Africa

COVER STORY: SEA CHANGE   By Jonathan Gregson   Africa's economic prospects have never been better.   Fifty years after British prime minister Harold Macmillan spoke of a wind of change sweeping across the African continent, the sort of development ...

COVER STORY: KENYA – REBIRTH OF A NATION   By Dan Keeler   With a new constitution, bold economic targets and an ambitious social development strategy, Kenya is determined to become the new star of Africa. All the signs so ...

ROUNDUP   By Antonio Guerrero   Ghana’s mining sector gets a funding boost from China Ghana has become the leading recipient in sub-Saharan Africa of Chinese infrastructure financing, giving China unrivaled access to the country's commodities sector. Ghana signed a ...

NEWSMAKERS: SOUTH AFRICA   By Nick Kochan   Johannesburg: Setback after HSBC pull-out HSBC's decision to walk away from its proposed $8 billion acquisition of a controlling stake in South African bank Nedbank is little short of dramatic. Having announced ...

Roundup   By Antonio Guerrero   Foreign ownership of mines in Zimbabwe challenged by law Zimbabwe's government is continuing its campaign against foreign ownership, insisting that businesses with assets of more than $500,000 must be 51%-owned by black Zimbabweans within ...

ROUNDUP   By Antonio Guerrero   Uneasy balance: Mugabe (right) and Tsvangirai still have issues with power sharing South Africa's state-owned development lender Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) plans to issue bonds and sell an estimated $3.6 billion worth of its ...

EM REGIONAL BANKING FOCUS: AFRICA   By Nick Kochan   Africa's banks are looking to forge new links as they seek to expand across the continent.   The African banking industry has emerged from the global financial crisis largely intact ...

ROUNDUP   By Antonio Guerrero   Front right: Corruption fighter Goodluck Jonathan Flushed with confidence after its peaceful referendum on a new constitution, Kenya plans to issue $390 million of infrastructure bonds, the government’s fourth such issue. The bonds will ...

KENYA   By Dan Keeler   Kenya’s Olkaria II geothermal plant generates 70MW Kenya’s government is looking for a strategic investor to buy 19% of the country’s principal electricity supplier, the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen). Eddy Njoroge, KenGen’s managing ...

ROUNDUP   By Antonio Guerrero   The African Development Bank (AfDB), which plans to increase its capital base to $100 billion, launched a $600 million fund to strengthen African banks. The fund was created through a partnership with the European ...

Emerging Markets Investor: Company to watch   By Gordon Platt   Sasol is a prime example of a successful multinational company based in South Africa, where it mines coal to provide the raw material to produce synthetic fuels and chemicals. ...

REGIONAL REPORT: REGIONAL RESURGENCE   A flurry of bond issues illustrates the growing confidence west Africa’s nations have in their economic and political futures. Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire are leading the way.   By Nick Kochan   The contrasts in ...

Roundup   By Antonio Guerrero   South Africa’s central bank: Shareholders to get less control Nigeria has secured a $915 million concessionary loan from the World Bank to help the government fund infrastructure development projects. Funds will be drawn between ...

Roundup   By Antonio Guerrero   Digging deep: Companies mining in Zambia face high taxes The World Bank is asking members to support a controversial $3.75 billion loan to Eskom, South Africa's state-run power utility. The loan would be used ...

AFRICA   By Gordon Platt   REGIONAL WINNER: Standard Chartered Bank Standard Chartered Bank's earnings from its African operations rose 54% last year to $482 million. The London-based emerging markets bank receives 90% of its income and profits from Asia, ...

Roundup   By Antonio Guerrero   Nigerian central bank’s energy fund has caused controversy South Africa’s $2 billion dollar-denominated sovereign bond issue in March marked the country’s largest-ever foreign-currency-denominated security. The 10-year paper carries a 5.5% coupon, which is the ...

Roundup   By Antonio Guerrero   Under threat: Wildlife in Uganda’s Kabwoya reserve African Union (AU) heads of state attending a February summit will review plans to create a $4 billion Libya-based African investment bank. South Africa, Nigeria, Libya, Algeria ...

In From The Cold   Global businesses and investors are taking more interest in sub-Saharan Africa, home to some of the world’s most neglected emerging markets.   By Antonio Guerrero   Sub-Saharan Africa has long been considered to be on ...

Auto Sales Revival Puts New Shine On Platinum   By GP   South Africa-based Anglo Platinum, the world’s largest primary producer of platinum, retrenched in 2009 after demand for the metal used in catalytic converters suffered from decreasing consumption by ...

Roundup   By Antonio Guerrero   Game on: South Africa prepares for the 2010 World Cup This year’s FIFA Soccer World Cup in South Africa will inject nearly $7.5 billion into the nation’s economy, according to a study by the ...