Nigeria and Switzerland sign agreement to return stolen assets

Nigeria and Switzerland signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday to pave the way for the return of illegally acquired assets, the west African country said. Switzerland said in December that it would return to Nigeria around $321 million in assets seized from the family of former military ruler Sani Abacha via a deal signed with the World Bank. Since taking office in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari has sought help from several nations to recover money he said was taken from public coffers of the OPEC member, which is Africa’s biggest oil...

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President Buhari says plot to elongate APC chairman's tenure illegal

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has said the proposal to elongate the tenure of the ruling party National and state executive violates the constitutions of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as well as the country's constitution.Buhari who spoke at the National Executive Committee meeting of the party in Abuja noted that the proper thing to do is for the party to put in place process to conduct congress where the new executive will emerge at the expiry of the tenure of the current executive.According to the president, he has taken some time...

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Ivory Coast Is Selling Africa's Biggest Euro-Currency Bond

Five African countries have issued a total of $12.8 billion of Eurobonds in the first three months of 2018, with the latest issue by Ivory Coast on Thursday, more than half the record $18 billion they managed last year and exceeding the total for the whole of 2016. On Thursday, Ivory Coast sold 1.7 billion euros ($2.1 billion) of bonds in the biggest issuance in the common currency from an African government, according to a person familiar with the matter. The world’s largest cocoa producer followed Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya and Senegal in tapping...

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French former president Sarkozy arrested over £42 Mln election campaign fund

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been arrested by the police on Tuesday accused of receiving £42 million in illegal payments from the late Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi. The 63-year-old was arrested by judicial police in Paris and taken to their headquarters in the suburb of Nanterre. Sarkozy is said to have received the kickbacks in 2007, during the presidential election campaign that swept him to power for a single five-year term. French...

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Nigeria's state-run oil firm, NNPC move to improve operations

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has commenced move to digitalise its operations as part of efforts to ensure the transformation of country’s oil sector, its chief executive Maikanti Baru has said. Baru said this while inaugurating two committees to achieve this purpose. The oil firm has set up two major committees to drive the process and they are The Systems Applications and Products (SAP) steering committee and the...

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Foreign investor seeks to inject $1 bln fresh capital into Nigeria's Unity Bank

Nigeria’s Unity Bank Plc is set to receive about $1 billion fresh capital injection from a foreign investors barring all unforseeable circumstance, two people familiar with the deal told Bloomberg on Monday. According to the report, New york Based Milost Global Inc has offered to invest $700 million in equity and $300 million in five-year bonds that can be converted into shares in the Nigerian commercial lender.  The private-equity firm will...

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South Africa Sees Receptive Market for $3 Billion Bond Sale

South Africa plans to tap international markets for as much as $3 billion as the country seeks to take advantage of relatively low rates and strong demand from yield-hungry investors. “We will be coming shortly and taking advantage of the favorable market conditions,” Tshepiso Moahloli, chief director of liability management at the National Treasury, told reporters in London after meetings with investors. “The market is conducive and we’re keen to access that. We are opportunistic in terms of the approach we take.” South Africa budgeted to raise...

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Ghana May Struggle to Repay Lenders for $1.3 Billion Cocoa Loan

Ghana Cocoa Board may struggle to fully pay back loans of $1.3 billion as this season’s harvest will likely be smaller than first anticipated, according to the head of the industry regulator. The world’s second-biggest grower signed for the loans with lenders such as Credit Agricole SA and Natixis SA prior to the start of the annual harvest in October to pay farmers for their beans. Ghana will probably not meet its target of 850,000 metric tons due to dry weather and plant disease, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, chief executive officer of the regulator,...

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Nigeria's SEC appoints Deloitte to audit Oando books

Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it was going ahead with the forensic audit of energy firm Oando after the company dropped a lawsuit against the market regulator opposing the probe. SEC in a statement said it has it has instructed Deloitte, an accounting firm to conduct the audit. According to the regulator, "Oando has withdrawn the pending lawsuit against the Commission by an application heard and granted by the Court of Appeal...

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Nigeria Fidelity Bank seeks loan growth as treasury yields fall

Nigeria’s Fidelity Bank expects loans to grow at a faster pace this year than the 7.5 percent it forecast for 2017, helping lift profits after Treasury bills yields fell, an executive said on Monday.Nigeria, which emerged from its first recession in 25 years last year, has been working to lower its costs by borrowing abroad to redeem local debt, forcing local treasury yields down.It redeemed 130 billion naira (307.76 million pounds) in treasury bills last week and paid off 198 billion naira bills in December, leading to rates dropping by around...

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Nigeria minister says majors in shale, OPEC should keep crude price stable

Oil producers that operate in U.S. shale fields and OPEC member nations should do more to help stabilize crude prices, Nigerian Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said on Monday.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plans a “company-based workshop” with companies that operate in both areas, Kachikwu said on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. Exxon Mobil Corp, Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have large...

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Nigeria's trade account turns positive in 2017 after recession

Nigeria’s trade account turned positive in 2017 as a rise in oil exports outweighed imports after dollar shortages frustrated transactions, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.The balance of trade last year was 4.03 trillion naira ($13.2 billion). The net trade balance stood at minus 290 billion naira for 2016.The rise boosts Nigeria’s ambition to promote exports to support its fragile economy and earn foreign exchange while reducing imports. Its 2017 gross domestic product rose 0.8 percent to emerge from Nigeria’s first recession in 25...

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Germany, EU plan 500MW renewable energy for Nigeria

Germany is collaborating with the European Union (EU) plan to invest about 33 million Euros to increase power generation in Nigeria by 500 megawatts (MW) through renewable energy to serve 100,000 people.Iner Hommers, The Programme Head, Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP), said in Abuja at a presentation of a compendium of the achievements of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ).Hommers said that 33 million...

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South Africa to raise GDP growth forecast by Oct

The South African government will probably raise projections for economic growth this year in its October mid-term budget as the country overcomes governance and financial problems that have lowered confidence, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said.Newly appointed president Cyril Ramaphosa reappointed Nene to the role last month. When former leader Jacob Zuma fired him and replaced him with a little-known lawmaker in 2015, the move triggered a sell-off...

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Nigeria's central bank faces hurdles on benchmark interest rate reduction

Nigeria's central bank plans to cut back on benchmark interest by the middle of this year may not materialise against the backdrop of persistent fuel shortages and sticky inflation rate, analysts have predicted. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele had last month said the regulatory bank may slash its benchmark interest rate downward from the present 14 percent by mid-year provided the country's inflation figure inches down closer to a single digit. The West African country's inflation is currently at...

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"We are waiting on National Assembly for 2018 budget," says Osinbajo

Q: The delay in 2018 budget.Vice President: We have a democracy that has, as you know, three arms. The two relevant arms for budget are the executive and legislature. If you recall when I was Acting President, I signed the 2017 budget and, at that time, I made the announcement with the full consensus of the National Assembly that, from 2018, we are going to have a budget that is going to apply in January and end in December the normal financial year....

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Nigeria redeems $413 mln T.bill from Eurobond proceeds

Nigeria's Debt Management Office (DMO) said it has paid back 130 billion naira matured treasury bills this week in accordance with its decision to refinance maturing domestic debt with the proceeds of its recently issued Eurobond. In February, Nigeria raised $2.5 billion Eurobond to help refinance portions of its treasury bill portfolio to lower costs. The director general of the DMO, Patience Oniha said details of treasury bills issuance calendar for the second quarter of the year will be made available next week to reflect the new plans of the...

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