BUSINESS - The African Mirror

Aug

18

2020

EXCLUSIVE-Nigeria’s $1.5 bln World Bank loan delayed over reforms -sources

BUSINESS

CHIJIOKE OHUOCHA and LIBBY GEORGE THE World Bank is unlikely to approve a much-needed $1.5 billion for Nigeria in August as planned due to concerns over desired reforms, three sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. A delay in financing from multilateral lenders could leave Africa's biggest economy and top oil producer, battered by low crude prices, unable to fully finance a record 10.8 trillion naira ($28.35 billion) budget. The central bank has said Nigeria's balance of payments gap this year will be $14 billion. The World Bank, which has said Nigeria could be heading toward its greatest fiscal crisis…

Aug

15

2020

By The African Mirror

Libya sovereign fund to ask UN for freedom to invest billions

BUSINESS

TOM ARNOLD LIBYA's sovereign wealth fund head plans to ask the United Nations to allow it to invest billions of dollars sitting idle in its accounts, after missing out on some $4.1 billion in potential equity returns during nearly a decade of sanctions. The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) was blacklisted in March 2011 because it was then controlled by the family of toppled ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Its assets were valued at $67 billion in 2012, but LIA plans to update that in October after a review by its financial adviser Deloitte. Sanctions have had a heavy toll on the LIA,…

Aug

30

2020

By The African Mirror

Angola to join oil and extractives transparency group

BUSINESS

Angola plans to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an international effort to fight corruption in revenues from oil, gas and mineral extraction. Tete Antonio, Angola's minister of foreign affairs, announced the move on Twitter late on Friday and said Angola "has clearly demonstrated its commitment to promote the open and accountable management of its natural resources for the benefit of its people." EITI, formed in 2003, has more than 50 implementing countries. Angola's President Joao Lourenco has embarked on an anti-corruption drive since taking power from Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who stepped down in 2017 after a near…

Aug

28

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigeria might fall into recession as virus takes toll, budget office says

BUSINESS

FELIX ONUAH NIGERIA might fall into recession in the third quarter, the head of the country's budget office said on Thursday, citing the impact of low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic on Africa's largest economy. The continent's top oil producer faces its worst economic crisis in four decades in the wake of an oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia at the start of the year, and the pandemic, which hurt demand for its main export commodity which provides 90% of foreign exchange earnings. Ben Akabueze, director-general of the budget office, told reporters it was expected that growth…

Aug

27

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast president sees growth slowing to 1.8% in 2020

BUSINESS

IVORY Coast's economic growth is expected to slow to 1.8% in 2020 from a projected 7.2% due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to President Alassane Ouattara. Several sectors of the Ivorian economy including agriculture, construction, transport and tourism have been hit by the outbreak that has slowed gross domestic product (GDP) in the world's top cocoa producer, Ouattara said. Ivory Coast's GDP growth had averaged around 8% between 2012 and 2019, Ouattara said during a speech at the annual general meeting of the African Development Bank. - Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Aug

27

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigeria cocoa output to fall in 2020/21 on virus, dry weather -cocoa association

BUSINESS

CHIJIOKE OHUOCHA NIGERIAN cocoa output is likely to drop by at least 20% this season as measures aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus and drier weather increase the chances of a poor harvest, the president of the cocoa association said. Mufutau Abolarinwa told Reuters that output for the last 2019/20 season declined to an estimate of 250,000 tonnes, lower than the International Cocoa Organization's forecast of 260,000 tonnes. The association previously estimated last season's output at 305,000 tonnes. Nigeria, the world's fifth biggest cocoa grower, has been hurt by lockdown measures initiated to slow the spread of…

Aug

24

2020

By The African Mirror

Plaintiffs in Sierra Leone diamond mine lawsuit request freeze of Steinmetz subsidiary’s assets

BUSINESS

COOPER INVEEN and HELEN REID SIERRA Leoneans seeking damages for alleged environmental degradation around a diamond mine have applied for a freezing order on the assets of Octea, a subsidiary of Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz's BSG Resources (BSGR). In an affidavit to the high court of Sierra Leone, seen by Reuters, the lawyer for the plaintiffs said there was a "clear and present risk" the defendants could expatriate funds in order to avoid having to pay out if the court rules against them. Sierra Leone's High Court discussed the application for a freezing order on Tuesday and will continue on…

Aug

23

2020

By The African Mirror

Kenya-US free trade talks are under way: what Nairobi must get right from start

BUSINESS

ELIJAH N. MUNYI, Assistant Professor of International Political Economy, United States International University The United States and Kenya formally launched negotiations for a free trade agreement on 8 July 2020. With the US gearing up for presidential elections in a few months, these talks may not draw much global attention. But as a prototype for evaluating the substance of future US-Africa trade relations, a lot rides on Washington using this deal to make a bold statement of its commitment to effective North-South free trade agreements. The US is the third most important destination for Kenyan exports after Uganda and Pakistan,…

Aug

21

2020

By The African Mirror

S.African airports group ACSA gets new funding, shelves projects

BUSINESS

WENDELL ROELF SOUTH Africa's state-controlled airports company ACSA has signed a new 3 billion rand ($174 million) loan with domestic banks and shelved major projects to shore up its finances in the coronavirus crisis, its finance chief said on Thursday. Since March, when South Africa declared a state of disaster to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, major domestic airports such as the continent's busiest, OR Tambo in Johannesburg, have closed, knocking revenue at Airports Company SA (ACSA). "We've got facilities of 3 billion rand confirmed," Chief Financial Officer Siphamandla Mthethwa told Reuters. The deal with Standard Bank, Rand Merchant Bank and…

Sep

01

2020

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s Sun International to cut 3,300 jobs, swings to H1 loss

BUSINESS

SUN International is planning to cut 3,300 jobs in South Africa and Chile as part of a restructuring plan to survive the pandemic, which took the firm into a half-year headline loss of 885 million rands ($53.26 million) on Monday. The hotel and casino industry, which counts on international travellers and the sale of alcohol, has been one of the hardest hit by lockdown restrictions imposed from March 27 to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Properties of the casino and hotel company were forced to close for over three-months in South Africa, while in rest of Africa and Latin…