Auteur/autrice : Rédaction Financial Afrik

 Morocco will launch automatic price adjustment for some basic goods in the next two weeks, its first step towards reforming subsidies, its general affairs minister told Reuters. « We will activate automatic price adjustment in the next two weeks – before Ramadan – for whole energy products and sugar, except cooking gas, » General Affairs and Governance Minister Mohamed Najib Boulif said in an interview late on Thursday.

The Nigerian authorities embarked  on june 19th on their Eurobond roadshow in London which will continue in Germany and the US in coming days. While the government had announced in the recent past that the roadshow would take place this month, the key question was whether it would still go ahead after the correction in the emerging market debt space in late May/June. 

Orascom Telecom said that it is conducting talks over the terms and conditions to renew the licence of its Zimbabwean unit, Telecel. Responding to Egyptian Exchange (EGX) inquiries, Orascom said that Telecel Zimbabwe is not part of company’s consolidated financial resultsand represents a very tiny percentage of the group’s total revenues. On 31 May, the Zimbabwean government announced that it would not renew the licence unless Telecel turned over a majority of its shares to local shareholders. Orascom owns 60 percent of Telecel. The 15-year licence issued to Telecel, which has 2.6 million subscribers, expires next month.

At the ongoing African Airlines Association’s Suppliers and Stakeholders Conference (ASASC), four service providers to the aviation industry were last night presented with Awards by AFRAA for exceptional and exemplary service delivery to the aviation industry. The winners were SITA, Servair, EgyptAir Training and NAHCOaviance.

  The European Union and Côte d’Ivoire announced today that they will launch negotiations of a new trade agreement to combat illegal logging. This scourge affects millions of poor people who depend on forests for their livelihoods, deprives governments of billions of euros every year and the associated deforestation worsens climate change.

A Swahili summary edition of the 2013 Human Development Report was launched here today by the United Nation Development Programme, marking the first time that UNDP’s flagship report has been available in the most widely spoken African language.

Africa is the main target for “land grabs” by foreign investors, according to a new report on large-scale land acquisitions around the world released Monday. “Africa is the place for cheap land deals and most investors are from Western countries like the U.S. and UK,” said Michael Taylor of the International Land Coalition (ILC).

The investment arm of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) – the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) – has approved an investment allocation of $850 million for the three investment windows of the SWF.

EU leaders want to create a single European energy market to ensure future power supplies are cheap, secure and sustainable. But as a new Friends of Europe discussion paper shows, there is no consensus on how to do so.

The global economy is awash with successive waves of liquidity generated over the past few years by the four most advanced economies, viz., the United States, the European Union (EU), Japan and the United Kingdom, known as the G4. This liquidity has taken the form of « quantitative easing » (QE). 

At a joint press conference in Paris, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and President of France Francois Hollande announced Wednesday evening that France and the United Kingdom will implement the EITI, the global standard for transparency of government revenues from natural resources.

8 Miles LLP, the Pan-African Private Equity firm, confirms that it has made an investment of an undisclosed sum, alongside IFC (International Finance Corporation) and Morgan Stanley, in eleni LLC, a newly formed company based in Kenya and led by Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin.

The Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) of South Africa has announced the allocation of R13-billion for investment in various sectors of the economy in order to boost job-creation and contribute to renewable energy, food security and broad-based black economic empowerment.

Almost Half of U.S. Think Obama Is Untruthful About IRS Q Nasr: Iran Outsmarts U.S. in the Syrian Proxy War Q 2:58 Rom Com Prompts Chinese Rush for Seattle Homes Q Australia Economy Grows Less Than Forecast in First Quarter Q 1:17 The Weapons of the Future Allegedly Hacked by China Q Apple Partial Import Ban Stokes Patent War With Samsung Q Almost Half of U.S. Think Obama Is Untruthful About IRS Q Nasr: Iran Outsmarts U.S. in the Syrian Proxy War Q 2:58 Rom Com Prompts Chinese Rush for Seattle Homes Q Australia Economy Grows Less Than Forecast…

Sagaci Research, a market intelligence firm dedicated to African markets, released a new report on shopping centers across the African continent. This report, the result of several months of investigation and information gathering in the field, highlights an extremely active market with important differences between countries and regions.

BlackRock and Euroclear Bank today announce plans to reform Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) trade processing and settlement across Europe by issuing the first iShares ETF  with an international security structure. Unlike other cross-exchange listed ETFs in Europe, which currently settle in  national central securities depositories (CSDs), the new iShares ETF will be issued and settle for the first time in an International CSD (ICSDs) – Euroclear Bank.  

Airtel Ghana has been recognised with two awards for its Customer Care and Mobile Broadband Services respectively. The awards, Best Customer Care and Best Mobile Broadband Service of the Year were handed to Airtel at the 3rd Ghana Telecoms Awards 2013 organised by Mobile World magazine at a ceremony in Accra, Ghana.

