Kenya Airways says tourism slump may have bottomed out

Annual pretax loss widens to 29.71 bln shillings Airline picks Afrexim Bank to arrange financing Shares fall 16 pct Kenya Airways sunk deeper into the red in the year through March, sending its shares plummeting on Thursday, but CEO Mbuvi Ngunze said the tourism slump that sparked the losses may have bottomed out. The airline, part-owned by AirFrance-KLM has faced rising debts due to new plane purchases and has been in the red for the past three years as Kenya's tourism industry was hammered by Islamist militant attacks in the country. The carrier,...

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Shell cuts 6,500 jobs, slash capital spending on oil price

Royal Dutch Shell is cutting 6,500 jobs in Nigeria and at the rest of its global operations and will reduce capital spending by 20 per cent this year, as the oil company takes dramatic action in response to the plunge in oil prices.The Anglo-Dutch group announced on Thursday its investment this year would decline $7bn from last year’s levels to about $30bn, a bigger drop than forecast just three months ago, as it axed and postponed new projects.It expected to make further reductions to operating costs in 2016 after a 10 per cent fall this year.The...

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Nigeria's Port Harcourt refinery restarts, product pipeline fixed

Nigeria's Port Harcourt refinery has started ramping up production following maintenance, state oil company Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said, a key development to help the cash-strapped country reduce costly fuel imports.NNPC also said it had repaired a pipeline carrying gasoline to Lagos that it was forced to shut after an explosion last week near the town of Arepo in southwestern Ogun state.Nigeria has a refining capacity of 445,000 barrels per day from three refining companies. An 18-month phased rehabilitation began in...

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Nigeria's securities regulator to crack down on errant traders

The new head of Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has vowed to enforce tough new measures on those who flout capital markets rules in a bid to attract investors.Weak regulation and impunity by offenders in the past has hampered growth with some operators witholding funds belonging to investors after transactions due to uneccessary delay in remitting their funds, leading to loss of confidence.The commission last month suspended BGL Group, a stock broking firm after it was found guilty of witholding investors funds worth 5.8 billion...

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S.Africa's Eskom says may import power from Mozambique

South African power utility Eskom could import some electricity from Mozambique to fill a supply gap in Africa's most advanced economy, a coal conference heard on Tuesday. Willem Theron, business development manager of Eskom's southern Africa transmission group, said the state-run utility planned an extra 6,250 megawatts (MW) of power could be added to two new coal-fired plants, Medupi and Kusile. "It is assumed that some of the power can be through imports," Theron told the conference in the Mozambique capital Maputo. Theron said one possibility...

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Nigeria's "bad bank" AMCON to publish list of loan defaulters

Nigeria's "bad bank" AMCON on Monday asked loan defaulters to immediately square their accounts or it would publish their names in line with a directive by the central bank.     The central bank in April directed lenders to give bad debtors three months to square their accounts, otherwise they would be named in the media and barred from taking part in Nigerian currency and government debt markets.     Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) warned bad debtors on Monday that if loans remained unpaid, it will take steps...

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Nigeria gross govt revenues rise for 2nd month in June, offshore debt rises

Nigeria's gross government revenues rose for the second consecutive month in June to 485.95 billion naira ($2.44 billion), up 33 percent from May, the finance ministry said.The total for distribution to the three tiers of government was 518.542 billion naira including a 6.33 billion refund by the state oil company, value-added tax of 64.99 billion naira and an exchange rate gain of 6.69 billion naira. In May, Nigeria received 324.06 billion naira in revenues and distributed 409.35 billion naira between the federal, state and local governments....

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Nigeria tech enclave springs up in Lagos suburb

At first glance, Yaba is like many other parts of Nigeria's sprawling commercial capital: a cacophony of car horns and shouting street vendors, mingling with exhaust fumes and the occasional stench of sewage. But in between the run-down buildings in this seemingly inauspicious part of Lagos, a city of around 21 million, tech start-ups are taking root and creating a buzz that is drawing international venture capitalists and more established digital firms. "They're all clustering in Yaba. The momentum is there," said Sim Shagaya, CEO of Konga, which...

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With milk and roses, Africa woos private equity funds

Private equity deals in 2014 second-highest on recordInvestors focus on rising middle-class consumers Money flows spreading beyond South Africa For a graphic: From milk churning in Zimbabwe to rose growing in Ethiopia, private equity investments in Africa have returned to pre-crisis levels and should keep rising as funds seek bumper returns in far-flung markets. Private equity deals in Africa totalled $8.1 billion last year, the second highest on record after the $8.3 billion posted in 2007, according to the African Private Equity and Venture...

