Finance

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, could attract more U.S. investment if the oil and gas sector becomes less opaque and a fuel-price peg is removed, according to a U.S. official. “Nigeria needs to think strategically about what is going to make it a more attractive destination,” Brent Omdahl, commercial counselor at the U.S. Department of Commerce, said in an interview in Lagos. “Our investors are willing to compete on…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – A financial crisis confronting South Africa’s state power utility has become a national debt problem. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni Tuesday unveiled a second multi-billion dollar bailout for Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. within five months, aid that may force the cash-strapped government to increase borrowing and taxes. That could in turn trigger a credit-rating downgrade and massive outflow of funds, raise the cost of new debt and stymie efforts to revive the…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria is facing the risk of never recovering about 5.5 trillion naira ($15 billion) of bad loans taken over during a banking crisis more than a decade ago. That is how much the state-owned Asset Management Corp., or Amcon, still has to collect from Nigerian companies that have failed to repay the debts they once owed lenders, Chief Executive Officer Ahmed Kuru said at a conference in Lagos on Wednesday. Delays in…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – A pocket-busting rescue plan for Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. is better than no plan at all. That seems to be the message from investors after Finance Minister Tito Mboweni on Tuesday unveiled a second multi-billion dollar bailout for the struggling state-owned electricity company. That may force the cash-strapped government to increase borrowing and taxes, putting the nation’s credit rating at risk. Even so, the cost of insuring South Africa’s government debt against default gapped lower…

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tullow Oil Plc reduced its 2019 production forecast for the second time in three months as technical glitches in Ghana continued to cast a shadow. Full-year output is now seen at 89,000 to 93,000 barrels of oil a day, reflecting delays in well completion at the African country’s TEN project, Tullow said Wednesday. It’s a further setback for a company that relies on the continent for more than 90% of…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Trade & Development Bank, a trade financier with 22 African countries as members, plans to return to the market sooner than planned to raise $100 million as borrowing costs become more favorable. “There’s a strong possibility that we would be tapping by the end of 2019,” Chief Executive Officer Admassu Tadesse said in an interview in Port-Louis. “It could be $100 million dollar – we would see that as a more…