Slowly shrinking borrowing costs for the federal government - United Capital

In its last monthly auction of FGN bonds, the Debt Management Office (DMO) raised a total of 243.8 billion – almost double of the 135.0 billion it offered, with a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.9x.  Demand was driven by over-subscription of the 2027 and 2037 tenors (2.6x and 4.3x respectively) given that the coupon rates on those offerings printed above market rates of sub 16 percent. Additionally, stop rates were roughly c.100 bps lower across the...

Read More

Nigeria plans to raise $2.5 bln in Eurobond in November

All things being equal, Nigeria plans to knock on the doors of foreign investors before the end of the year to borrow additional $2.5 billion in Eurobond, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO) director general, Patience Oniha on Thursday. This was part of moves to help the Africa's biggest economy plug the gap in its budget proposal which it currently finding it difficult to provide cash-backing for some of its projects. The West African...

Read More

Nigeria's Fidelity Bank offers to buy-back $300 mln debt

Nigeria’s Fidelity Bank Plc has offered to buy back $300 million of debt and intends to issue new notes, aiming to extend the maturity of its debt profile, it said on Thursday.The $300 million of debt, with an interest rate of 6.875 percent, is due to mature 9 May 2018, Fidelity said in a statement. It will offer $1,010 per $1,000 of notes held.The offer “is being made in connection with a concurrent offering of new unsecured and unsubordinated notes,”...

Read More

Ecobank appoints transaction advisers for $400 mln convertible bond issuance

The Pan-African banking group, Ecobank Transnational Incorporation (ETI) has appointed transactions advisers to help midwife its proposed issuance of $400 million convertible bonds, the bank said on Thursday.In a letter to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Thursday, the bank said to the process leading to the bond issuance is expected to be completed by the end of this year."Subject to the necessary legal and regulatory authorisation, the convertible...

Read More

Nigeria's Agricultural sector: relevant and resilient - United capital

Over the past 35 years, the Nigerian economy expanded by more than 3x. The agricultural sector has contributed the most (about 27 percent) to this expansion relative to Oil & Gas (1.4 percent) Financials (3.3 percent), Manufacturing (9.0 percent) and Trade (18.8 percent). Interestingly, the last time the sector contributed negatively to GDP was way back in 1987.In 2016, Nigeria fell into a recession that lasted for five quarters. By the end of...

Read More

Ghana GDP growth rises to 9.0 pct in Q2 as oil output increases

Ghana’s gross domestic product growth rose to 9.0 percent in the second quarter of 2017 from 6.6 percent in the previous three months, mainly because oil output increased, the statistics office said on Wednesday.For years, Ghana’s economy grew around 8 percent per year, but it slowed in 2014 as the prices of its commodity exports fell and it suffered a fiscal crisis that forced it to secure an aid deal with the International Monetary Fund.“The driver...

Read More

Nigeria sets up special body to monitor corruption cases

In a bid to fast-track prosecution of high profile corruption cases in Africa's top economy, its National Judicial Council (NJC) has established a Corruption and Financial Crimes Cases Trial Monitoring Committee (COTRIMCO) to monitor judges and courts handling corruption and financial crimes cases.The NJC, headed by the country's chief Justice, Walter Onnoghen has appointed top lawyers and a retired head of Court of Appeal as members of the monitoring...

Read More

Kenya projects deficits at 5.6 pct of GDP in 2018/19 fiscal year

Kenya will target a fiscal deficit of 592.8 billion shillings, or 5.9 percent of GDP, in its 2018/19 (July-June) fiscal year, down from an estimated 7.3 percent this fiscal year, the Treasury said. The East African nation has raised borrowing in recent years to fund a range of ambitious infrastructure projects like a modern rail line, roads and power plants. The deficit will be covered by net external borrowing of 205.6 billion shillings, or 2.1...

Read More

More buyers are asking for Nigeria crude oil- NNPC

Demand for Nigeria crude oil has continued to outpace its current output, The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has said, providing a shearing news for the country's economic managers. Nigeria, OPEC member country currently produces 1.75 mbpd crude including condensate, though short from the 2.2 mbpd target for the year.  “As we speak now, even the demand for Nigeria’s crude oil is over-subscribed. We have more buyers demanding for our...

Read More

SEC gets 2-week ultimatum to release probe report on Oando

The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been given two weeks ultimatum by the House of Representatives committee on capital market to release the results of its investigation into the affairs of Oando Plc. The SEC said in July it was investigating Oando’s shareholding structure following its $1.65 billion acquisition of ConocoPhillips’s Nigerian business in 2014.A company source said earlier this month the investigation centred...

