Finance

MAPUTO(Capital Markets in Africa) – Mozambique’s Attorney General withdrew appeals to have the country’s former finance minister sent home from South Africa, where he is in custody over a $2 billion debt scandal. Both the U.S. and Mozambique want South Africa to extradite Manuel Chang to face charges related to financial crimes. He’s been in custody in Johannesburg for more than a year since his arrest on U.S. charges. Chang, who’s denied wrongdoing, wants to face charges…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa)- Ghana plans to use as much as $1 billion of the Eurobonds it sold last week to help restructure the country’s obligations to independent power producers, said Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. The West African country is in talks to re-negotiate supply deals with the power companies known as IPPs. The current take-or-pay agreements mean the government is billed even for unused electricity. “We are going to put about $1 billion aside from…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tidjane Thiam was ousted as chief executive officer of Credit Suisse Group AG, losing a boardroom showdown with the chairman in the wake of a tabloid scandal that unnerved the Swiss establishment. The 13 directors rebuffed appeals from major shareholders in the U.S. and U.K. to back Thiam and instead closed ranks behind Chairman Urs Rohner, giving him their “unanimous” support, according to a statement Friday. They picked Thomas Gottstein, a 20-year Credit…

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa): Vodafone Group Plc will hand over management of its Ghana unit to the U.K. carrier’s separately listed South African division in April, the latest step to bring the company’s operations on the continent under one roof. Johannesburg-based Vodacom Group Ltd. will take responsibility for the West African business alongside other units including Tanzania, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa, Chief Executive Officer Shameel Joosub said in an interview. Vodafone Ghana will keep…

KIGALI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Qatar Airways plans to purchase a 49% stake in Rwanda’s national carrier, stepping up its presence in the market weeks after taking a majority holding in the African country’s new airport. The Gulf airline is investing in Rwandair after identifying Africa as a market with significant potential, Akbar Al Baker, its chief executive officer, said in a briefing at the CAPA Qatar Aviation conference on Wednesday. The holding being negotiated…

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana’s efforts to raise domestic revenue are beginning to bear fruit and will help the country to be less dependent on debt, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said a day after the nation sold $3 billion in Eurobonds. West Africa’s second-biggest economy received about $15 billion in offers for the debt issuance that included a tranche of sub-Saharan Africa’s longest-yet Eurobond with an average life of 40 years. The sale would increase…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – While his inner circle is full of activists, his past statements are all over the place. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson stood next to legendary wildlife filmmaker David Attenborough on Tuesday at a press conference for the COP26 United Nations climate conference set for Glasgow in December. He said urgent action is needed to fight global warming and called for an international effort to solve the problem. Then, as he was leaving the…