Nigeria plans to sell inflation-linked bonds to address the concern of investors about the impact of inflation on the domestic debet market, the Debt Management Office said. “The inflation-linked bond is part of our 2013 to 2017 strategic plan,” Abraham Nwankwo, director general of the agency known as DMO, told reporters today in the southeastern city of Enugu.

Guarantee Trust Bank Nigeria scooped the prize for African Bank of the Year at the biggest African Banker Awards ceremony to date. Michael Miebach, President, Middle East and Africa for Mastercard, the Platinum sponsor of the event presented them with the Award at the close of the ceremony of which the guests included HE Regis Immongault, Minister of Mines for Gabon and Senegalese R&B and hip hop recording artist Akon.

The African Development Bank on 28 May in Marrakech, Morocco, granted a supplementary loan of US$33.213 million to the government of Mozambique for the rehabilitation of the country’s Massinger Dam. The funds will ensure effective sustainability of the Massingir Dam by preventing its collapse in the event of a heavy downpour.

The Midwest financial community united on May 22, 2013 at the 11th AnnualHedge Funds Care Midwest “Open Your Heart to the Children” Benefit and raised over $650,000 to provide support for local charities that prevent and treat child abuse. A highlight of the Chicago social calendar, the Benefit brought together over 450 members of the financial community, including representatives from the hedge fund, proprietary trading, private equity, and venture capital communities in support of this vital charitable cause.

The African Union Heads of State and Government (AU), solemnly signed on Sunday in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), during their 21th Summit, the declaration of the fiftieth anniversary of the OAU/AU.

Safety Currency offers solution to worldwide scarcity and global financial crisis Massive « stimulus package » provided via social media

Transnet and the NEPAD Business Foundation will launch the Africa Infrastructure Desk on Monday 3 June 2013 in Sandton, Johannesburg. Infrastructure continues to be Africa’s missing link to developing integrated regional markets.

About 1.2 billion people – almost the population of India – don’t have access to electricity, 2.8 billion have to rely on wood or other biomass to cook and heat their homes, renewable energy accounts for 18 percent of the global energy mix, and the largest energy savings and greatest expansion of renewables happened in China.

Africa’s agricultural, mining and energy resources could boost the continent’s economic growth and pave the way for a breakthrough in human development, according to the African Economic Outlook 2013 (http://www.africaneconomicoutlook.org), released here Monday.

One of the key highlights of the breakfast meeting was the official launch, by President Macky Sall and the Chairperson of the AU Commission Dr Nkosazana Dlamini, of a web-based portal called VPiC, short for Virtual PIDA Information Centre.

 The African Union, ONE, ACORD and ActionAid are today holding a high level panel discussion as part of the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).  The event celebrates the contributions and potential of African farmers, especially small scale farmers, women farmers and youth farmers who are helping Africa move ahead by confronting and overcoming hunger and poverty on the continent.

Damco, one of the world’s leading freight forwarding and logistics service providers, reports a 6% increase in Quarter 1 net revenue with a total of 773 million USD, compared to 728 million USD in 2012. EBIT ended up at 9 million USD for the first quarter, compared to 13 million USD in 2012.

Femi Oyetunji, CEO of Continental  Reinsurance,  explain the  vision and the philosophy of his company. Exclusive

The Egyptian government is facing an increasingly difficult set of economic circumstances that could raise inflationary pressures and lead to further social unrest, says a report by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. Titled « Reliance On Central Bank Finance Could Raise Inflationary Pressures In Egypt, » the report points out that since the popular uprising of 2011, economic growth in the country has been weak and the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has seen a sharp drop in its foreign exchange reserves.

The EU will provide some €37 million to strengthen the fight against piracy in several Eastern and Southern African countries through support for the Programme to promote Regional Maritime Security (MASE). In the past decade, the level of maritime insecurity in the region’s waters has become the highest in the world, undermining development and affecting the wellbeing of millions of people.

ohannesburg – South African mass market lender African Bank Investments posted a 26 percent drop in first-half earnings on Monday, hit by rising bad debts from its heavily leveraged customers.

Addis Ababa, 19 May 2013 – A press briefing was held today to brief the media on the level of preparedness ahead of the celebrations of the Golden Jubilee of the Organisation of African Unity and the African Union (OAU-AU). The briefing was also aimed at briefing the media on the side and parallel events taking place within the framework of the Jubilee and at informing the public on the steps to be taken to draw up the vision for Africa for the next 50 years.

Legislation for Africa’s first covered bond market, in Morocco, is only at a preliminary stage and requires further clarification before it’s ready for investors, says a report by  Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. Titled « Morocco Looks To Covered Bonds To Support Housing Finance, » the report points out that under the proposed covered bond legislation, universal banks will be allowed to issue  on-balance-sheet mortgage covered bonds called Obligations Sécurisées Hypothécaires (OSHs) and public sector covered bonds referred to as Obligations Sécurisées Territoriales (OSTs).