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Nigerian central bank keeps benchmark rate at 13 pct

Nigeria's central bank kept its benchmark interest rate on hold at 13 percent on Friday, saying concerns about rising inflation and expected normalisation of U.S. interest rates meant monetary policy in Africa's biggest economy had to remain tight.     Governor Godwin Emefiele said the bank's monetary policy committee voted 8-4 in favour of keeping the rate at its current level, one of the world's highest benchmark borrowing rates. Its last move was in November.     The decision had been predicted by most of the 20 analysts...

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Nigerian interbank rates rise on cash shortage

Nigeria's interbank lending rates rose on Friday to an average of 12 percent from 9.25 percent last week after a series of cash outflows from the banking system drained liquidity.Traders said interbank rates hit 30 percent in early trade following cash withdrawal by state-owned energy company NNPC and central bank's cash reserves requirements (CRR) debit as well as large open market operations bill sales by the regulator."(The) market rate went as high as 30 percent today on cash shortage, before some banks were credited with CRR surplus, bringing...

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Nigerian bond yields eye rates call

Nigeria's debt market could take its cue from the central bank's rate decision due later on Friday. Bond yields fell across some of the heavily traded maturities this week due to strong buying pressure from investors covering their positions after the Debt Management Office sold fewer than expected bonds last week. Nigeria sold bonds worth 44 billion naira ($221 million) at auction last week, short of the target of 70 billion naira initially set by the debt office. "The market has been bullish because some investors were covering their over-sold...

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IFC Invests in Africell to Expand Telecommunications in Africa

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, on Friday said it will invest $35 million in telecom operator, Africell, to support the expansion and upgrade of mobile networks in Gambia, the DRC, Sierra Leone and Uganda.Africell is an emerging telecommunications operator, with a customer base in some of Africa’s most challenging markets. Since its launch in 2001, Africell has become the leading mobile network provider in Gambia and in Sierra Leone, and is expanding rapidly in the Democratic Republic...

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Nigeria's forex reserves rise 5.6 pct month-on-month by July 22

Nigeria's foreign exchange reserves rose $30.69 billion by July 22, up 5.6 percent from $29.03 billion a month earlier, latest data from the central bank.However, the forex reserves of Africa's top crude exporter were down20.9 percent from $38.8 billion a year ago.The growth in reserves for the month was attributed to efforts of the present government to plug leakage and demand management by the central bank.The central bank restricted access to foreign exchange by last month and introduced tight control of the foreign exchange market to curb speculation...

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Oil tanker industry calls for immediate end to Nigeria ship ban

A ban on 113 oil tankers by Nigerian state oil company NNPC must be lifted immediately as no grounds have been given for the measure, the global oil tanker industry association said in a letter of protest. NNPC issued a letter on July 15, citing a directive from President Muhammadu Buhari, which said the vessels, mainly VLCC crude oil tankers, were banned from calling at Nigerian crude oil terminals and also from Nigerian waters with immediate effect. Industry association INTERTANKO, whose independent members own the majority of the world's tanker...

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Algeria cuts spending, sees energy revenues falling 50 pct this year

Algeria will trim spending in its 2015 budget by 1.35 percent, expecting a slump in oil prices to reduce its energy earnings 50 percent, the government said on Thursday.Oil and gas account for 95 percent of Algeria's exports and energy revenues make up 60 percent of the budget.The government expects economic growth outside oil and gas to reach 5.1 percent, unchanged from an initial forecast early this year, the cabinet said in a statement.Inflation is expected to be 4 percent in 2015, up from the 3 percent initially expected, it said. The budget...

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Nigeria cbank tweaks FX peg again, naira falls in black market

Nigeria's central bank adjusted its exchange rate peg on Thursday to 197 naira against the dollar from the 196.95 it set last week, data on the bank's website showed.The adjustment is the fifth since the bank introduced a tight controls on the foreign exchange market in February. The bank said at the time it would sell dollars only at 198 naira to customers through the interbank based on direct orders by banks.The local currency traded at 199.50 to the dollar on the interbank market at 1047 GMT, compared with the 197 per dollar rate it closed at...