Read More

Nigeria almost doubles bond size as funds grab high returns

Nigeria raised 243.7 billion naira at a bond auction on Wednesday, almost double the amount it had initially sought, as local funds and foreign investors piled into longer-term debt to lock in higher returns, traders said.Nigeria’s borrowing costs have fallen from as high as 18 percent a few months ago as inflation has slowed, helping the government raise money to cover a gap in its budget.The Debt Management Office (DMO) had offered 135 billion...

Read More

Lafarge Africa plans 131.65 bln naira rights issue

Lafarge Africa said on Wednesday it plans to raise 131.65 billion naira through a rights issue to existing shareholders.The cement firm in a letter to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), said that each shareholder is entitled to buy five shares to nine already held in the company at 42.50 naira per share.Lafarge Africa said it was yet to obtain regulatory approval for the rights issue while the process to do that is one and date for the opening of...

Read More

Nigerian stock rise 0.44 pct, driven by gains in Dangote, Zenith, Nestle shares

Nigeria stock closed marginally higher on Wednesday with the index rising 0.44 percent, driven by gains in the shares of Dangote Cement, Nestle and Zenith Bank. The main market index rose to close at 35,104 points compared with 1.15 percent decline the previous day. The local bourse has gained 30.62 percent year-to-date on the back of improved dollar supply and increase economic activities boosting the performance of listed companies. Dangote Cement,...

Read More

Nigerian lawmaker wants central bank to cut interest rate, reduce borrowing

A Nigerian senator has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to lower interest rate and reduce borrowing from the domestic market in a bid to boost growth in the West African country. In a motion raised on the floor of the Senate chamber at the resumption of plenary, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi said there was an urgent need to encourage private investment in the economy and ensure sustainable growth. Abdullahi said the exit from recession...

Read More

Lafarge Africa to merge operations with two subsidiaries; Unicem, Atlas Cement

Lafarge Africa has indicated plans to merge its operations with that of its two subsidiaries; United Cement Company of Nigeria (UniCem) and Atlas Cement Company, the cement firm said in a letter to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday. According to the cement firm, maybe merger will enable the enlarged Lafarge Africa to take advantage of benefits arising from various synergies as well as benefits from efficiencies arising from streamlining...

Read More

Our observations from the Sept MPC - United Capital

At the end of its September policy meeting, the (Nigerian) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) left key monetary policy rates unchanged in line with consensus expectations.  Key consideration highlighted included the fragility of the recovery in the local economy, unrelenting pressure on price level and sustained uncertainties in the global economy, especially the recent US-Fed announcement to scale down on asset purchases as well as hike rates...

Read More

Investors lap up Nigeria's debut Sukuk bond, invest 105.8 bln naira

Oniha, DG DMO Investors bought 105.88 billion naira worth in Nigeria debut Sukuk bond, indicating an oversubscription of about 5.88 billion naira against the initial offer by the debt Managment Office (DMO), the result of the auction released by the debt office has shown.Nigeria had closed bids for its debut Islamic bond, Sukuk on Friday, where it initially offered 100 billion naira for sales to investors.However, investors, which included pension...

Read More

Nigeria govt seeks Senate support to borrow to fund pension, salary arrears

Vice-President Osinbajo The federal government of Nigeria has written to the National Assembly to amend this year's budget to enable it settle 2.7 trillion naira worth of obligations on pension and salary arrears to its workforce. In a letter signed by the vice president Yemi Osinbajo and was read on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, the government was seeking a a virement on the 2017 budget to enable it fund recurrent expenditure...

Read More

Nigeria injects 336 bln naira into economy for capital projects in Q1 -finmin

Nigeria's finance minister has confirmed the release of 336 billion naira capital vote for government agencies and ministries in the first quarter of the year in a bid to stimulate the economy. In a statement on Tuesday, Kemi Adeosun said the balance of about 14 billion from the first quarter allocation is being processed. Nigeria approved 7.44 trillion naira budget proposal for the with a capital vote of 2.36 trillion naira. The budget was signed...

Read More

Nigeria central bank retains interest rate at 14 pct

In line with general expectations, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday retained its benchmark interest rate at 14 percent, the governor of the bank said at the end of MPC meeting. Godwin Emefiele told newsmen in Abuja, the majority of members of the rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to hold the rate at the same level it has been since last two years to further consolidate the gains of the past decision on the economy. “Loosening...

Read More

Ghana central bank ends run of rate cuts, holds at 21 pct

Ghana’s central bank ended a run of rate cuts by keeping its benchmark unchanged at 21 percent on Monday, citing global economic uncertainties and threats to consumer price stability.The hold - not expected by analysts - should moderate price conditions toward the bank’s medium term inflation target of 8 percent plus or minus 2 percent in 2018, governor Ernest Addison told a news conference in Accra.  Consumer inflation rose to 12.3 percent...

