What next for Kenyan Policy on Somalia?

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Al-Shabaab, Ethiopia, Jubaland, Kenya, Mogadishu, Nairobi, Somali, Somalia

Reflex Eco Group – Africa News

by  Kennedy Opalo (Kenyan journalist)

This Blog is sponsored by http://www.reflexecogroup.com

For two years it almost seemed too good to be true. Kenya had invaded Somalia and occupied Kismayo, a key Al-Shaabab-held city in southern Somalia without carnage visiting the capital Nairobi. The group instead opted for sporadic attacks against churches and police installations in the border regions of North Eastern and Coast. A few explosions rocked the capital, but these were never spectacular. Indeed, some of them appeared to have been motivated by local business rivalries and not some revenge mission by the Somali Islamist group Al-Shaabab. Within Somalia, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) mission made quick gains that left Al-Shaabab backpedaling. With a few exceptions, the Al-Shaabab was reported to have been severely weakened and on the run. Before the recent uptick in bombings, Mogadishu was slowly becoming a reasonably peaceful boomtown.

And then Westgate happened. At around noon on September 21st three groups of armed men (and allegedly at least one woman) stormed the upscale mall in Nairobi and started shooting indiscriminately. Several hours after the attack started Al-Shaabab claimed responsibility via twitter. A day later, the Islamist group gave an alleged list of the gunmen, all men between the ages of 20-27. Six were from the US, two from Somalia, and one each from Kenya, the UK, Finland and Syria. More than 36 hours after the attack began at least 69 people had been confirmed dead, including one gunman and two Kenyan officers. A visibly incensed President Uhuru Kenyatta condemned the attacks, and reassured Kenyans of a swift response to punish the perpetrators. Just a few minutes earlier Al-Shaabab had claimed responsibility for the attacks, terming them a retribution for Kenya’s invasion of Somalia in 2011. The Kenyan Defence Forces, under Operation Linda Nchi, invaded Somalia following sporadic kidnappings and attacks along the Kenya Somalia border. The forces still remain in Somalia under the command of AMISOM.

So how will Kenya respond? There will be both short-term and long-term responses to the daring terrorist attack. The likely short-term response holds more risk, and may even jeopardize the strategic objectives of the long-term response.

Understandably, in the short-term there is going to be considerable public pressure for a swift military response from the government. In the coming weeks the government’s response will likely involve both domestic crackdowns in suspected Al-Shaabab havens in Kenya (most likely in Nairobi, the Coast and North Eastern regions) and military operations against Al-Shabab targets within Somalia.

Crackdowns within Kenya will come with a lot of risk. Depending on how they are carried out, the government could end up walking right into Al-Shaabab’s trap by alienating Kenyan Muslims and ethnic Somalis who make up the majority of residents in Coast and North Eastern regions of the country that border Somalia.

Ethnic Somalis (both Kenyan and Somali nationals) also make up the majority of residents in Eastleigh, a district of Nairobi that has in the past witnessed government crackdowns targeting cells linked to the Al-Shaabab militant group.

Kenyan security forces must therefore proceed with extreme caution to ensure that as few innocent civilians as possible are arrested or roughed up by security forces in any operations within the country. A repeat of reported cases of police brutality in North Eastern following the murder of army officers by gunmen would be a terrible mistake. It is also vital that the government stresses the unity of all Kenyans of all ethnic extractions against terror attacks. Any victimization of ethnic Somalis must be met with swift punishment.

Military operations within Somalia will likely involve significant cooperation with Mogadishu, pro-AMISOM militia in Jubaland, AMISOM and the US and may not be completely under the control of Nairobi. I suspect that Nairobi might push for a more aggressive hunt for the leaders of Al-Shaabab, including Samantha Lewthwaite a.k.a. the “white widow,” a British national that is rumored to have been the mastermind of the Westgate Mall attack. Lewthwaite, the widow of London 7/7/2005 suicide bomber Jermaine Lindsay, is suspected to be on the run in Mombasa, Kenya with her four children. Crucially, any military operations in Somalia must be informed by analysts’ observation that it might be the case that Al-Shabaab is a group on the decline that is just lashing out to maintain relevance.

In the long-run, Nairobi will most likely push for a more robust Somali solution to the security crisis posed by the lack of a functional state in its backyard. Top on the agenda will be the strengthening of the security apparatus in the administration of Jubaland, the Somali state that is on the border with Kenya (For a detailed analysis of the situation in Jubaland see here). The creation of Jubaland has long been a goal of the Kenyan government as a buffer against the chaos that has been Somalia for the last two decades. Despite obvious objections from Mogadishu, Nairobi has never publicly denounced this policy goal. The brazen attack in the capital creates even more need for a strong buffer region that can help the Kenyan security forces to deal effectively with a terrorist group that appears desperate and willing to do just about anything to remain relevant. The success of this policy will depend on Mogadishu’s ability to veto it, and support from Ethiopia and AMISOM.

Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somaliland, Puntland and Kenya all have reasons to support the creation of Jubaland, or in general, a more decentralized state in Somalia. Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia remain wary of a potential rise in Somali nationalism and any irredentist attempts that might follow to unite all lands that make up the so called Greater Somalia – which would include the Ogaden in Ethiopia, North Eastern region of Kenya, and Djibouti. This is not a crazy fear. Mogadishu once attempted this in the late 1960s in a botched operation (in the Shifta and Ogaden wars) that ultimately led to a military coup and the rise of Siad Barre to power (See Laitin, 1976 [gated]). Ethiopia has the most to worry about regarding this potential risk. The Ogaden remains at the periphery of the Ethiopian state, giving the Somali population lots of reasons to rebel against Addis Ababa.

In the recent past Kenya has experienced an increasing level of integration of the Somali elite into the Kenyan state. Prominent Kenyans of Somali extraction include the leader of Majority in the National Assembly, the Foreign Minister, the Industrialization Minister, the head of the electoral management body (IEBC), among others.

Furthermore, many Somalis both Kenyan and from Somalia have in the recent past made significant investments in Kenya, most notably in the real estate sector. A lot of the investments have been means of laundering money got from illicit activities (some say including piracy). Indeed the governor of the Central Bank of Kenya is on record to have said that he could not account for billions of shillings in the economy. With an estimated total of only 20,000 mortgage accounts, most of the Kenya’s real estate boom has so far been financed by cash.

Yes, a lot more needs to be done for the average Kenyan of Somali extraction in North Eastern region, but the Somali elite in Kenya have every reason to not rock the boat and remain wedded to Nairobi. This same elite has so far tacitly supported Nairobi’s policy regarding the creation of an autonomous region in Jubaland.

The powerful imagery of a picture that went viral showing a Kenyan police officer, who also happens to be an ethnic Somali, carrying a baby while shielding three adults as they ran for safety at Westgate is hard to miss.

A domestic outcome of the Westgate attack will likely be greater scrutiny of the police and intelligence forces. The Kenyan police have been exposed in the past for having looked the other way in exchange for bribes to allow gun-runners to do their thing along the country’s highways. President Kenyatta will likely call for a cleaning of house both at Vigilance House and at the NSIS headquarters. All security agencies will likely see closer scrutiny from the political class and calls to pull up their socks. The minister in charge of internal security, Joseph Ole Lenku, probably has his days numbered on the job.

The quest for greater security will be completed by the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the country on account of civil wars and general insecurity in the border regions with Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia. According to a 2012 a study by the Small Arms Survey and the Kenya National Focus Point on Small Arms and Light Weapons, there are between 530,000 and 680,000 firearms in civilian arms across the country. The government must tighten its disarmament operations. Westgate has shown that AK-47s are not just the weapons of cattle rustlers, bank robbers and carjackers.

Will the reforms succeed? Very likely. The Kenya Revenue Authority is a testament to the fact that when it matters, the Kenyan government can reform key state institutions. The security sector is need of just such a reform drive. Insecurity is on the rise across the country, both from common criminals and organized gangs and terrorists. The Kenyan leadership appreciates that insecurity is not just bad in terms of risk to human lives. It is also bad for business.

If Mr. Kenyatta’s first term is to achieve even a modicum of success, the security sector must be reformed.

In all likelihood the president’s quest for a successful first term will outrank a few officers’ venal machinations within the administration. Police ineptitude in dealing with common petty and not-so petty crime creates loopholes for spectacular attacks like Westgate. Reform will therefore need to go beyond capacity building within the Special Forces and dedicated anti-terror units.

For regular Kenyans, life in Nairobi will never be the same again. It is almost impossible to imagine that things that most only read in the news could happen right at home; that a Saturday afternoon at the mall could turn into a ghastly massacre. It will take time before the capital, and the nation, finds its new normal, if at all it does.

So far Kenyans’ resiliency has been outstanding. People showed up in their thousands to donate blood. Buses in Nairobi lowered their fares to take people to blood donation points. More than 40 million Shillings has so far been raised through MPesa for affected victims. Never before in my life have I felt or seen this level of patriotism from fellow Kenyans.

I hope it sticks. Especially because the country will need it in the next few weeks and months as the government formulates and effects a response to the Westgate Mall attack.

