Metal-Backed Funds Hottest Since 2009 as Markets Tighten

Metal-Backed Funds Hottest Since 2009 as Markets Tighten

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Investors are warming to industrial-metal funds to take advantage of the biggest annual price rally in seven years. Some $320 million poured into long-only exchange-traded funds this year through Dec. 9, poised for the biggest inflow since 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence. Money is returning as the demand outlook improves, prompting Bank of America Merrill Lynch to raise price forecasts for copper, lead and zinc, while Citigroup Inc. said there’s “cautious…

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Ethiopia’s Foreign Investment Stalls After Attacks on Businesses

Ethiopia’s Foreign Investment Stalls After Attacks on Businesses

Addis Ababa (Capital Markets in Africa) – Foreign investment in Ethiopia is stalling after a series of demonstrations against international companies. Investment was about $500 million in the three months ended Oct. 10 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Investment Commissioner Fitsum Arega. Foreign investment had gained 20 percent a year on average for the past six years, including a 50 percent jump last year, he said by phone from Addis…

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OPIC commits $200 million to two Africa-focused funds

OPIC commits $200 million to two Africa-focused funds

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa)  – The Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, today approved $700 million in new financing and insurance to support four projects. These private sector-led development projects will invest globally in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East in a variety of sectors including energy, financial services, transportation, technology, and telecommunications. “Today, OPIC approved $700 million in support of development projects…

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Sharp Increase in the Activity of Moroccan Companies in Sub-Saharan Africa

CASABLANCA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Aware of the unprecedented impetus of African economies and of the potential offered by the various national and sub-regional markets, Moroccan and French companies are demonstrating new ambitions in Africa, which are expressed in their development strategies on the continent. According to the third edition of BearingPoint’s International Development Barometer of international firms, “Developing in Africa: comparisons of Moroccan and French companies”, which is produced in conjunction with the…

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Opportunities in Africa’s M&A Amidst Current Uncertainty

Opportunities in Africa’s M&A Amidst Current Uncertainty

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – In spite of the current challenges facing the M&A landscape in Africa, there are pockets of opportunity as businesses review their strategies in response to changing global realities. The inability to confidently interpret information in Africa is fuelling uncertainty in the continent’s corporate transaction landscape. While this has lent an element of uncertainty to businesses considering African acquisitions, for those able to read the signs, Africa’s fundamentals remain positive…

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Egypt’s Upside-Down Bond Market Vindicates Shock Devaluation

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – A bond-market quirk is vindicating Egypt’s decision to undertake the world’s biggest currency devaluation in at least two years. The yield on the government’s shortest-maturity treasury bills is higher than the rate on its longest debt for the first time since Bloomberg started tracking the market in 2006. That so-called yield inversion is a welcome signal because it points to slower inflation and lower interest rates in the future, according…

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Tanzania Says It May Draw $9.2 Billion in Cement Investment

Tanzania Says It May Draw $9.2 Billion in Cement Investment

DAR ES SALAM (Capital Markets in Africa) – Three companies plan to invest as much as 20 trillion shillings ($9.2 billion) in Tanzanian cement production in projects that could double the nation’s installed capacity, Trade and Industry Minister Charles Mwijage said. The government of East Africa’s second-biggest economy, with gross domestic product of $45 billion, has infrastructure projects planned, including the $10 billion Bagamoyo port development, a $7-billion railway and a $4-billion crude oil pipeline from neighboring…

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