Category: Africa
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Morocco Flexed Economic Muscles and Returned to the AU
“It is a beautiful day when one returns home after too long of an absence,” King Mohammed VI of Morocco said after the North African country was readmitted to the African Union (AU) at its summit in January. The decision by AU leaders in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, capped a swift and remarkable process since the King…
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Banks bad loan charge set to surge by 50pc in new regime
Kenyan banks face a fresh shock under a new set of global accounting rules which require financial institutions to make higher loan-loss provisions for potential upsets. The new guidelines, technically referred to as International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 9, come into force on January 1, 2018 and experts expect credit impairment to almost double from…
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Nigeria: Dangote Declares 285 Drivers Wanted for Alleged Theft of 3.5 Million Tyres
The Dangote Group of Companies Plc has declared 285 truck drivers wanted over theft of about 3.5 million customised tyres of the company. The Coordinator of the company’s National Patrol Unit, Abdullahi Magaji, a retired commissioner of police, disclosed this while addressing journalists on Sunday in Lokoja. Mr. Magaji said each tyre of the company…
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Kenya:CAK orders Total to retain Gulf Petroleum workers after buyout
French oil multinational Total Outre-Mer has been ordered to retain employees of fuel importer Gulf African Petroleum Corporation which it is set to acquire for between one and two years from completion of the ongoing takeover of the business. The job guarantees are part of the conditions the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has attached…
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Kenya leads East Africa in value of 2016 merger deals
Kenya led the East Africa region in the number and disclosed value of deals in 2016, accounting for two-thirds of the deals concluded in the period. Data compiled by I&M Burbidge Capital on market deals done in East Africa shows that Nairobi accounted for 72 out of the 107 completed transactions, and for Sh98.4 billion…
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Nigeria takes 128 bids for oil-for-fuel swaps
Nigeria’s state oil company received 128 bids from companies that want to exchange processed fuels for as much as 800,000 barrels a day of unrefined crude in 2017, it said on Thursday. “This year’s programme for DSDP (direct sale of crude oil and direct purchase of products) is about 800,000 barrels (per day) at most,”…
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Morocco Funds Relocation of South Sudan Capital
Plans to move South Sudan’s capital from Juba to Ramciel have got a new boost with the signing of an agreement between the South Sudan government and Morroco’s King Mohammed VI in which a $5m feasibility study will be done with funding from Morocco. King Mohammed VI, who is in South Sudan for a three-day…
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Kenya:KRA demands its pound of flesh from Imperial Bank owners
The taxman has slapped a tax demand on a company owned by Imperial Bank’s directors, deepening woes for the embattled owners of the collapsed lender. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is seeking the unpaid taxes from Upperview Properties, a firm owned by Imperial Bank’s deceased former managing director Abdulmalek Janmohammed and the lender’s directors. Details…
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Zimbabwe introduces new bond note as cash shortages bite
Zimbabwe has started circulating a $5 “bond note”, the central bank said on Friday, as President Robert Mugabe’s government struggles with a cash crunch that has forced people to spend hours at banks queuing for money. The southern African nation introduced a $2 note and $1 coin last November to ease the cash shortages. Despite…
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East Africa:New Bill on loan charges risks eroding 22pc bank earnings
A newly proposed Bill seeking to contain loan fees and commissions charged by banks within the 14 percent interest rate cap has the potential to wipe off up to 22 percent of the lenders income, an investment bank has warned. Standard Investment Bank (SIB) head of research Francis Mwangi says in a note that the…