Category: Africa
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Egypt’s Strategic Wheat Reserves Sufficient for Four Months – Ministry
Egypt’s strategic wheat reserves are sufficient for the coming four months, the supply minister said on Thursday. In a statement, Minister Mohamed Ali Meselhy said that efforts are underway to diversify the sources of imported wheat to attract more offers at Egypt’s international wheat supply tenders. Egypt is the world’s largest wheat importer. In January,…
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Kenya:Small banks struggle for cash as big peers maintain tight fist
Small banks are still struggling for cash amid tighter liquidity in the market as their larger peers remain cautious on lending to them in the interbank market, analysts at Dyer & Blair Investment Bank and Renaissance Capital say. The liquidity in the Kenyan banking sector remains skewed in favour of larger lenders. The collapse of…
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East Africa: Ecobank’s quest for 100 mln customers by 2020
Pan-African group Ecobank Transnational plans to increase its customers to 100 million by 2020 from 10 million now, using technology to hit that goal, the chief executive said on Thursday. Speaking at the launch of the group’s new mobile banking technology in Kenya, Ade Ayeyemi told Reuters this would help the group reach more users…
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Nigeria: Arik Air goes into receivership
From all indications, respite may have come the way of Arik Airlines currently immersed in heavy financial debt burden that is threatening to permanently ground the airline. For some time now, the airline, which carries about 55% of the load in the country, has been going through difficult times that are attributable to its bad…
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South Africa introduces $260 a month national minimum wage
South Africa will introduce a national minimum wage of 3,500 rand ($261) per month in 2018, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday, following protracted negotiations between the government and labour unions. Supporters of a minimum wage say it can stimulate growth as workers can spend more, as well as reducing inequality. Critics say it…
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Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi charged with international corruption
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Italian prosecutors have reportedly charged Eni and its CEO Claudio Descalzi with international corruption over the controversial acquisition of an offshore block in Nigeria in 2011. Apart from Descalzi, the charge reportedly extends to the former CEO Paolo Scaroni and nine other people involved in the $1.3 bilion deal. Scaroni served as the Chief Executive…
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Nigeria: Ex-Minister, Senior Nigerian Lawyer Docked for Alleged N450 Million Laundering
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mohammed Belgore, and a former Minister of National Planning, Abubakar Suleiman, were on Wednesday in Lagos granted bail on own recognisance after entering a plea of ‘not guilty’. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, charged the duo before a Federal High Court, Lagos, for alleged five-count offences bordering on…
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Nigeria to Auction N142 Billion Treasury Bills
The federal government hopes to raise about N142.43 billion (about $453.60 million) from the issuance of short-term treasury bills to be auctioned on February 15, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, said on Tuesday. The auction is expected to raise about N32.43 billion in three-month debt, N30 billion in six-month bills and N80 billion in…
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S.A:MTN shares knocked as mobile operator swings to loss
South African mobile phone operator MTN Group expects to report a full-year loss due to a $1 billion regulatory fine in Nigeria and underperformance there and at home, it said on Wednesday, sending its shares to a two-month low. MTN agreed in June to pay Nigeria a 330 billion naira ($1.05 billion at the time)…
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Losses for Kenyan exporters after Mogadishu closes airport for polls
Kenyan logistics firms and exporters are counting losses following the closure of the heavily guarded main airport in Mogadishu Wednesday in a lockdown instigated by the Somalia presidential elections. Siginon Group, which operates Siginon Aviation, said it had to cancel six flights on Wednesday because of the elections. At the same time, Astral Aviation, which…