Related articles

• Kenya needs a new Somalia policy (sakunian.wordpress.com)
• A Suicide bomber in Central Somalia Killed more than 20 People (daniboy8935.wordpress.com)
• Al-Shabaab Takes ‘Last Gasps’ in Ethiopia (ipsnews.net)
• Somali Suicide Bomber Targets AU Peacekeepers (profarmsmusic.wordpress.com)
• Al-Shabab jihadists recruit Somali youth in Minnesota (cofda.wordpress.com)
• At least 16 killed, 30 injured in suicide bomber attack in Somalia (panarmenian.net)
• At least 16 killed, 30 injured in suicide bomber attack in central Somalia. (somaliswisstv.com)
• New museum featuring Somali culture and art opens in Minneapolis. (somaliswisstv.com)
• Somalia aims to dissolve al-Shaabab (worldbulletin.net)
• Suspicion over Norwegian’s role in Kenya mall attack (edition.cnn.com)

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Africa Focused News

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ACCRA, AfDB, Africa, African Development Bank, Brazil, Cedi, Dollar, Ethiopia, Eurobond, Fitch, Fola Adeola, France, ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Korea, Liberia, Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Trade and Industry (Norway), Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, South Sudan, Tarkwa, UK, United States, US, USA, Zambia, Zimbabwe

REPORT OF LAST WEEK (from 14/10/13 to 18/10/13)

by Dario Galluccio

This Blog is sponsored by http://www.reflexecogroup.com

Nigeria: MainOne signs $100m refinancing deal with 4 Nigerian Banks

To further expand its services in providing wholesale broadband and bandwidth telecommunications services, Nigeria’s indigenous fibre optic cable company, MainOne Cable Company Limited has signed a $100 million re-financing facility agreement with four Nigerian banks – Skye Bank Plc, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, First Bank of Nigeria Limited and First City Monument Bank Plc.

Chairman of MainOne Cable, Fola Adeola, said the facility was needed to expand the operations of the company and to further make business easy for their clients. He explained that the fund would help make interconnectivity easier and internet access faster and more efficient for the company’s clients.

MainOne has been expanding its services in Nigeria- its main market and other part of the West African region including Accra and Lome.

Ghana: France ready to establish more businesses

The French Ambassador to Ghana, Frederic Clavier has expressed his country’s readiness to establish more businesses in the country under the French Chamber of Commerce.

Speaking during a tour of AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem mine at Tarkwa in the Western Region, he said Ghana has proven to be one of the perfect investment destinations in the sub-region. Ambassador Clavier said given the long standing relations between the two countries, France was ready to partner with institutions in Ghana to foster its socio-economic development.

He said some of the areas of social and economic cooperation in Ghana include education, science and technology. He said the time had come for institutions of higher learning in the extractive sector in the country to produce more expertise with technical know-how to enable those with the needed competencies to grab opportunities in the sector.

Ghana: To impresses investors in Chicago

Potential and existing investors in Ghana were impressed by the representation made by the Ghana delegation to the 9th Biennial U.S. – Africa Business Summit organised by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) in Chicago.

The two-hour “Doing Business in Ghana” forum, led by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, was organised by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and gave attendees the opportunity to learn about business opportunities, governmental policies and private success stories from high-level government officials and representatives from Ghana.

The U.S. – Africa Business Summit is organised biennially to satisfy various needs of host African countries, potential investors and business partners. These needs include:

– Obtaining information on the latest trade and investment opportunities in Africa’s most promising sectors including agri-business, energy, health, infrastructure, capacity building, security, ICT and finance;

– Networking with as many as 1,500 key African and U.S. private sector and government representatives;

– Learning from a wide array of industry-specific and country-focused informational sessions;

– Exploring new business opportunities by identifying specific growth areas and projects;

– Discovering the latest financing options open to them; – Meeting potential business partners;

– Interacting with exhibitors representing companies on the cutting edge of investment in Africa, and

– Closing new business deals.

Mozambique: Spanish companies seek opportunities

Representatives of 35 Spanish companies have arrived in Maputo in search of business opportunities. In particular, the companies are interested in energy, water treatment, airports, roads and rail.

On 8 October, the delegation participated in a meeting with Mozambican businesses seeking partnerships. The event was organised by the Spanish Embassy in Maputo. A source in the Embassy told the daily newspaper “Noticias” that the delegation seeks to boost the Spanish presence in Mozambique, with world leading companies sending representatives on the trip.

The source stated that the world’s top three companies in the management of transport infrastructure projects are Spanish. In addition, the Spanish rail sector is present in five continents, with Spain’s high-speed rail network the second largest in the world. The country is also a world leader in logistics, oil refining, finance, security, biotechnology, the environment, water treatment, aerospace, naval technology, information and communications, sanitation and electronic governance.

According to the Spanish Embassy, major projects planned for electrification, tourism and agro-business make Mozambique an economy of huge interest. The Spanish government is to support its companies through a credit line of 75 million euros (102 million US dollars).

Ghana: To boost economic cooperation with Indonesia

Mr Lasro Simbolon, the Director for African Affairs of Indonesia, led a delegation of investors to pay a courtesy call on officials of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry to discuss cooperation between the two countries. Mr Lasro Simbolon said the two countries could collaborate to enhance bilateral relations. “Indonesia sees the potential in areas of economic growth in Africa, and we are committed to see that transition is carried out with Ghana,” he said. Mr Simbolon noted that the two countries had rich potentials to explore business opportunities to sustain economic cooperation. He said the Ghana’needed economic growth in areas of infrastructure, agriculture, technological development and capacity building and invited members of the Chamber to one of Indonesia’s biggest Expo being held between October 16th and October 20.

Mr Seth Adjei Baah, President of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the two countries should in line with national development plans enhance economic cooperation for the welfare of their people. “As you decide to invest in Ghana, be assured that your money is safe, our hands are opened and I believe we can do more by collaborating with each other,” he added.

Ghana: Cedi stable to US Dollar

However, the local currency had depreciated by 14.5 percent against the American currency on the forex market so far this year. Analysts say the Bank of Ghana’s efforts to support the Ghana Cedi and other liquidity management efforts are finally having a positive impact despite robust import demand; they are predicting a further stable currency if the Central Bank continues its liquidity management operations despite pressure from large fiscal and current account deficits.

Meanwhile, on the currency market today, the Ghana Cedi remained relatively stable to the US Dollar. It however rose to the other major foreign currencies on the interbank market.

Africa: Private energy sector key to continent’s commercial future

Co-Founder of the $500 million Africa50 infrastructure fund, Mr Kola Aluko says the continued influence and growth of independent companies in the energy sector in Africa is vital, if the continent is to fulfil its true potential as a commercial power. Speaking to an international audience of business leaders during a discussion on the prospects and Challenges for Africa’s Energy sector at the US-Africa Business Summit in Chicago, Aluko made the statement as a panel member, just two weeks after the Made In Africa Foundation he co-founded with British designer, Ozwald Boateng, launched the ‘Africa50’ fund in association with the African Development Bank, at the NASDAQ in New York.

According to Aluko: “In the past, 97% of Nigeria’s production was dominated by the International Oil Companies who’s understandable focus on what was best for shareholders, didn’t always reflect what was best for the country. But the government is aware of the importance to change that and the introduction of tax benefits to independent operators is a major incentive to work for the wider benefit and generate a trickle down effect which then benefits the population.”

Africa shows interest in Zimbabwe

Fellow African countries are continuing to show keen interest in bringing their investments into Zimbabwe, an investment expert has said. Traditionally, Asian and European countries have been known to invest in Zimbabwe. Imara Zimbabwe executive director Mr Tino Kambasha told that large African capital firms are now showing a lot of interest in the country. He added that the fact is that one cannot ignore Zimbabwe and its large consumer base anymore as many equity fund managers are eager to explore opportunities for strong capital growth and high equity yields.

A Kenyan private equity firm, Fanisi Capital, announced recently that it will launch its second fund of US$100 million to be invested in new markets across Southern Africa before the end of next year, a company official said. Botswana Stock Exchange-listed retail group Choppies Enterprises last week announced the acquisition of 49 percent of an unnamed Zimbabwean supermarket chain comprising 10 stores.

Ghana: Government optimistic meeting revenue targets

Government is optimistic of meeting revenue targets with new tax hikes despite present difficulties with collection of the taxies. Government is basing its optimism on business activities that picked up in the last quarter of this year.

In August this year, government introduced three new taxes to address revenue shortfalls. These include the National Stabilization Levy and Customs and Excise Bill – however the third bill, Special Import Bill, is yet to be laid before Parliament.

The state has so far been able to collect GH¢ 25 million from the GH¢ 371 million revenue target. There are fears the country might not realize the revenue target because of a slowdown in business activities, as well as smuggling activities at the ports; but Deputy Minister of Finance, Kweku Ricketts-Hagan said the Ministry has instituted measures to ensure the GH¢ 371 million target is realised.

“Taxes may be the main revenue stream but there are other revenue streams as huge as taxes that also come – so it becomes a case of prioritinsing your expenditure”, he said.

Meanwhile, banks, mining firms, telcos and other financial institutions would by the end of this month be giving away 5% of their profits as Stabilization Levy.