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Nigerian naira steady ahead of rate-setting meeting

Nigeria's naira was stable on Tuesday as the central bank deployed a new measure to curb speculation on the currency.Traders also said expectations that the central bank could make pronouncements on the forex exchange market at its monetary policy committee meeting on Friday were supporting the naira. "Demand for the dollar slowed down a bit today and the naira recovered due to speculations the central bank could intervene in the market this week ahead of its monetary policy meeting," one dealer said. The currency closed at 197 to the dollar on...

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Bharti Airtel says no plan to exit Africa, despite Orange talks

Bharti Airtel Ltd, the biggest Indian cellphone carrier, has no plans to exit Africa, it said on Tuesday, despite announcing exclusive talks with France's Orange to sell four of its units there.Orange said on Monday it was in discussions to buy Bharti subsidiaries in Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville and Sierra Leone, triggering market speculation that this might be a first step towards a complete Bharti exit.But the Indian group said on Tuesday that the operations put on the block represented a relatively small percentage of its overall Africa...

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Nigeria interest rates on hold for now, to rise in September

Nigeria's central bank to hold rates on Friday CBN to hike to 13.25 pct in September, 13.75 pct in November Poll data:  The Central Bank of Nigeria will leave interest rates on hold this week and instead wait until September to raise them, putting the timing of its next policy move in line with the United States Federal Reserve, a Reuters poll showed on Tuesday. A majority of the 20 analysts polled in the last week said Nigeria's central bank will hold rates on Friday at 13 percent, where they have been since November, and one of the...

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Ghana wants to issue bigger $1.5 bln Eurobond - minister

Ghana wants to issue a Eurobond of up to $1.5 billion - higher than an originally planned $1 billion - by September for debt financing and budget support, deputy finance minister Cassiel Ato Forson said on Tuesday.The minister did not go into the reasons for the increase, but it had been approved by the International Monetary Fund, a senior government official told Reuters, requesting not to be named. Ghana's finance minister Seth Terkper was presenting a reviewed 2015 budget including the larger Eurobond to parliament on Tuesday. The government...

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So your friend wants to borrow money? here’s what to do

You love your friends and family, and you’d do absolutely anything to help them. Then one day, your friend is late on rent and asks to borrow N50,000 from you. He promises to pay you back when he gets his next paycheck, but you’re not so sure. You’re worried that loaning out money could put a strain on your relationship — but you really want to help your friend in his time of need. What should you do? Just say no As someone who’s been burned by loaning money to loved ones, I highly caution you against it. You see: When you lend money, your...

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Nigerian interbank rates ease on matured treasury bills

Nigeria's interbank lending rates eased to 9.25 percent on average on Thursday, better than the 10 percent where it closed last Friday after the central bank repaid matured treasury bills to investors, traders said. Traders said the central bank injected about 124 billion naira ($623.27 million) in matured open market operation notes into the banking system on Thursday, boosting liquidity in the market and helping to push down borrowing costs among banks. Overnight placement had hit 15 percent on Wednesday after the state-owned energy firm NNPC...

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S.African mobile operator MTN agrees deal to end two-month strike

Agrees guaranteed bonus payments Yet to reach deal on monthly wages South African mobile operator MTN Group and union leaders reached a deal over bonuses on Thursday, ending a two-month strike that disrupted the supply of some new mobile phones in its home market. About 2,000 workers led by the Communications Workers Union (CWU) downed tools in May at Africa's biggest mobile phone operator, demanding an 8 percent pay rise and 16 percent bonus payment. The CWU said it had agreed to an 8 percent bonus payment this year and 12 percent next...

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Cash-strapped Nigeria to keep fuel subsidies for another quarter

Nigeria will stick with costly fuel subsidies for now as new President Muhammadu Buhari says investigating corruption is a bigger priority than scrapping price caps on domestic fuel.Buhari was advised by his transition committee to end the subsidy programme, which critics say is expensive, inefficient and open to abuse from corrupt operators. Some say scrapping it is more pressing than ever, given a cash crunch that has forced the government to bail out state and local entities that could not cover debt payments and salaries. But the country has...

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Nigeria's Seven Energy secures $495 mln to boost gas supply

Oil and gas firm Seven Energy has secured a $495 million loan from a consortium of Nigerian and international lenders to help fund its spending to supply gas to the domestic market, an adviser on the deal said on Wednesday.Seven Energy, an indigenous Nigerian company, plans to buy gas fields along with the related infrastructure and pipelines so it can sell gas into the domestic market for use in power generation and industrial consumption.Demand for gas in Africa's biggest economy is expected to rise to 3 million standard cubic feet (scuf) per...

