He also…

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