Nigeria: Total to fund contractors under $7.5Bn initiative

Total E&P Nigeria Limited and Total Upstream Nigeria Limited, in partnership with 8 banks have launched a $7.5 billion Nigerian Contractors’ Initiative (NCI) to create a sustainable funding channel for the energy giants’ local contractors.

Based on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which is in line with the Nigerian local content policy, the contractors, which include vendors and suppliers, will sufficiently receive capital which also will be domiciled with the partnering banks. Total MD/CEO Mr. Guy Maurice, said over the weekend the MoU provides for sustainable funding relationship between the banks and Total’s indigenous contractors.

Mr. Jibril Aku, the Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria, one of the partnering banks, explained the finance programme would help sustain the contractors and help them play a more active role in the oil and gas sector.

The partnering lenders for the NCI include Ecobank Nigeria, Zenith Bank, Diamond Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), United Bank for Africa (UBA), Standard Chartered Bank, Access Bank and Fidelity Bank.

Ethiopia: To launch Eurobond

Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn says his country is planning to launch a Eurobond once it secures its credit rating, but it will not open its telecoms and banking sectors to foreigners as revenue drawn from both sectors helps fund development of infrastructure.

Foreign appetite for African bonds has been strong as investors scramble for high yields. However, Prime Minister Desalegn’s declaration may disappoint foreign investors who had hoped for a paradigm shift from the state-led policies of former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who died last August.

The Prime Minister told journalists that he would stick to a policy that has kept the telecoms monopoly in state hands and the banking sector – dominated by three state institutions – off limits to foreigners, as income or financing from those entities is being used to develop the country’s infrastructure. Dasalegn also said that the East African nation is willing to harness the international debt market by issuing an external bond to relieve the country’s foreign currency shortage.

According to him, Ethiopia will also launch other bonds alongside Eurobond.

Although Prime Minister Desalegn did not give an exact date on when the country will get a credit rating, he hinted that it is at a critical stage alongside the issuance of the bond. A credit rating allows countries to access funds outside their country. The possession of a good credit rating attracts Foreign Direct Investment because it gives investors information about the economic stability of the country they are investing in.

Meanwhile, Ethiopian State Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Abraham Tekeste said the Ethiopian economy grew by 9.7% in the past fiscal year. Ethiopia, sub-Saharan Africa’s fifth largest economy, expects FDI of about $2 billion a year through 2015.

Zambia: More investors target mining sector

Several Chinese investors have expressed interest in investing in Zambia’s mining sector through the United Nations (UN) South-South Cooperation initiative, Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Emmanuel Chenda has said.

Mr Chenda said in an interview that on the sidelines of the recently held UN General Assembly in the United States of America (USA), he met with several potential investors, among them Chinese, who expressed interest in setting up mineral exploration ventures in Zambia.

Meanwhile, Mr Chenda said the benefits of Government’s intervention to remove the subsidy on fossil fuels has started paying off as a number of other renewable forms of energy are being identified. The minister reiterated that maintaining the subsidy on fuel could have negatively affected the country’s capacity to generate energy from other sources.

Nigeria: Federal Government woos Brazilians to invest in power

To ensure rapid development of electricity distribution, the Federal Government has appealed to the Brazilian Government to invest in Nigeria’s power sector with a view to revamping the ailing sector. The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo who said this while receiving a Brazilian delegation led by Vice-Minister of Development, Industry and International Trade, Mr. Ricardo Shaefer, said the government needs assistance from around the world to revamp the ailing power sector.

The minister also requested for synergy and co-operation of the Brazilians in Nigeria’s quest to ensure all her nationals are connected to electricity. He said that “Brazil has done well in many aspects of electricity especially in big hydro, biomass, solar, wind and coal. Nigeria intends to learn from the experience of Brazil, as the country has already leap frog in the attainment of development goals.”

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Amb. Godknows Igali, said that opportunities in the power sector is in mega dimension. He added that the nation’s target of moving from over 4,000 mega watts to 40,000MW in the next seven years would require double efforts from Nigeria’s friends abroad.

South Africa: French firms urged to collaborate

French and South African companies have been encouraged to work together on the industrialisation of South Africa and the African continent. Speaking at a business forum on the sidelines of the state visit by French President Francois Hollande on Monday, 14th October, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said that although France was among the country’s top five partners in the European Union (EU), a lot more still needed to be done.

France is among South Africa’s top 10 trading partners. The two countries have significant and sizeable trade and investment relations.

Davies said that what needed to be improved were partnerships between the two countries on industrialisation. He said the African continent was recognised as one of the growing frontiers in the world and that the African region needed to integrate.

South Africa is engaged in a massive infrastructure programme, with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) having also set up infrastructure programmes, and these should form the basis for industrialisation, Davies said.

Zimbabwe: Nation to have new diamond miner

The Government has granted a licence to Global Diamond Trekkers to explore for the gems in the Middle Sabi area of Manicaland province, about 100 km south east of the Chiadzwa fields. According to a statement issued by the company, it was given permission to investigate the potential for mining diamonds in the Middle Sabi area. The alluvial diamond concession lies in the Middle Sabi valley, about 167 km south of Mutare in Manicaland province.

Global Diamond Trekkers said it had since engaged a consultancy firm to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment for the project. The company will in the short term conduct an exploration exercise to determine the extent of the resources. Thereafter it would seek compliance with industry regulator the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme.

Zimbabwe is a notable diamond producer with huge reserves of the mineral especially in the Marange area. The five joint-venture mines in Marange produced a combined eight million carats of the gems last year and generated at least US$684 million in exports.

Industry experts say Zimbabwe has the potential to account for at least 25 percent of global production by the end of the decade.

Nigeria: To take ICT investment drive to Silicon Valley

The Ministry of Communication Technology is holding a Silicon Valley Investment Forum in San Francisco, United States of America (USA), to showcase the untapped potential of the Nigerian ICT sector – its success stories and investment opportunities to the global community.

The three-day forum will showcase the development of Nigeria’s technology sector including policy, economic development and individual success stories of start-ups in the country.

The aim of the forum is to further highlight the potential of the Nigerian ICT sector and increase exposure of ideation and innovation in Nigeria. The forum will showcase Nigeria’s Innovation drive and success stories of start-ups like Jumia, Co Creation Hub, Venia Business Hub, Wakanow.com, Interswitch, Paga etc. Also, a new report on Nigeria’s ICT sector by the Oxford Business Group will be circulated at the forum.

The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson, will speak on the potential of the Nigerian ICT sector and initiatives of the Ministry to accelerate the growth of the sector.

Ethiopia: Growth is impressive – African Development Bank

Ethiopia’s strong, decade-long economic growth made it possible for the country to be on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals says the African Development Bank (AfDB).

In its latest publication “AfDB and Ethiopia – Partnering for Inclusive Growth” the Bank point to huge investment in infrastructure and commercialization of agriculture as major causes for the average 11% annual growth over the past nine years, making Ethiopia the biggest economy in East Africa.

The Bank lauded the government’s development policy that lead to broad based growth and a considerable reduction in poverty, noting pro-poor policies accounted for 69% of expenditure in the 2011-12 budget year alone.

Prudent monetary policies brought inflation down to 7.7% in 2013 from a high of 40% in mid-2011. The Bank underlines its commitment to continue partnership with Ethiopia, aligning its country strategy with the Growth and Transformation Plan.

It notes “the government of Ethiopia’s key development objective is to achieve inclusive, accelerated and sustained economic growth and to eradicate poverty” and expresses the Bank’s strong conviction of the prospects of Ethiopia’s development.

The Bank’s country strategy principles included alignment with the Growth and transformation Plan, prioritizing infrastructure, regional integration, governance and private sector development and supporting the East African Integration strategy. The Bank has therefore supported the Ethio-Djibouti Electric Power Interconnection Project, the Ethio-Kenya Electric Highway project, the Mombasa-Nairobi-Addis Ababa Road Corridor and the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program.

Since it joined the African Development Bank Group in 1964, Ethiopia has benefitted from loans and grants to the tune of US$3.75 billion, making it the sixth largest beneficiary in the continent.

South Sudan: Korean millionaires to invest

South Sudan will soon witness a number of investors from Korea coming willingly to invest in diverse natural resources in the country. The government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has already embarked on serious discussions on how these millionaires will be handled when they arrive in the country.

The head of Korean mission in Uganda, Park Jong Dae confirmed that the millionaires will arrive as soon as the necessary arrangements are completed. He said South Sudan has a promising investment potential and the Korean millionaires are interested to invest there.

He also said he will be leaving shortly for Juba to see how the Korean peace keepers can introduce new programs to improve its developmental service to South Sudan. The envoy disclosed all this after a meeting with the minister for Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin, while in Kampala.

Kenya: Standard Bank, ICBC raise $108m debt facility heavy fuel plant

Standard Bank Group and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) have concluded a $108 million debt financing package with Triumph Kenya to construct a 83MW heavy fuel oil plant in the east African nation. As mandated co-lead arrangers, CfC Stanbic Bank, a member of Standard Bank Group, provided $28 million of debt funding while ICBC supplied $80 million. The ICBC finance portion will be for the plant, currently being built 25km from Nairobi.