Formerly mono-crop dependent, Mauritius is today a diversified economy thanks in large part to inward foreign direct investment (IFDI). Before the 1990s, annual IFDI flows were not significant, amounting to an average of US$ 10 million in 1980-1989. It was only in the mid-1980s that IFDI flows began to increase rapidly. With the implementation of the Export Processing Zone Act, many investors from Asia established textile factories in Mauritius to benefit from preferential access to the European market.

 Euroclear and The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a joint collateral processing service which will significantly increase efficiency, reduce risk and support the growing collateral needs of industry participants.   Initially, the joint services will offer automatic transfer and segregation of collateral based on agreed margin calls relating to over-the-counter derivatives and other collateralised contracts.

The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission and Head of the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA),  former President Pierre Buyoya, has reiterated the support of the AU and ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, to the on-going political transition in Mali. President Buyoya was speaking in Bamako, on 09 May 2013, during visits to Mali’s General Delegation for Elections (DGE) and Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI). 

 “Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance”, is the  theme that will be at the center of discussions during the 21st Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU),  scheduled to take place from 19 to 27 May 2013 at the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Summit will officially kick off on Sunday 19 May 2013, with the 26th Ordinary Session of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC).  The PRC will discuss items on the agenda in preparation of the upcoming AU Summit, to be submitted to the Executive Council for adoption.

Oragroup, the Togo-based, regional commercial banking holding company with operations spanning six countries in West and Central Africa, today announced that it has closed a first tranche of equity fundraising at US$18 million from investors including Development Finance Institutions BIO and PROPARCO. This investment marks a new milestone in an ongoing focus on fundraising and growth expansion at Oragroup, led by pan-African private equity firm, Emerging Capital Partners(ECP).

CGF Bourse  reiterate it’s  BUY rating on Sonatel, and have revised it’s target price up to XOF 18,500, mainly due to its demonstrated ability to defend and grow its market share in key geographies such as Senegal and Guinea, besides implementing strong cost control  initiatives that have expanded margins.

Africa investor (Ai), a leading international investment and communications group, today announces that Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, will deliver the keynote opening address at the Africa investor (Ai) CEO Infrastructure Investment Summit and Awards.

Fidelity Bank issued a 5-y USD300m Eurobond with a coupon of 6.875%. The issue price was 99.48 and the spread 635 bps over UST (7% yield).      In our view, fair value was probably initially between 6.5% and 6.75%, slightly below the actual yield at issuance. That said, we expected the bond to trade at a premium to Access Bank 17s (475 bps over UST) and GTB 16s (421 bps) which is consistent with the fundamentals of these respective institutions. 

“This should be a wake-up call to the global community not to dismiss these countries as lost causes. These signs of progress do signal that development can and is being achieved, even amid fragility and violence. But the challenges ahead for many countries are extremely tough. While these successes offer hope, the reality is that far too many fragile and conflict-affected countries lag behind the rest of the world. We need to offer timely and critical support to improve the lives of people living in these fragile countries.” World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, May 1, 2013.

After a peaceful election and a rebound in growth, investor confidence in Kenya looks likely to rise. What’s more, barring political shocks and droughts, the Kenyan economy should grow robustly, in Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services view. However, political risks loom.

The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU), at its 372nd meeting held on 26th April 2013, was briefed by the Department of Political Affairs of the African Union Commission on its activities relating to past and upcoming elections in 2013 on the continent. Council also followed statements that were made by Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Didier Acouetey is the President and Founder since 1996 of the AfricSearch Group, first human resources consulting firm based in France, specializing in Africa, with branches in Abidjan, Dakar, Douala, Johannesburg, Lome and others African capitals.

The National Union of Mineworkers, an ally of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress, said it will ask for a double-digit increase in pay when negotiating with the Chamber of Mines in May. The demand will apply across the mining industry, NUM’s Secretary-General Frans Baleni said by mobile phone today. “We will try to conclude the negotiations before July 1,” he said.

Alcatel-Lucent has signed two contracts for marine maintenance services over the West Africa Cable System (WACS) and Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable system.

Vodacom, South Africa’s largest wireless carrier, rose the most in almost three years as the company said its full-year earnings per share increased as much as 25 percent. The shares advanced 5.7 percent, the most on an intraday basis since May 2010, and were 5.2 percent higher at 110.36 rand by 11:46 a.m. in Johannesburg. Earnings per share excluding one- time items were up 20 percent to 25 percent in the 12 months through March, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement today. That implies an outcome of as much as 8.86 rand, ahead of the 8.40 rand median estimate of 16 analysts surveyed…