Features | - Part 223

Congo Cement Factory to Boost National Production Four-Fold

KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Democratic Republic of Congo Prime Minister Matata Ponyo Mapon said his government will protect local industry as Lucky Cement Ltd., Pakistan’s biggest producer of the building material, and Groupe Rawji prepare to open a new plant in the country this month that will boost production four-fold in the central African nation. The $270 million project, known as CIMKO, is owned jointly by Lucky and Groupe Rawji, a closely held Congolese company, and…

Glencore Reviewing Bribery Allegations Said to Involve Gertler

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Glencore Plc, the world’s biggest commodity trader, is reviewing allegations by U.S. authorities regarding the bribery of officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo said to implicate its partner, Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler. Some of Gertler’s projects in Congo were funded by Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, which on Thursday agreed to pay more than $400 million to settle a U.S. investigation that it committed bribery violations in Africa. Och-Ziff’s partner in…

Och-Ziff Plea Halts Rise of Hedge-Fund Billionaire’s Protege

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – At the turn of the century, hedge-fund billionaire Daniel Ochsent protege Michael Cohen, still in his twenties, to spearhead Och-Ziff’s expansion into Europe. Cohen’s team bet so successfully on equities and corporate deals that less than a decade later he was able to buy a 900-acre estate in the English countryside. A relentless investor with little patience for small talk, he was always looking for his next score, say people who know him. That led…

Zimbabwe to issue new bond notes to bolster liquidity

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HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – It was announced by the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), Dr Mangudya, on 15 September 2016, that “bond notes” will be issued by the end of October, in an effort to ease the recent cash shortages in the country. Liquidity difficulties – Zimbabwe has run out of US dollars, and does not have its own currency – have meant civil servants’ salaries are in arrears, and…

Och-Ziff Unit Said to Plan to Plead Guilty Over Bribes

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Och-Ziff Capital Management LP, the largest publicly traded hedge fund firm in the U.S., has agreed to enter into a deferred-prosecution agreement and have a subsidiary plead guilty in a federal probe into millions of dollars of bribes funneled to African officials, according to a person familiar with the matter. The admission of guilt is part of a settlement with the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission after a complex five-year…

Infrastructure | Kenya Says Railway Through Wildlife Park Is Least-Worst Route

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Routing a new Kenyan railway line through the capital’s national wildlife reserve is the least-worst option for a congested city and compromises in its design will leave animals enough space to roam, a government official said. The government said earlier this month that its new $3.2 billion Standard Gauge Railway linking East Africa’s biggest port at Mombasa to the capital, Nairobi, would be routed through Nairobi National Park. The decision sparked…

Ivory Coast Raises Cocoa Price for Farmers 10% From 2015

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ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, will boost the minimum price paid to farmers for their beans 10 percent from last year. Growers will get a minimum 1,100 CFA francs ($1.86) a kilogram (2.2 pounds) for beans for the main crop starting in October, according to Abdourahmane Cisse, the country’s budget minister. That’s up from 1,000 CFA francs last season. The main crop runs from October to March. “My own view…

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