Kenya Power also signed a 20-year agreement with Triumph to purchase power from the plant, which will be a crucial supplier to the utility during times of drought when the country’s hydroelectric generating capacity becomes constrained.

The World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) will provide $102.5 million in breach of contract insurance should Kenya Power fail to honour its 20-year power purchase agreement with Triumph. MIGA’s insurance will also cover the Government of Kenya’s obligations under the Government of Kenya Letter of Support.

Kenya has historically relied on hydropower for most of its electricity needs and has a current installed generating capacity of 1,672 MW, compared with peak power demand of 1,330 MW. The nation’s economy has expanded at an average rate of 4-5 percent over the last 3 years.

Nigeria: Fitch rates economy stable

Fitch Ratings, an international independent rating agency, rated Nigeria’s economic outlook as stable. The agency also affirmed the country’s long-term foreign and local currency IDRs and senior unsecured bond ratings at ‘BB-‘ and ‘BB’ respectively, while the short-term foreign currency IDR was rated ‘B’ and Country Ceiling at ‘BB-‘. This vote of confidence on the prospects of the Nigerian economy is coming a few days after another respected international rating agency, Standard & Poor’s also affirmed a strong and positive rating for the management of the economy.

According to the agency, the affirmation reflects the following key rating drivers, a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.4 per cent in the first half of 2013, noting that though lower than the level in 2012, the country showed resilience in the face of exogenous shocks.

The agency noted the non-oil economy had slowed but still grew by 7.9 per cent in 2012 and 7.6 per cent in the first half of 2013. The agency expressed optimism that non-oil growth should pick up in the second half of 2013, as normal weather had resumed and the authorities had responded to the security problems. Reforms to the electricity and agriculture sectors could start to boost potential growth.

Other key drivers of the rating, as highlighted by the agency, included inflation rate, which had remained in single digits all year – the lowest in five years and the longest stretch of single digit inflation since 2008. Also, policy rates were unchanged and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had the twin aims of achieving single-digit inflation and maintaining exchange rate stability. Fitch also adjudged public finances as remaining comfortable and estimated a general government deficit of around 1.8 per cent of GDP this year and next.

Ghana: Fitch downgrades … From B+ to B

Fitch has downgraded Ghana from a B to a B, largely because of the government’s difficulty in managing the rising wage bill and of the increased debt to GDP ratio pose short-term challenges to the economy. Ghana was put on a B (negative) outlook in February this year and has since been under continuous assessment by Fitch, which had expressed concern over several factors affecting the short-term health of Ghana’s economy.

While experts recognise Ghana’s bright prospects in the medium term, it is believed that the government will struggle with controlling the fiscal situation over the next 18 months.

The outlook for post-2015 looks much better,” a sources,close to the rating agency, said, citing Ghana’s removal of subsidies on petroleum products as helping the fiscal situation, but continued subsidies on utilities, especially power, posed challenges for fiscal stability and growth going forward.

South Africa: Eskom wins R1.3 billion French solar loan

France is to lend €100-million (R1.3-billion) to South African state company Eskom to help finance a 100 megawatt (MW) concentrating solar power plant near Upington in the Northern Cape. Eskom and the French Development Agency (AFD) agreed, during French President Francois Hollande’s state visit to South Africa, to facilitate the signing of the loan.

Eskom chief executive Brian Dames said in a statement that the Upington CSP project, one of Eskom’s first commercial-scale renewable energy projects outside of its existing hydro portfolio, “puts us on a path towards reducing our carbon footprint and investing in a sustainable energy future”. The Upington CSP project is expected to deliver an annual energy production of 525 GWh and will be sufficient to power 200 000 homes.

Liberia: ‘Most Improved’ nation

Liberia leads the table of biggest governance improvers in Africa since 2000, and has seen largest improvements in Safety & Rule of Law.

The 2013 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) revealed that Liberia is the ‘most improved country’ on the continent in terms of overall governance since 2000. The top five most improved countries in the 2013 IIAG are all post-conflict countries: Liberia, Angola, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Burundi.

The 2013 IIAG provides full details of Liberia’s performance across four categories of governance: Safety & Rule of Law, Participation & Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development. Since 2000, Liberia has shown its biggest improvement in the category of Safety & Rule of Law, which measures judicial functions, accountability, transparency and corruption, property rights, personal safety and national security, among others.

Liberia’s performance in the 2013 IIAG stands as follow: Ranks 29th (out of 52) overall; scores 50.3 (out of 100), lower than the African; average (51.6); has improved by +24.8 since 2000; ranks 10th (out of 16) in the West African region; scores lower than the regional average for West Africa (52.5) and ranks highest in the category Participation & Human Rights (19th out of 52).

According to report, West Africa ranks 3rd out of five regions at the overall governance level. This has been the case every year since 2000, except in 2011 when it ranked 2nd.

South Africa: Old Mutual set to invest $101m in Africa

Old Mutual Investment Group SA (Omigsa) said it is set to raise R10 billion ($101 million) to invest in private equity, infrastructure and agriculture funds throughout Africa. Diane Radley, the CEO at Omigsa, said domestic pension funds will be used as sources for the investment money that will generate long-term yields.

According to Radley, by 2050 at least one in three youngsters in the globe will be living in the African continent; this, she said, will turn Africa into one of the greatest and thrilling consumer markets going forward.

Omigsa, the South Africa-based unit of Old Mutual, is Africa’s biggest insurance company listed on London and Johannesburg stock exchanges.

Nigeria: Brittania-U offers $1.2 Billion for Chevron Oil blocs

Brittania-U Nigeria Limited, a Lagos-based marginal oil field operator, has reportedly offered Chevron a $1.2 billion for 3 of its listed oil blocs, throwing lower bidders into panic. Chevron has been seeking to liquidate its 40 percent stake in blocs OMLs 52, 53, 55, 83 and 85, listing them for sale to local operators. The indigenous oil firm has been rivalled by fellow operators Seplat/Amni Production, Niger Delta Petroleum/SAPETRO and Sahara/Septa – all Nigerian companies – seeking to acquire the reserves-rich fields. The blocs are said to hold oil reserves in excess of 250 million barrels of oil and over 3.5 billion cubic feet of gas, valued at $400 million.

Though no official declaration has been made, Brittania-U’s latest bid – believed to be $1 billion higher than other bids – looks set to put an end to the 3-month bidding process. Brittania-U is bidding to buy OMLs 52, 53 and 55, estimated to contain proven oil and gas reserves of 555 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE), a Business Day report revealed.

The oil and gas company’s astonishing offer has been supported by an equity financing partner, an arrangement Eddy Wikina, former external relation affairs manager, Shell Nigeria Exploration Petroleum Company (SNEPCO), feels was easy initiated due to the company’s excellent credit rating.

Related articles

• Accra to host ‘The Ghana Summit’ Conference (modernghana.com)
• Ghana achieved first MDG ahead of deadline: Lessons for other African Countries (mdginafrica.wordpress.com)
• Cold War ‘cost Africa more than colonialism’: Mo Ibrahim (africareview.com)
• Africa achieving but… (daily-mail.co.zm)
• Financing Africa’s Infrastructure Gap (brookings.edu)
• Africa rising but rule of law declines (theguardian.com)
• Ghana to acquire military aircrafts from Spain (sierraexpressmedia.com)
• Rwanda slams Mo Ibrahim governance index (vancouverdesi.com)
• My Journey to the West (marymarysketton.wordpress.com)
• Bermudian Helps Showcase Ghana’s Gardens (bernews.com)

Africa Focused News

Tags

Africa, Angola, Bank of Ghana, Barack Obama, BoG, Botswana, China, Debt, Egypt, Ethiopia, Foreign direct investment, GDP, ghana, Ireland, Mozambique, Nigeria, Petroleum, Reykjavik Geothermal, South Africa, Tanzania, Treasury bills, Uganda, Unilever, World Bank

REPORT OF LAST WEEK (from 30/09/13 to 04/10/13)

by Dario Galluccio

This Blog is sponsored by http://www.reflexecogroup.com

Ghana: GIPC is working to promote the growth of local businesses

The Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) has explained that the centre is not only interested in Foreign Direct Investment but is also seriously interested in promoting Ghanaian businesses to attract investment and grow the economy.

Speaking at a general meeting of the Sekondi-Takoradi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (STCCI), he explained GIPC is providing direct promotion support to identified local investment project sponsors to solicit international as well as local investment partnerships.

>Our mission is to attract private domestic and foreign investments and to transform Ghana into a broad-based industrial and export-led economy through aggressive investment promotion activities,” said Mr. Isaac Ebo Newton, an Official of GIPC.

Ethiopia: Reykjavik Geothermal to build 1000MW power plant

US-Icelandic geothermal development company, Reykjavik Geothermal (RG), has agreed to build a 1000MW geothermal plant in Ethiopia to help the East African nation harness its energy potential. The power plant which will be built in Ethiopia’s Corbetti Caldera region is part of President Barack Obama’s $7 billion Power Africa initiative which seeks to double electricity supply on the continent. The geothermal plant will be Ethiopia’s first independent power plant project and it is expected to be one of the world’s largest geothermal power plant.

