Fitch says Ecobank's governance issues flag its regulatory risks

The findings of the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)investigation into Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) this month highlight the supervision and corporate governance risks of large pan-African groups, Fitch Ratings says. Insufficient cross-border supervision  and lower regulatory standards in some frontier markets are constraints on the ratings of pan-African banking groups.The ratings of many African banks already...

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Nigerian company sues Samsung, Total over Egina deepwater oil project

An indigenous Nigerian engineering firm has taken South Korea's Samsung and Total's Nigerian producing unit to court, challenging its exclusion from awards of local content components for the Egina deepwater oil field in the West African country, court papers showed Thursday.Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics says that the awarding of contracts for the construction and installation of floating, production, storage and offloading vessel...

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Markets give central bankers lessons in humility - Reuters Breakingviews

Outgoing Fed chairman Markets are teaching central bankers some hard lessons. The monetary authorities in developed economies are learning how hard it is to switch direction. And emerging markets are showing that no policy rate is right when the economy is wrong. The monetary authorities are not directly responsible for all the current market ructions - from a 6 percent decline in the Japanese stock market in a week to a 6 percent fall...

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South Africa joins emerging market peers and raises rates

South Africa's central bank raised interest rates on Wednesday, keeping in step with attempts by Turkey and other emerging market economies to shore up their currencies, but risking the ire of the ruling ANC shortly before an election.    "Exchange rate pressures are expected to intensify as markets adjust to the new pattern of global capital flows," South African Reserve Bank (SARB) governor Gill Marcus told a news conference. South...

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-Nigerian oil exports rise to 1.88 million bpd in March

Nigeria will export around 1.88 million barrels per day (bpd)of crude oil in March, up from 1.72 million bpd in February, shipping lists seen by Reuters indicated on Wednesday.     The final total export level may be slightly higher as some smaller grades had yet to emerge.     Exports have slowly recovered in recent months as problems of oil theft at the Trans Niger Pipeline feeding the Bonny Light grade of crude oil seem to have abated a little.     Bonny Light exports were at 155,000 bpd for March compared to 141,000...

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S.Africa communications regulator slashes mobile call costs

An MTN Kiosk in Nigeria  South Africa's telecoms regulator has halved the fees mobile phone companies can charge rivals to use their networks, part of a plan to reduce call costs in Africa's largest economy and enhance competition. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) said on Wednesday charges would be cut to 20 South African cents per minute per call from 40 cents from March 1, before being further lowered to...

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US Fed tapering is flushing out hot money to Nigeria - c.bank

Sanusi, CBN Gov The withdrawal of U.S. stimulus has removed some potentially destabilising "hot money" flows to Nigeria, but monetary policy needs to stay tight to keep the naira stable, a deputy governor of the central bank said. While the Nigerian currency has fallen below its 150-160 per dollar trading band, it has remained relatively stable in the recent emerging market sell-off, Kingsley Moghalu told Reuters in an interview in London on Tuesday."Fed...

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Nigeria court rules Chevron cannot sell assets pending dispute - lawyer

A Nigerian court upheld an order on Monday barring Chevron from selling its onshore assets until a legal dispute with local firm Brittania-U is resolved, Brittania-U's lawyers said outside the court. Brittania-U alleges it had a deal with the U.S. oil major to buy the assets, which Chevron denies. "The court upheld the interim order in favour of Brittania to protect the assets while the substantive case is still being determined," lawyer Rickey Tarfa said. "The judge said that the order needs to be in place until the case is decided. The order...

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Nigeria's central bank lifts dollar sales limit for bureau de change

Nigeria's central bank has lifted the restriction on the amount of dollars banks can sell to bureau de change in its bid to shore support for the local currency and narrow the gap between official foreign exchange rate and the parallel market. Sanusi, CBN Gov In a notice to banks dated Jan. 24, but released on Monday, the central bank said, bureau de change operators could now buy as much dollars from banks as long as they comply with its other...

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Nigeria seeks to overturn South Africa's economic leadership

Nigeria's Jonathan South Africa could soon lose its status as Africa's biggest economy to Nigeria, but in the race to be the continental powerhouse being biggest may not be everything.Nigeria, Africa's No. 1 oil producer, will complete a rebasing of its gross domestic product (GDP) by next month, its statistics office says, which economists estimate could expand the size of its economy by between 20 and 60 percent.This exercise, which has missed...

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