Read More

Husband, 30, kills wife, commits suicide shortly after Face Book post

A husband and wife in their 30s were found dead in the early hours of this morning at separate homes in an apparent murder-suicide.The body of James Barnes, 30, was found at his parents' home in Streetly in the West Midlands just after midnight - before his wife Amy was discovered 40 minutes later.The 32-year-old woman's body was found some 15 miles away in the Rednal area of Birmingham at the home of the couple, who got married just three years...

Read More

British Airways suspend staff over racist rants against Nigerian passengers

The British Airways stewardess behind a racist Snapchat rant against Nigerian passengers demanding 'f***ing upgrades' is an aspiring actress who hunted for male company on the Plenty of Fish dating website, MailOnline can reveal. Joanne Wickenden, being investigated by the airline, described herself as a 'Princess' who likes a laugh as she boasted about her job as a flight attendant on the site. The 23-year-old, a member of mixed fleet cabin crew,...

Read More

Dealers now re-brand stolen smartphones as London used for sale - Police

For those who love to patronise the "fairly used' phone market, there is a need for caution as some dealers have perfected the acts of rebranding stolen smartphones and pass them on to unsuspecting buyers as London "fairly used phones. The Police in Lagos last week arrested a man, James Adebayo, on the allegation that he specialises in receiving stolen phones from armed robbers and pick-pockets criminals and resell as fairly used phones...

Read More

Court strikes out Alison-Madueke’s name from $1.6bn fraud trial

Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court Wednesday struck out the name of the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, in the ongoing trial of the Chairman of Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept (AEDC) Nigeria Limited, Mr. Jide Omokore, and five others standing trial over their alleged involvement in a $1.6 billion crude oil fraud. The trial judge struck out her name while delivering a ruling...

Read More

Woman who gives birth to baby number 20, says 'thrilled to announce their precious new addition'

Britain's biggest family has grown again after Sue Radford gave birth to her twentieth baby - but promised this is her last child.Mrs Radford, 42, has welcomed her 11th son Archie on Monday after an hour's labour but her husband Noel, 46, revealed he still won't get a vasectomy.The grandmother said she is happy to stop on a 'nice even number' after she held her 8lb 6oz son in her arms at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.She wrote online: 'We are so...

Read More

Nigeria raises 216 bln naira in Treasury bill, more than offer at auction

The central bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised 215.88 billion naira at a treasury bill auction on Wednesday, 75 billion naira more than it has initially offered due to huge subscription from invesstors, the bank said on Wednesday.The bank said subscription from investors total 559 billion naira, almost four times the amount the bank initially planned to raise.Data from the bank showed that the one-year paper accounted for most of the volume of treasury...

Read More

Nigeria's Union Bank to raise 50 bln naira from rights issue, as bid opens

Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) said on Wednesday it has opened bids for its 50 billion naira rights issue to existing shareholders. The bank said the bid which is opened for subscription on Sept. 20 will close on Oct. 30. According to a notice, the bank plans to sell 12.1 billion shares at 4.10 naira each, issuing five new shares to investors for every seven already held. Union Bank, set up 100-years ago, said it planned to spend 80 percent...

Read More

South Africa's rand rebounds ahead of rate decision, stocks slip

South Africa’s rand recovered on Wednesday from its weakest in a month after consumer inflation figures for August suggested interest rates will fall further, reviving economic growth.Stocks were weaker as Sasol weighed on the market after announcing a dilutive share issue.At 1530, GMT the rand was 0.32 percent firmer at 13.2675 per dollar, reversing losses of the last week-and-a-half caused by a report showing stronger U.S. inflation, which pushed...

Read More

KPMG South Africa CEO wants independent probe into firm

KPMG South Africa wants an independent investigation into the firm’s conduct to reassure employees and clients after a scandal involving its handling of audits for businessman friends of President Jacob Zuma, its new chief executive said on Wednesday.The auditor cleared out its South African leadership on Friday after it found that work it did for firms owned by the Gupta family “fell considerably short” of its standards. It found no evidence of...

Read More

South Africa's stable inflation boosts chances of rate cuts

South African inflation rose less than expected in August, increasing the likelihood of interest rate cuts this week and later in the year. Consumer inflation rose 4.8 percent year-on-year in August from 4.6 percent in July, data showed on Wednesday. Economists had forecast 4.9 percent. All are well within the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) target range of 3 and 6 percent, and prices were subdued on a monthly basis, rising just 0.1 percent from...