The deal will also make Reykjavik Geothermal Ethiopia’s first independent power producer, while the Corbetti project will be the largest single geothermal plant ever built in Africa, RG Chairman, Michael Phillip said.

Reykjavik Geothermal, a company that has helped build power plants in about 30 countries globally expects to invest $4 billion over an 8-10 years period. It has been working with Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO) and various government ministries for the past two years to finanlise the purchase agreement. The geothermal development company will build and operate up to 1000Megawatts of geothermal in two 500MW phases. While the first 10MW of power will be online in 2015 with an additional 100MW in 2016; the full 500MW will be operational in 2018.

Ghana: Industrialization process depends on energy sector

Government intends to use the energy sector as a springboard to develop other sectors of the economy, Mr Armah Kofi Buah, Minister of Energy and Petroleum, has stated. Mr Buah was speaking at a durbar to celebrate this year’s World and National Tourism Day at Nkroful in the Ellembele District of the Western Region at the weekend. The celebration was under the theme: “Tourism and Water: Protecting our Common Future”.

Mr. Buah said the tourism sector must take advantage of the numerous oil and gas projects in order to strengthen its position as a critical sector of the economy. He said the hospitality industry could take advantage of the oil and gas projects to expand and create jobs for the country’s teeming youth.

Nigeria: China to build $1.3 Billion Zungeru power plant

Nigeria has signed a $1.3billion deal with two Chinese state companies, China National Electrical Equipment Corporation (CNEEC) and Sinohydro Consortium, to build the Zungeru power plant. The deal will help to put an end to the chronic electrical power supply shortages that continues to slow growth in Africa’s second-biggest economy. The plant, which is scheduled for completion by 2018, will help add 700 MegaWatts (MW) electricity to Nigeria’s current 4600MW.

The Zungeru power plant in Niger state (about 150km to federal capital, Abuja) was first conceived in 1982, but was abandoned due to lack of funds. Now, 75 percent of the fund needed for the project will be supplied by China’s Exim bank while Nigerian government will foot the rest of the bill.

This project will create thousands of jobs for Nigerian engineers, technicians and artisans during the construction phase…. it will also boost the economy,” Nigeria Finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said at the signing of the deal.

According to Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the loan being finalised was part of the $3bn approved by China at interest rate of less than 3 percent.

President Jonathan and Chinese president, Xi Jinping had met in July 2013 over the signing of the accords between the governments to facilitate $1.1 billion in low interest loans for infrastructure projects in Nigeria.

Uganda: China wins $2 billion oil deal

China’s state-owned CNOOC has secured a $2-billion deal to develop a petroleum field in Uganda and help propel the east African nation into the club of oil-producing countries, an official said Friday. “This is a major breakthrough as a country,’ Uganda’s junior energy minister Peter Lokeris told AFP, confirming that a deal had been reached earlier this month with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation.

Uganda has oil reserves estimated at 3.5 billion barrels but the path to production has been a bumpy one since deposits were discovered in 2006 near its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Such reserves have the potential to radically alter Uganda’s economy and could eventually as much as double the national income.

Ghana: Petroleum prices to go down

Motorists will experience a little over 4 percent decrease in the price of fuel at the pumps. Diesel users will save a little over 2 percent at the pumps. The latest move follows a revision of the prices of petroleum products by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA). Petrol is now GHC 2.22 a lite while Diesel is going for GHC 2.18 a lite.

However prices of premix fuel and kerosene have been revised upwards. A litre of premix fuel is now going for about 98 pesewas which is up by almost 23 percent. While kerosene is now GHC 1.59 up from the GHC 1.28 leading to almost an 8 percent increase.

Ghana: GDP Pegged At 7.4%

Ghana’s economy is expected to grow provisionally at 7.4 percent for the year, the Ghana Statistical Servic (GSS) said. Speaking at a media conference, Dr Philomena Nyarko, Government Statistician, said it is likely government could achieve its target growth in 2013 due to expected increases in oil production.

Dr Nyarko stated that the real quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for the second quarter of the year was 6.1 percent year-on-year. Non-oil GDP was 5.8 per cent while the total value and services amounted to $44.2 billion with a per capita income of $1,667, she said.

Dr Nyarko added that the services remain the largest sector, contributing about half of the GDP. The services sector growth rate however fell to 9.2 per cent from 10.2 per cent in 2012 on the account of positive increases in information and communication activities, real estate, professional, administrative and support service activities. This was followed by the industry sector 2.5 per cent while the agriculture sector showed a negative growth of 3.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, the annual producer price inflation fell for the fifth consecutive month to 4.7 per cent year-on-year in August from 5.0 per cent in July.

Tanzania: Northern Zone invites investors

Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) has reaffirmed its continued commitment to support local and foreign investors who want to invest in Northern Zone regions and other places in Tanzania. The TIC Executive Director, Ms Juliet Kairuki told journalists during a recent Northern zone Investment Forum that her centre is ready to receive and help all those with interest to invest in the Northern regions of Manyara, Tanga, Kilimanjaro and Arusha.

She noted that the forum has enabled investors, business community and entrepreneurs to learn about the investment opportunities available in the Northern Zone and the government’s role in initiating investment projects. She said that during the past 12 years, Tanzania has performed well in attracting huge investment projects in agriculture, tourism, industries, communication, infrastructure and transport. Within that period, a number of those projects have risen from 178 to 869 in 2012; 53 per cent of these projects are wholly owned by Tanzanians. The projects have contributed on the increase of capital from 874 million US dollars up to 12 billion dollars within that period.

The two-day forum that was opened by Premier Mizengo Pinda attracted over 1,500 international and local investors plus officials from the government, private sector, religious leaders, ambassadors and high commissioners and other development stakeholders.

Ethiopia: Premier called Western companies to invest

PM Hailemariam Desalegn has called upon western companies to take part in the positive investment regime in Ethiopia. Noting that investors from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East have already established themselves, the PM urged representatives of American businesses he met in New York to consider investing in Ethiopia’s untapped investment potential.

Prime Minister Hailemariam has also explained Ethiopia’s investment policies, regulations and incentive; and responded to questions raised by the attendees of the event regarding ICT, banking services and privatization of state owned public enterprises. In a study presented in Prime Minister Hailemariam’s meeting with representatives of American businesses, manufacturing, mining, construction, hotel and tourism, and healthcare were identified as areas of engagement promising to the American businesses.

Routinely praised for its pro-poor development policies, Ethiopia has been one of the fastest growing economies in the world for the past ten years. And although the share of Foreign Direct Investment to as a share of the GDP growth has not been satisfactory, recent trends have shown a significant hike in the amount of annual foreign direct investments. The government’s focus on attracting FDI as a means of stocking up capital and technology transfer has paid off dramatically. FDI stood at 300 million USD in 2010, and three years on it has now reached at an incredible 1 billion USD, making Ethiopia the second biggest destination for FDI in Africa, next to South Africa.

Among the countries of origin in Ethiopia’s inflow of foreign investment, emerging economies and other countries from Africa, Asia and the Middle East hold the lion’s share. And western companies are expected to enter Ethiopia and invest in the numerous possibilities shortly.

Mozambique: Government open to French investment

Mozambican President Armando Guebuza declared in Paris on that Mozambique is open to new French initiatives in various spheres of cooperation, particularly in economic matters, and in security in the Mozambique Channel.

Briefing the Mozambican journalists accompanying the visit, Deputy Foreign Minister Henrique Banze, said it had been agreed at the meetings to deepen cooperation between Mozambique and France in various spheres. ‘This is a very fruitful and promising visit’, said Banze. ‘Our President has shown openness and the two sides have agreed that cooperation should be deepened. The assessment is that relations are good, but there is space to expand them’.

During his meeting with the business representatives, Guebuza praised the work of some of the French companies already operating in Mozambique, said Banze. He also noted that others want to enter the Mozambican market, including Air France. Should Air France decide to re-open the Maputo-Paris route, this will give travellers to Europe a convenient alternative to the current routes (via Lisbon, Johannesburg, Nairobi or Addis Ababa).

Ghana to net-export power in four years

The President of the republic of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama has revealed that, Ghana will become a net-exporter of power within the next four years given the pragmatic and practical measures the government is putting in place to solve the energy crisis in the country. The President assured the Independent Power Producers, willing to invest in the energy sector of his unflinching government commitment to create an enabling environment for their business to flow efficiently, which would help mitigate the current energy crisis the country is facing.

The President made these remarks at a town hall meeting hosted for him at his hotel in New York City, to interact with Ghanaians across the United States. Speaking on the current state of the various sectors of the Ghanaian economy President Mahama noted that, the Ghanaian economy is moving at a faster pace, hence the government is targeting 8 percent growth rate per year. And expressed hope and optimism that, “Ghana will progress to a middle income status in the next eight years.” Touching on the transport sector, he disclosed that, “95 percent of our transports are dominated by the road sector, and there is the need for the government to revamp the rail sector, which adds to the GDP of any country.” He noted that the government has taken over the Tema Shipyard from the Malaysian investors, with the intention to revamp and re-invigorate it, so that all the ships in West African will use it to dry-dock in Ghana.