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Nigeria can't avoid devaluation - S&P

Nigeria will have to devalue its currency at some stage, possibly by more than 15 percent, ratings agency Standard & Poor's said on Wednesday, though it saw the adjustments as likely to be gradual. Investors have seen a devaluation of the naira as long overdue for Africa's largest economy and biggest oil exporter, which has been battered by the recent tumble in crude prices.Following devaluations in November and February, authorities have focused recently on curbing access to hard currency on the official interbank market for importers of...

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Nigeria's Access Bank sees retail banking turning to profit - CEO

Nigeria's Access Bank expects its retail banking business to turn to profit this year, contributing up to 10 percent to profit before tax next year and 20 percent by 2018/19, Chief Executive Herbert Wigwe has said.Wigwe said most of its 350 branches would become profitable this year after it regained market share following the acquisition of rival lender Intercontinental Bank three years ago."Before the end of 2018/19 we would see what would be a 20 percent contribution from retail," Wigwe told Reuters in an interview in Lagos, referring to profit...

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Nigeria's Stanbic IBTC aims to carry out 20.4 bln naira rights issue this year

Nigeria's Stanbic IBTC aims to carry out a 20.4 billion naira ($102.6 million) rights issue this year and seek shareholders' vote to distribute a scrip dividend to boost its capital base, the lender said on Tuesday.Chief Executive Sola David-Borha said she expected increased regulatory pressure to weigh on industry profits this year and that the bank had revised its 2015 loan growth down to 10 percent, the lower end of its guidance range.Loans have grown 4 percent in the first six months of this year.The mid-tier lender said its South African parent...

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Nigeria inflation rises to 2-1/2 year high on food prices

Nigeria's consumer inflation rose by 0.2 percentage points to 9.2 percent in June compared with the same month last year, its highest rate since February 2013 and above the central bank's targeted upper limit.The figure released on Tuesday was in line with that forecast by a Reuters poll of analysts last week.Food inflation edged higher to an annual 10.0 percent in June, up 0.2 percentage points from May, as disruptions to fuel distribution affected food prices."(The) irregularity of the supply of Premium Motor Spirit (gasoline) continues to impact...

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Nigeria's president sacks all four defence chiefs

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari sacked his army, navy, air force and defence chiefs on Monday, a widely anticipated move as the former general has made crushing Islamist militant group Boko Haram his top priority.Replacements would be announced later on Monday, the presidency spokesman said. Since his inauguration in May, Buhari has moved Nigeria's defence command centre to Maiduguri, the birthplace of the jihadi sect, and is setting up the headquarters for a multi-national joint taskforce in Chad's capital N'Djamena. In June, Amnesty International...

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OPEC sees more balanced oil market in 2016

OPEC sees world oil demand growth to increase in 2016 U.S. oil output growth to fall sharply next year "More balanced market" likely in 2016 - OPEC  The global oil market should be more balanced next year as China and the developing world increase oil consumption while supply of shale oil from North America and other regions grows more slowly, OPEC said on Monday. In its monthly report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said it expected world oil demand to increase by 1.34 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2016, up...

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Lafarge applies for licence to supply Nigeria's electricity grid

Lafarge Africa said on Friday it had applied to Nigeria's energy regulator for a licence to generate 260 megawatts of electricity to supply to the country's grid.Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is licensing so-called embedded power companies to try to end electricity shortages, one of the biggest constraints to investment and growth in Africa's largest economy.Embedded power companies are not primarily power generating groups, but generate extra power from their operations and can sell the surplus to the grid or distribution...

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Nigerian bonds seen higher returns at auction

Yields on Nigerian debt are expected to reflect the trend on the secondary market at an auction next week where the government plans to raise 70 billion naira ($352 million) in 5- and 20-year bonds.  "We expect the July 2034 bond to fetch around 15 percent at the auction next week in alignment with what the market is currently doing," one senior trader said.  Nigeria plans to sell 70 billion naira worth of bonds next week, its seventh debt auction this year. Traders said the bond market has been quiet after massive sell-off by some offshore...

