West Africa | - Part 17

Marcopolo Eyes Africa and Middle East to Increase Exports by 50%

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bus maker Marcopolo SA is using Brazil’s rough roads as a calling card to enter markets as remote as Ghana and Cameron as it tries to shield its business from a recession at home. The company started exporting to 12 new countries in the past year and now ships to 40 markets worldwide, according to Ricardo Portolan, the exports manager at the Caxias do Sul-based company. That helped put it on…

Nigerian Militants Threaten to Widen Attacks on Oil Industry

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Niger Delta Avengers, a militant group whose attacks on infrastructure curbed Nigerian oil output last year, threatened to widen its campaign after becoming frustrated with government talks. “The Nigerian state is not ready for any form of dialogue and negotiation with our people to addressing the issues sustaining the unending sufferings and deprivation,” the Avengers said in a Jan. 6 posting on its website. The militants said the Jan. 3 award by…

Troubled Nigerian Loans Seen Spiking Before Economic Rebound

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Access Bank Plc is predicting that the level of troubled loans in Nigeria will continue to climb before an economic recovery in the second half of the year brings relief to the country’s lenders. “Across the entire industry you’ll see an uptick in non-performing loan ratios,” Chief Executive Officer Herbert Wigwe said in an interview on Thursday in Lagos, the commercial hub. “We are better than most.” Nigeria’s fourth-largest bank by assets expects…

Nigeria to Start Building Railway to Decades-Delayed Steel Plant

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria plans to start construction this month of a railway linking its decades-delayed Ajaokuta steel plant to iron-ore mines and a port, as the government accelerates efforts to reduce the economy’s reliance on oil. Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, which won a contract in 2009 to build a 275-kilometer (171-mile) rail line, “should start work very soon, and completion is expected in about two years,” Ministry of Transport Permanent Secretary Sabiu Zakari said in an interview…

Nigerian sovereign fund in credit tie-up to unlock infrastructure funding

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund is setting up a company in partnership with London-based local currency guarantee firm GuarantCo to enable pension funds to invest in Nigerian infrastructure bonds, its chief executive said on Thursday. The new business will be launched in a few weeks’ time and aims to overcome some of the challenges facing the financing of infrastructure projects in Africa’s most populous nation. “The company will provide enhancements…

Shell Pipeline Fire Threatens to Deepen Nigerian Oil Output Drop

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc shut the Trans Niger oil pipeline after a fire, threatening to worsen a drop in Nigerian output due to unplanned disruptions. The line can transport about 180,000 barrels a day to the Bonny Export Terminal in the Niger Delta was halted Tuesday due to a blaze at Kpor in Ogoniland, Precious Okolobo, a company spokesman in Lagos, said Thursday by phone. Shell declined to comment on the…

OPEC Oil Output Slides in December Amid Nigeria Disruptions

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – OPEC’s crude production fell by 310,000 barrels a day in December, as unplanned disruptions in Nigeria reduced the group’s supply before deliberate cuts take effect this month. Nigeria’s daily output dropped by 200,000 barrels to 1.45 million in December, ending three months of gains as the African nation struggled to restore capacity after a year of militant attacks on oil infrastructure. Saudi Arabia’s production fell by 50,000 barrels a day…

« 1 … 15 16 17 18 19 »