He also expressed government commitment to revamp Tema Oil Refinery to enable Ghana’s crude oil be refined right within the Ghanaian shores which will create more jobs for the unemployed youth.

Angola: To lead investment attraction in SADC

Angola is in a privileged position as compared with the other countries of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) regarding attraction of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), as it combines its economic potential with political stability.

This was said Tuesday, 1st of October, in Luanda by the economist Fiel Constantino.

Speaking to Angop, Fiel Constantino, who was speaking about the country’s FDI, said Angola’s political stability places the Democratic Republic of Congo in a second position, despite the neighbouring country’s huge economic potential. As to the continent’s strongest economy, South Africa, with an also stronger political stability and recognised established democracy, the specialist said it has not an economy as great as the above mentioned countries, as it is nearing exhaustion and more and more becoming an FDI emission economy.

Nigeria: Irish firms to invest in Nigeria

Various Irish companies would soon invest in Nigeria, Irish High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Patrick Fay has said. Fay, who disclosed this during a recent launch of a premium product – the Irish Mayor – in Abuja, said efforts are being made to boost commerce between Nigeria and Ireland. He stressed that, as part of efforts to enhance the economic ties between both countries, the Irish Minister for Trade and Development would, in November 2013, lead a trade delegation to Nigeria.

He said: “We are trying to develop the link and make it stronger. To do that, we are working closely with the Nigerian Ambassador in Dublin and the Department of Foreign Affairs to work together to develop our trade.”

Africa: India wants early trade pact with African nations

India has pitched for early conclusion of the preferential trade pact with African nations, which is expected to help enhance business ties between India and minerals rich countries of the continent. Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma urged his South African counterpart Rob Davies to expedite the much delayed India-SACU preferential trade pact that will reduce tariffs on several key products. Sharma is in Johannesburg for the third Indo-Africa Trade ministers meet. The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) consists of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.

India has been waiting for the response from the African side on its proposal of an average margin of preference of 70%. This means imports from SACU will be subject to a tariff 70% lower than the most favoured nation rate.

The bilateral trade target of $100 billion by 2015 and $200 billion by 2020 is a modest one and is certainly achievable, Sharma said. Air connectivity and visa related issues were the two other concerns raised at the second India-Africa Business Council ( IABC) meet here, co-chaired by Bharti group chairman Sunil Mittal. Indian business chamber FICCI is the institutional partner of the council.

Sharma assured that the air connectivity issue has been taken up at the highest level and that Air India will resume its flights to Africa from 2014 onwards.

South Africa: Debt could grow to 63% of GDP by 2020

South Africa should set a debt target to improve the credibility of its fiscal policy as slower economic growth makes it difficult to keep the budget deficit under control, the International Monetary Fund said.

Government debt may stabilise at about 47% of gross domestic product in five years, with a 10% chance that the ratio can reach 63% by 2020, the Washington-based lender said in its annual Article IV country report, published on its website today.

Determining an appropriate debt benchmark remains highly controversial,” the IMF said. “Given South Africa’s outlook, the magnitude of macroeconomic and fiscal shocks, and cross- country comparisons, reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio to around 40 percent by 2020 would allow the country to rebuild adequate fiscal space.”

Falling tax revenues and spending pressures contributed to a widening in the budget deficit to 5.1 percent of GDP in the year through March, prompting the government to increase borrowing. Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan forecast gross debt will reach 45 percent of GDP in the year through March 2016 from an estimated 42 percent last year.

While the state’s agreement to limit wage increases for the next three years to 1 percent and to set explicit expenditure ceilings were positive, “the government’s poor record in controlling the wage bill and potential spillovers from high wage demands in other sectors represent downside risks,” according to the report.

Angola: Huila invests AKZ 950 Million

The government of southern Huila province will invest in 2014 roughly AKZ 950 Million Kwanza (about 10$ million) for construction of cultural and religious infrastructure in the municipalities of Lubango, Chicomba, Chibia and Caluquembe. The information is part of a report from Huila government that reached Angop on Thursday, 3rd of October, which says that the construction of this infrastructure is part of the Public Investment Programme.

The report adds that 60 million Kwanzas will be spent on rehabilitation of the head Office of Evangelic Church Sinodal of Angola (IESA) in Lubango and the construction Catholic Church in Kola, Caluquembe Municipality. It is also part of the Public Investment Programme for 2014, the construction of regional museum of Huila/Lubango), house of Culture, as well as the rehabilitation of boarding school from catholic church in Chicomba.

Nigeria: FG, World Bank Micro Projects gulp N28.7 Billion

The federal government has revealed that it has spent over N28.72 billion in the execution of micro-projects, under a joint partnership programme with the World Bank and twenty six state governments in the country. The National Coordinator of the Federal Support Unit, an arm of the Presidency supervising the implementation of the scheme, Mr. Chidi Onuoha, while giving a recent update on the performance of the development initiative in Abuja, said about 5,464 community-driven projects have been completed since the inception of the programme in 2009.

He listed some of the benefiting states to include, Kogi, Benue, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Bauchi Adamawa, Ekiti, Kwara and Ondo. Onuoha said the projects were executed based on eight sectoral interventions, including education, water supply, transport, health, rural electrification, socio-economic, gender and vulnerability, and environment.

According to Onuoha, the micro project initiative had received a start-off fund of $200 million from the World Bank, and it has since committed 98 per cent of the amount as part of the Bank’s counterpart funding of the various community development projects in the participating 26 states. Also as at June this year, contribution from the 26 states is N5.8 billion out of the expected N13 billion counterpart funding obligation.

Ghana: To rank first with highest yield on Treasury bills

Investors looking for higher return on their investment could turn to Ghana’s securities market. This is because the country has been ranked number one with the highest yield on its 91-day and 182-day Treasury bills among 12 countries surveyed.

Out of the 12 countries surveyed by Ecobank Research, Ghana recorded an interest rate of 21 and 21.34 percent respectively on its fixed income securities. Malawi and The Gambia followed suit with interest rates of 14.92 and 20.17 percent and 14.76 and 16 respectively on their 91-day and 182-day Treasury bills. Sierra Leone and South Africa recorded the least rates of 3.36 and 7.05 and 5.05 and 5.31 percent respectively on their 91-day and 182-day Treasury bill rates.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Ghana is expected to issue a new 7-year bond next month. This underlines the Central Bank’s aim of extending the yield curve to develop the bond market.

Interest rates remain high particularly at the short end of the yield curve, at around 22 percent for the weekly Treasury bills.

Ghana: Digicraft to explore new markets

Digicraft, an indigenous advertising and marketing communications company, has expressed its commitment to explore new markets beyond the boundaries of Ghana. According to the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr Kwaku T. Danso-Misa, the move forms part of the company’s resolve to face new challenges and to increase its profitability.

‘We are willing and ready to take up the challenges of this new age, one that defines competition in a global setting and not just a local one. In moving forward, we will spread our wings wider and totally consolidate our gains or equity we have as a brand’, he said.

Mr Danso-Misa admitted to the competition within the industry but noted that the company only saw competition as one ‘for space in people’s minds. It is about creating something that is memorable, sustainable, coherent, flexible and ultimately adds value and we are ready for that at all times’.

On his part, the General Manager, Mr Kwasi Danso-Misa, attributed the company’s growth since its inception to hard work, dedication and teamwork. ‘Our strategy has always been aligned with the thinking of their client and their consumers. In effect, it explains simplicity and effectiveness in communication, as well as quick turnaround time is what separates Digicraft from the rest,’ he said.

Botswana: London-based De Beers Operation moved to Botswana

World’s biggest Diamond miner, De Beers, will move its entire $6 billion-a-year “sales operation” from London to the Botswana capital of Gaberone. The global newswire reported that this meant that 85 workers out of 300 staffers based in London would be moved to the country with a 230 000-strong population. The decision, taken almost three years ago, cost the company over $120 million, which included the construction of flashy offices in Gaborone.

This comes after many years of talks between the government of Botswana and De Beers, which is owned by the mining giant Anglo American.

The Southern African country of Botswana is the biggest producer of gem diamonds and it is where the world’s richest mines are located including the famous Jwaneng. It is believed that the move to Botswana will put to trial Botswana’s capability to advance people expertise and reduce jobless rate in the country. Unemployment rate stands at about 18 percent in Botswana.

Africa: Godrej to expand business In Africa with more acquisitions

Indian-based international conglomerate, Godrej Consumer Product Ltd (GCPL) has announced that it is in discussions to take over more businesses in Africa as part of its expansion plan on the continent. Godrej which already has manufacturing plants in four African countries including Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Mozambique wants to expand its manufacturing footprint to Tanzania and Uganda. GPCL Chairman, Adi Godrej confirmed this move saying the firm is in talk with some local firms in the country.

GPCL is betting on the African continent to drive its international sales via acquisition.

Africa accounts for majority of GPCL international revenue. In the year ended June 30, its revenue from Africa stands at R214 Crore. As at 2012, Godrej said the group is growing at 25-30 percent rate in Africa with an investment worth over $3.3 billion.