Read More

Nigeria's central bank rules out lower interest rate in near term

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said the clamour for low-interest rate cannot happen in the near term due to the high level of inflation and rising costs in the economy.Nigeria’s banking regulator has held its benchmark interest rate at 14 percent level for the consecutive seventh meeting in July as the CBN governor Godwin Emefiele claimed that “Low-interest rate will make it easy for people who want to borrow money, to borrow money at low rates.’Member...

Read More

Nigeria refunds 740 bln naira Paris Club debt to states this year-says central bank

Nigerian 36 states have received a total of 740 billion naira from a refund on overcharged deductions on Paris club debt this year, data from the central bank has shown.The total refund represents about 10 percent of this year’s federal budget,  according to Central bank of Nigeria's (CBN) deputy governor, Adebayo Adelabu in his note to the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Nigeria federal government has proposed a total of...

Read More

Nigeria plans tax incentives to boost private sector initiative in road constructions

In a bold move to bridge its infrastructural deficit, Nigeria may resort to a novel method; tagged tax recovery funding scheme to rebuild some of its major roads. Dropping the hints in Abuja on Tuesday, the country's Minister of Power, Works, and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said the new initiative became necessary due to declining revenue hampering the rapid execution of important economic projects. Fashola said the government is planning to...

Read More

Nigeria's debt office to sell 135 bln naira bonds next week

Nigeria's Debt Management Office (DMO) said it will raise 135 billion naira worth in bonds next week Wednesday in continuation of its efforts to borrow from the domestic market to help fund this year's budget deficit. The debt office said on Tuesday it will raise 35 billion naira in the bond due in 2021 and 50 billion naira apiece in bonds maturing in 2027 and in 2037, using a Dutch auction system.The bonds are re-openings of previous...

Read More

Nigerian inflation slows marginally Aug vs July, now 16.01 pct

Nigeria's annual inflation slowed marginally for the seventh month in August, easing to 16.01 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.The rate of annual inflation was 0.04 percent lower than in the July figure of 16.05 percent.“The highest increases were recorded in clothing materials and articles of clothing, garments, passenger transport by air, motorcycles, shoes and other footwear,” said the statistics office in its report.A...

Read More

Nigeria's money market round-up

During the week, the interbank money market tightened with overnight rates hitting 23 percent levels midweek. However, OMO maturities and coupon payments eased liquidity later in the week. Overnight rates closed at 11.25 percent on Thursday and expected to trade at the same level on Friday. The fourth quarter T-bill issuance calendar was released during the week, showing a nil net cash flow as maturing T-bills are just expected to be rolled over.  However,...

Read More

Nigeria projects higher cocoa output in Q4

There are indications that cocoa farmers in Nigeria will enjoy bumper harvest in the coming season as a result of delay rain in the Southern region of the country, which has helped boost pod production. According to the head of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN), Sayina Riman, he expects output for the new season which starts in October to hit between 300,000 tonnes and 320,000 tonnes, up sharply from the season just ended which was...

Read More

Nigeria's Stanbic offers scrip dividend option for three years

Nigeria’s Stanbic IBTC Bank will offer shareholders the option to receive scrip dividends in lieu of cash dividends over the next three years, it said on Thursday after it declared an interim dividend.The mid-tier lender, which is part of South Africa’s Standard Bank, did not give a reason for the move.The bank declared an interim dividend of 0.60 naira for its half-year to June 30. It set a reference price of 39.45 naira for the scrip issue, compared...

Read More

Nigeria's Dangote Cement says making moves to take over S/Africa rival

Nigeria’s Dangote Cement, majorly owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote said it has opened takeover talks with South African rival PPC. “DCP (Dangote Cement Plc) hereby confirms that the board of directors of DCP has merely communicated its interest to the board of directors of PPC with respect to the acquisition of the entire share capital of PPC,” Dangote Cement said in a statement of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The company, however,...

Read More

Nigeria's Rivers Governor says Police responsible for kidnappings, robberies in the state

The recent spate of armed robbery and kidnapping in Nigeria's Rivers State has been blamed on the clandestine activities of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police in a bid to cause confusion and distabilise the state, says governor Nyesom Wike. Wike, who spoke in the state capital, Port Harcourt on Wednesday accused the SARS boss in the state of behind the criminal activities and breach of security in the state. According to the...

Read More

Nigeria may not join OPEC output cuts before March

Nigeria is very unlikely to join OPEC’s cuts in oil production before March, its oil minister said on Wednesday.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers, including Russia, are reducing crude output by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) until next March in an attempt to support prices by cutting a glut of crude oil on world markets.Nigeria and Libya, whose output has been affected by political turmoil and attacks,...

Read More