Transcorp Stops $1 Billion Nigeria Power Plan on Scarce Gas

Transcorp Stops $1 Billion Nigeria Power Plan on Scarce Gas

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa Transnational Corp. of Nigeria Plc suspended plans to build one of the nation’s biggest power plants as a local gas shortage makes it difficult to obtain fuel and a downturn in Africa’s largest economy hinders efforts to raise funds for the project. The company in 2014 said it would raise $1 billion to build a 1,000-megawatt gas-fired facility. Two years earlier, it bought the Ughelli plant in the hydrocarbon-rich Niger River…

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Nigeria |FCMB Forecasts Weaker Second Half as Nigerian Economy Shrinks

Nigeria |FCMB Forecasts Weaker Second Half as Nigerian Economy Shrinks

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: FCMB Group Plc, a Nigerian lender, said earnings will come under pressure in the second half as it sets aside more money for loan losses to cope with a Nigerian economy headed toward a recession. Profit in the six months through December will probably be weaker than the first half “in view of operating environment challenges and our decision to step up impairment charges,’’ the Lagos-based lender said in…

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Nigeria’s AMCON to Lease Seized Property to Plug Funding Gap

Nigeria’s AMCON to Lease Seized Property to Plug Funding Gap

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: The Nigerian state-owned agency set up six years ago to take on bad debts and rescue the nation’s banking industry from collapse may lease out properties seized from companies that are failing to repay loans as it grapples with its own cash crunch. The Asset Management Corp. of Nigeria, or AMCON, may introduce the “real-estate investment scheme” by the end of the year to raise money to meet its bond repayments, Chief…

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Nigeria Raises Key Interest Rate to Lure ‘Lukewarm’ Investors in July

Nigeria Raises Key Interest Rate to Lure ‘Lukewarm’ Investors in July

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Nigeria raised its monetary policy rate to lure foreign investors and prop up its currency, even as the economy risks slipping into recession. The Monetary Policy Committee increased the key lending rate to 14 percent from 12 percent, Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele told reporters in the capital, Abuja, on Tuesday. That was in line with the forecast of two of the 15 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Two predicted a 100 basis-point…

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Nigeria | Decade’s Peak Inflation Deepens Dilemma for Nigeria in Slump

Nigeria | Decade’s Peak Inflation Deepens Dilemma for Nigeria in Slump

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Caught between the highest inflation rate in more than a decade and an economy set to contract for the first time since 1991, Nigeria’s central bank may opt to do nothing. Governor Godwin Emefiele is under pressure to limit inflation, which accelerated to almost double the upper end of the central bank’s target range last month, while the economy will probably contract by 1.8 percent this year, according to the International Monetary…

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Nigeria Pushes Traders to Book All Naira Deals as Currency Falls

Nigeria Pushes Traders to Book All Naira Deals as Currency Falls

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: The Central Bank of Nigeria’s foreign-exchange trading platform has called on banks to disclose all their naira transactions, including those done with customers that weren’t previously booked, as the regulator eases its grip on the currency and tries to attract inflows. Banks should “update all trades irrespective of the exchange rate,” the chief executive officer of Lagos-based FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, Bola Onadele, said in an e-mail sent to dealers…

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Nigeria’s Skye Bank Gains on Report Power Firm May Pay Debts

Nigeria’s Skye Bank Gains on Report Power Firm May Pay Debts

LAGOS, Capital Markets in Africa: Skye Bank Plc, whose top management was replaced by regulators this month, surged for a second day following a report that a major debtor reached an agreement that may help it repay the Nigerian lender. The stock closed up 9.1 percent to 72 kobo in Lagos, the best performer on the 171-member Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index. Almost 58 million shares were traded, about four times the three-month daily average. Skye plunged…

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