With presence across 14 African countries, Godrej has over 10,000 employees on the continent.

Ghana: BoG predicts 6% inflation in March 2014

The Bank of Ghana is projecting inflation within the band of 6 and 10 percent by the end of March next year. It has already projected 11.5 percent end year inflation while government is targeting between 7 and 11 percent rate. The Central Bank’s latest forecast is based on the exchange rate, energy prices, crude oil assumptions and the fiscal policy stance.

Inflation dropped for the first time this year to record a rate of 11.5 percent in August. The relative stability of the Ghana Cedi to the US Dollar appeared to have impacted on the decline of the price levels. This is because the non food inflation went down from 15.4 percent in July to 14.2 percent in August. However, the food inflation went up despite the beginning of the food harvest season. The monthly change for August was -0.7 percent.

Nigeria: World Bank approves $300m mortgage facility

The World Bank has approved a $300 million International Development Assistance (IDA) credit facility for Nigeria to aid low-income citizens own homes, through affordable mortgages. The World Bank, which disclosed this at its Abuja office, said the project would support the establishment of a mortgage liquidity scheme that will generate long-term funds for borrowers who fall in the middle and lower class categories in the country, guardian reported.

This project will directly benefit new home owners who struggle to find available cash to purchase long-term mortgage” said World Bank’s task team leader Michael Wong, adding that the project was expected to also create jobs in construction, designs, finance and other sectors throughout the country. Adding to this was Marie Francoise Nelly, World Bank’s Country Director for Nigeria who said; “The Nigerian financial system has quickly grown and is becoming increasingly integrated into a global financial system.

The coordinating Minister and Minister of Finance of the federation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala had in April revealed that the Global body had agreed to assist Nigeria reintroduce mortgages and was ready to lend the Giant of Africa up to $300 million to realise the goal.

Kenya: To diversity exports to Egypt

The Exports Promotion Council (EPC) now plans to diversify the country’s exports to Egypt in order to increase trade and investment in both countries. Exports Promotion Council Director Bramwell Simiyu says Egypt is a medium sized economy and there is need to leverage on other opportunities available. Simiyu says tea accounts for 95 percent of exports to Egypt and the council is looking at introducing horticulture, livestock, beverages and services to export to Egypt’s exports.

“With the instability in Egypt in the recent past, unless we are able to diversify the product menu, we stand a risk of losing out on other opportunities that are there,” he said.

Simiyu says currently, Kenya’s imports almost double exports to Egypt, and the council is working to reverse the trade imbalance.

He says the council’s new strategy is to take advantage of the local and regional markets, pointing out the nearer markets are better, and expanding away from the traditional goods to products like human resources as well as sports tourism. He says the entry conditions for the regional market are much more flexible and by focusing on products produced by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) achieving a 20 percent increase in exports every year will be realized.

Nigeria: Foreign investors plan U.S.$16 Billion investment in Delta

The Delta State government has attracted more than 16 billion dollars worth of investment for its export free zone, which is expected to create some 500,000 jobs. The state governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, said in Warri, Delta State that investors from Saudi Arabia and India are ready to invest in petrochemical and fertiliser plants. He also said that the Koko Export Free Zone had been approved by the Federal Government and the issue of approval for Warri Export Free Zone was still being pursued.

He said that it was the nature of Koko as an export free zone that attracted the investors since the Federal Government/NNPC Master plan approved three states, namely, Rivers State, Delta State and Akwa Ibom State for such projects.

The governor said that the Delta State government has done much in Koko by ensuring the approval of its status as an export free zone, ensuring peace and following closely the gas master plan. He said that already, the state government has prepared grounds for the free zone by putting in place the Asaba Airport, which would assist investors to fly their equipment into the state.

Uduaghan said that the strategic location of Koko also would assist cargo shipping through the Benin River. Uduaghan said that the Federal Government would tackle the dredging of the Benin River to allow bigger vessels to get to Koko, adding, “‘transport infrastructure is very critical”.

Kenya: Unilever plans Sh17 Billion investment

Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch manufacturer, plans to invest €150 million (Sh17.6 billion) in a new manufacturing plant in Kenya, global chief executive officer Paul Polman has said. Polman told President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House Nairobi that the planned investment will cater for the company’s expanding interests in the greater eastern African region, including in Ethiopia and Tanzania. The investment will also result in skill and technology transfer opportunities, as well as creating hundreds of jobs for Kenyans, he added.

The CEO said the company also planned to expand its existing factories in the lush hill-top farmlands of Kericho, to increase the amount of teas processed there to 50,000 tonnes per year from the current 30,000 tonnes. Unilever was also working with researchers on how to raise tea yield on Kenyan farms by up to 40 percent.

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• 1,000 Megawatts in Ethiopia over Next 10 Years (grapheners.com)
• Djibouti has geothermal EOIs out; KenGen, USEA, UNEP seek candidates for positions in African geothermal development (geoenergist.wordpress.com)
• Bill McKibben nightmare: Africa fossil fueling-up as Kenya to build 1,000 MW coal plant, 800 MW gas plant (junkscience.com)
• Iceland to Help Develop Geothermal Energy in Ethiopia (dailyfusion.net)
• Reykjavik Geothermal to develop 1GW power projects in Ethiopia (cleantechnology-business-review.com)
• New Zealand Gets World’s Biggest Geothermal Plant (sustainablebusiness.com)
• Nigeria signs agreement for Zungeru hydro plant development (hydro.energy-business-review.com)

Africa Focused News

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Africa, Aggreko, Algeria, Beijing, Botswana, Cameroon, China, Dangote, Ethiopia, Eurobond, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, ghana, Government, IFC, India, International Finance Corporation, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, NamPower, Oil, Ressano Garcia, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, United Bank for Africa, United Nations Development Programme, United States, Vision 2025, Zambia

REPORT OF LAST WEEK (from 02/09/13 to 06/09/13)

by Dario Galluccio

This Blog is sponsored by http://www.reflexecogroup.com

Mozambique: Aggreko completes power expansion project

Temporary power supply solutions company Aggreko has completed the expansion of its gas-fired power plant at Gigawatt Park in Ressano Garcia, Mozambique. The expansion will add an additional 122 MW of capacity to the Ressano Garcia facility, bringing the total generation output from the plant to 232 MW and was formally inaugurated by the Mozambique Minister of Energy, The Honorable Salvador Namburete during a ceremony held, last week, at the project site.

Following the success of the first stage of Ressano Garcia, Aggreko announced in March 2013 that it had signed agreements with both EDM and NamPower, the Namibian power utility, to supply an additional 122 MW from the project.

Immediately, work began to more than double the generating capacity of the plant. As Aggreko designed and built the plant infrastructure to allow for modular increases in capacity, adding the additional power generation was achieved in just 12 weeks.

Tanzania: Government vows to support local investors

The government has pledged to support investment initiatives in the country to boost the country’s economy and well being of people; Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Prof. Adolf Mkenda said creating good investment climate would boost the economy.

“The Ministry of Finance understands the challenges facing the cement industry that includes poor infrastructure, competition and imports. We will continue working with other government ministries and agencies to ensure that the cement sector continues to play a pivotal role in economic development,” he said.

He also said the cement sector has for the last five years been growing at an average of nine per cent with its contribution to GDP increasing from 7.7 per cent in 2008 to 8.1 per cent in 2012 “Production grew from 2.4 million tonnes in 2011 to 3.42 million tonnes in 2012. If all the cement produced in the country is sold within in the country without exporting, demand will be met by 75 per cent,” he said.

Africa: Natural resources, oil to underwrite Chinese investment

Africa’s importance to China’s overseas investment agenda could become more significant as Beijing pursues a strategy of securing access to vital natural resources and takes big financial risks to get them. Last year, Chinese companies completed construction contracts worth US$40 billion in Africa, up 45 per cent over 2009, making up 35 per cent of all of China’s overseas contracts.

Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist at Nomura in Hong Kong, reckons that number could jump as Beijing seeks to secure access to Africa’s oil resources. China became the world’s biggest net oil importer earlier this year, taking the position that had been held by the United States since the 1970s.

Chinese firms have invested billions of US dollars in the oil-rich nations of Angola and Sudan to secure access to oil. That means Beijing’s influence on the continent, relative to the US, is likely to grow. Africa, projected to grow 5 per cent this year, gets 1 per cent of US foreign direct investment.

The continent, home to six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies, has been China’s second-largest overseas contract market since 2009. The trend is likely continue, according to vice-minister of commerce, Li Jinzao, who said that China-Africa ties had reached a new historic high and would “enter the fast lane” this year. According to Li there were opportunities for deeper investment ties as African nations sought to upgrade their economic infrastructure.

Tanzania: New Project to view vision 2025 challenges

The Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have launched a new project targeting to highlight the challenges Tanzania faces in realizing Vision 2025 goals. Titled ‘The Tanzania Human Development Report (THDR 2014),’ the project focuses on national perspectives on human development in addressing priority themes, emerging trends, opportunities and challenges the country encounters in reaching the Vision 2025 targets.