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Nigeria's UBA raises $58 mln from rights issue

Nigeria's United Bank for Africa (UBA) said on Friday it had raised 11.5 billion naira ($57.8 million) by selling new stock to existing shareholders to bolster its capital base.The bank said the rights issue was fully subscribed. It issued one new share for every 10 already held at 3.50 naira per share, a discount to Thursday's close of 4.25 naira. Nigerian lenders have been shoring up their balance sheets in preparation for the adoption of stricter international capital requirements, which would otherwise see capital ratios for most of them drop...

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Nigeria naira hits fresh low on black market as govt funds hit currency

Nigeria's naira hit fresh lows against the dollar on the parallel market on Friday, after a government liquidity injection to help cash-strapped states offset a funding crisis hit the currency, traders said.The currency of Africa's biggest economy fell to a new record low of 240 on the parallel market, down 2.1 percent on the day, as persistent dollar shortages continued, two traders said. Aminu Gwadabe, president of Nigeria's Bureau de Change association said he saw an increase in demand on Friday as individuals tried to convert their naira to...

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Nigeria's electricity ambitions "not remotely realistic" - report

Power shortages one of biggest brakes on economy Sector could attract billions a year in investment President Buhari made ambitious election promises Realistic targets key to attract investment - report The Nigerian government's ambitions for improving electricity supplies are "not remotely realistic", a report by experts advising the presidency says, an early blow to one of President Muhammadu Buhari's most important reform promises. Chronic power shortages are one of the biggest constraints on investment and growth in Africa's largest economy....

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Nigeria cbank not focused on naira hitting new lows on black market

Nigeria's central bank said on Thursday it would not be focusing on the thinly-traded parallel market when determining the exchange rate, despite the naira hitting record lows on the unofficial market since last week. The naira fell to a low of 235 to the dollar on the parallel market on Thursday, 1.50 naira down on the day, as dollar shortages persisted, one trader said."There is need to deemphasize the parallel market. How can less that one percent be determinant of the rate? Most of those going that way are those that don't want to be documented,"...

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Nigeria's naira at new low on black market as dollar shortage persists

Nigeria's naira was quoted at a new record low of 235 to the dollar on the black market on Thursday, 1.50 naira down on the day, as dollar shortages persisted, one trader said. Aminu Gwadabe, president of Nigeria's Bureau de Change association told Reuters that people were holding dollars to protect themselves against further naira weakness. The naira ended at 196.95 on the official interbank market on Wednesd...

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Nigeria govt to pay $800 mln subsidy debt on oil products-trade body

 The Nigerian government has agreed to pay outstanding subsidy-related debt to oil product importers, a trade body spokesman said on Wednesday. "They agreed to pay the remaining balance last week. Nothing has come yet but maybe this or next week. It's 159 billion naira" ($800 million), Yakubu Suleiman, spokesman for the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, said. He said he was present at a meeting last Thursday with the permanent secretaries of finance, oil and the state agency regulating the costly subsidy scheme for gasoline...

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Nigerian stocks fall to 3-month low as naira weakness persists

Nigerian stocks fell to a three-month low and the naira hit a new record low on the parallel market on Wednesday, as investors who were worried about a shortage of dollars on the currency market sold shares, traders said.     Nigeria's stock market, which has the second-biggest weighting after Kuwait on the MSCI frontier market index, dropped for the sixth consecutive day as investors pulled out of equities to short-dated Treasury bills in search of yield.     Investors had hoped for a sustained rally after smooth elections...

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America is the best place in the world to be a female entrepreneur

The United States (US) is the best place to be a female entrepreneur, closely followed by Canada, Australia, Sweden and the UK, according to new research .The report, compiled by ACG Inc and sponsored by Dell, looks at a series of factors in order to determine which countries provide the best environment for women running their own businesses. As well as analysing the overall business environment within the country, the report looks at several gender-focused factors. These include the level of access to education, banking, training and the internet,...

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Entrepreneur eyes cafes in West to profit from African coffee

Good African plans cafes in Washington, London African firms struggle to create global brands Adding value to products is a challenge across Africa  Andrew Rugasira has worked for more than a decade to sell coffee in a way that will be more profitable to Africans, starting with a firm packaging roasted beans in Uganda and now working on plans to open cafes abroad. The Ugandan entrepreneur's goal resonates across a continent that has long sold commodities that are processed and consumed in industrialised nations, such as cocoa for chocolate...

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