Finance | - Part 131

Zambia Took On More Than $3 Billion in External Debt in 2016

LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zambia committed to $3.5 billion of new loans last year, 56 percent more than in 2015, the Finance Ministry said. Of the $3.1 billion in loans the government of Africa’s second-biggest copper producer contracted in 2016, as opposed to just committing to, $1.8 billion came from Chinese lenders, the ministry said in its annual economic report for last year. Despite the new loans, the government’s external debt position increased by…

South Africa Moves Firms to Mines Ministry for Accountability

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa will transfer the state-owned mining company and petroleum exploration-promotion agency, which report to a unit of the Energy Ministry, to the Department of Mineral Resources to improve accountability. Petroleum Agency of South Africa and African Exploration Mining & Finance Corp. will be moved to the department within the financial year ending Feb. 28, Energy Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi told lawmakers in Cape Town Friday. They will be transferred from her department’s CEF…

Sub-Saharan Africa Needs Better Laws for $100 Billion Gap

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Sub-Saharan Africa needs solid legal frameworks, increased private-sector involvement and better fiscal incentives to plug its annual infrastructure-funding gap of about $100 billion, Boston Consulting Group and Africa Finance Corp. said. The region’s governments have insufficient strategic foresight, political will and policy certainty and numbers of adequately skilled people to improve delivery, the organizations said in a report released Tuesday in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. Financial systems need upgrading to be sound…

Nigeria Seeks $5.2 Billion From World Bank for Electricity

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria is seeking $5.2 billion from the World Bank to expand electricity generation and help the economy recover from its first contraction in 25 years. The bank’s private-sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation, may invest about $1.3 billion in power projects and electricity distribution companies. Its political risk insurer, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, could provide equity and debt of $1.4 billion for gas and solar power programs, according to Power, Works, and…

AfDB Plans $1.1 Billion Loans, Grants to Drought-Hit Countries

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South Sudan (Capital Markets in Africa) – The African Development Bank is considering providing $1.1 billion of loans and grants to countries affected by drought and famine. The funding will be discussed at a meeting of the Abidjan, Ivory Coast-based lender’s board on Wednesday, Gabriel Negatu, the bank’s head for East Africa, said in an interview in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The money will be provided to war-torn South Sudan, where a famine was declared in February, as well…

Ivory Coast Economy Remains ‘Solid’ Despite Challenges, PM Says

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ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ivory Coast’s economy is strong despite challenges including a slump in cocoa prices and social unrest, according to Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly. “The fundamentals of the Ivorian economy are solid, as evidenced by the growth that we’re experiencing,” Coulibaly said in an interview on state TV late Thursday. “But we’re confronted with numerous challenges.” The government of the world’s biggest cocoa producer cut this year’s budget by a 10th…

South Africa Trade Surplus Surges to 11.4 Billion Rand in March

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s trade surplus more than doubled in March as the exports of mining produce surged. The 11.4 billion-rand ($860 million) surplus compares with February’s revised 4.8 billion-rand surplus, the Pretoria-based South African Revenue Service said in an emailed statement Friday. The median of six economist estimates compiled by Bloomberg was for a surplus of 6.2 billion rand. Relief on the trade balance eases pressure on the current account, the broadest measure…

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