Ghana: Turkish trade expo finally in Accra

The fourth Turkish Trade Exhibition dubbed “Ghana Big 5 Show” has opened in Accra to showcase their products to their Ghanaian counterparts and create trade bridge between Ghana and Turkey. Over 40 Turkish companies and Ghanaian company like MBC Trading Company Limited, dealers in construction chemicals and Thetford Company, dealers in water flushing toilet begun a four-day exhibition.

The fair was to develop and broaden trade convergence between the two countries and ensure mutual protection of businesses: moreover the fair would showcase products including Turkish building and construction, Food and Agriculture, Fashion, Cleaning materials, iron and steel, mechanical appliances, electrical machinery and equipment.

Mr Seth Adjei Baah, President of Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the relationship between the two would boost trade and investment as well as lead to cultural and other exchanges. He said Ghana is a centre of peace and gateway to West Africa and that investing in the country would lead to increase results and assured them of the country’s readiness to collaborate and work with them during the exhibition.

Rwanda: French investors coming

A delegation of French investors will visit Rwanda early this month to assess business and investment opportunities, Chantal Umuraza, the chamber of industries executive director general, has said. She said the companies are interested in agro-processing, architecture, fabrication, IT and aviation sectors.Eusebe Muhikira, the head of trade and manufacturing department at the Rwanda Development Board, noted that Rwanda continues to attract foreign investments because of the business reform agenda started in 2009.

Rwanda is the third-best place to do business in Africa and ranks 52nd out 185 countries globally, according to the recent World Bank report. During the last quarter, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) registered investments worth $1.2b (about Rwf800b), of these, 22 were foreign investments worth $406.9m and nine were joint ventures worth $338.1m.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Actis injects $278m

Private equity company, Actis, has injected an extra $278 million into “property developments” in Sub-Saharan Africa region. This latest capital injection takes the firm’s entire African capital spending in its funds to approximately $433 million.

Louis Deppe, a director at Actis, believes that there is a lot of activity in the “private equity space” particularly in the region. It is understood that the sub-Saharan Africa region, with the exception of South Africa, has insufficient investment in high profile estates (properties). JSE-listed funds have allegedly shown little attraction to injecting money into the continent. But the advancement of excellent stock by private equity companies is likely to attract bigger attention from the publicly traded sector.

Actis has two real estate development funds and it claims to be the only pan-emerging private equity firm. With $5 billion managed by 105 investment professionals, the company has put in money in 65 companies, employing 101,000 people.The private equity firm has invested $4 billion in emerging markets so far. The company has realised $2.2 billion from its investment since the company was started in 2004.

Ghana: SEC lauds IFC US$1bn domestic bond

Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Mr. Adu Anane Antwi says the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) planned move to raise US$1bn from the domestic market will add to the local bourse’s growing credibility. “Once IFC starts issuing its bonds, then all the other institutions that issue bonds will begin to look at Ghana as a possible market, and that is good for us,” Mr. Anane Antwi said.

The IFC last week was given approval by the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue regular cedi-denominated bonds worth up to US$1billion in Ghana’s market. “The consent from the Ghanaian authorities enables us to support deepening of the local capital markets and offer local-currency funding for priority sectors such as infrastructure,” IFC’s Vice President and Treasurer Jingdong Hua said in a statement.

The bonds will be sold to domestic and foreign institutional investors, and proceeds will be used to fund private sector projects in areas such as infrastructure and to increase access to finance for small- and medium-sized enterprises. The bonds are to be issued under the IFC’s Pan-African Domestic Medium-Term Note Programme that was launched last year, a statement from the IFC said.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) last week successfully raised US$3.5billion from a five-year global bond to be used in lending support to private sector development. The five-year bond, according to the private arm of the World Bank Group, is its largest bond issue to date.

The bond issue generated an order book close to US$5billion and set the pricing benchmark for IFC’s 2014 fiscal year borrowing programme.

The IFC says it plans to raise US$16billion across a range of markets and currencies during its current fiscal year ending June 30, 2014. It also plans to issue debt in Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia under the programme.

Ghana: Diversify investment of heritage fund

A petroleum economist has suggested to the government and the Bank of Ghana to diversify the investment of the country’s heritage oil funds to keep some investments locally.

Currently, the country invests funds meant for future generations, known as the Heritage Funds, abroad in ‚ “secured international investment environment.” Mr John Gatsi, who is also a lecturer in Finance at the University of Cape Coast, said although investing abroad could shore up the country’s reserves, the government should have confidence in the local investment fund managers and keep some of the funds locally to improve liquidity and check risk.

Mr Gatsi lauded the country’s Petroleum Revenue Management law which, he said, laid out clear guidelines on spending, investing and transparent accounting for the proceeds the country got from its petroleum resources. He also praised the accountability clauses in the law and its reporting in the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of government, adding that while the Stabilisation and Heritage funds were a good creation in the law, the best form of protecting the future was in investing heavily in social and economic infrastructure.

On local content, the economic analyst said it was important for the government to leverage the policy and first equip small and medium scale enterprises to take advantage of it.

South Africa: Bank of China and Nedbank partner to boost trade

One of China’s big four state-owned lenders, Bank of China (BoC) and South Africa’s fourth biggest lender, Nedbank Group, have partnered to lift business between the two countries. The partnership will assist BoC clients that want to inject money in South Africa and the rest of the continent.

The alliance will include currency exchange between the two banks. It will also provide more backing services to Chinese firms with businesses in Africa through the banks’ networks. There will also be an increased collaboration when it comes to injecting capital in infrastructure projects in southern Africa.

Ghana: Finance Minister Says Plan to Halve Deficit Succeeding

Ghana’s plan to trim its budget deficit by half over three years by containing public-sector pay increases and raising taxes is showing initial signs of success, Finance Minister Seth Terkper said. The government is on track to achieve its deficit-reduction target of 9 percent of gross domestic production this year from 12.1 percent in 2012 when spending rose in the run-up to elections.

As the economy grows faster than the sub-Saharan African average [expansion in West Africa’s second-largest economy is forecast at 6.9 percent this year versus 4.8 percent for the continent south of Sahara] and the government “moderates” salary increases for public servants, the fiscal gap is forecast to narrow to 5 percent and 6 percent of GDP by 2015, he said.

The world’s second-largest cocoa exporter and an oil-producing nation since 2010 is implementing austerity measures including the reduction of fuel and utility subsidies, combined with higher revenue by adding at least four new taxes. The state wants to lower the wage bill to between 30 percent and 35 percent of tax income by 2015 from 72 percent last year.

India-Africa ties energised with oil and other products

India and Africa are coming closer to each other faster than most realize. In the last few years India has diversified its energy procurement to African countries. In 2005, India did not import any oil from African countries. Just eight years later, more than 20 per cent of India’s oil and gas imports are from Africa. While much is being traded, India has also begun investing in the energy sector in Africa.

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has just acquired a 10 per cent stake in an offshore gas field of Anadarko Petroleum Corp in Mozambique for $2.64 billion.It’s not just Mozambique. India has increased its purchase of oil and gas from a range of African countries. The biggest sellers of petroleum products to India from the continent are Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco.

Within Africa also, India’s overall economic relationship is changing. In 2001 Southern Africa accounted for nearly 60 per cent of exports to India while West Africa accounted for just above 16 per cent. Now West Africa is the largest supplier with a share of 40 per cent, while the share of Southern Africa is 24 per cent.

A recent report by Confederation of Indian Industry has an interesting nugget. Investment from Africa to India is growing. “Morocco and South Africa are the next largest investors in India with investments worth US$137 million and US$112 million, respectively.While the figures may not appear high, this is a beginning of an important development. The growing economic interdependence of India and African countries will add confidence to their dealings with the rest of the world.

Ghana: Will take advantage of Japan’s $32b for Africa

The Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah, has disclosed Ghana’s willingness to take advantage of the Japanese government’s proposed $32billion intended to support developing economies in Africa in areas of infrastructure development and energy to improve living standards in the region.Hon Kofi-Buah who made the disclosure during a courtesy call on him by delegation from Sojitz Corporation, a Japanese company undertaking the $125 million seawater desalination project in Nungua, Accra to discuss progress of the project and other investments opportunities in the Energy sector, noted that Ghana’s excellent relationship with Japan could be further strengthened with increase investments.

The Teshie project, which will begin commercial operations in 2014, is expected to supply 60,000 m3 of drinking water to about 600,000 people in Teshie and surrounding communities. The desalinated water will be sold to Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) under a long term water sales contract of 25 years to ensure stable provision of drinking water on a long-term basis in the capital. The project is the first desalination project in sub-Saharan Africa, and also the first investment by a Japanese corporation in Africa.

Ghana: To consolidate its middle-income status with bonds

Ghana’s Finance Minister Seth Terkper says it is prudent to finance the capital component of the national budget with long-term bonds as the country consolidates its middle-income status. According to the Finance Minister, it is important for the country to develop its local capital market more especially to mobilize funds to finance the infrastructural gaps which constrains the development efforts of Ghana.

According to the African Development Bank‘s Financial Markets Initiative, Africa as a whole requires about $20 billion in infrastructure investment per year which can only be sustainably financed through long-term bonds. In Ghana alone, Mr Terkper says “our estimation is that the required financing gap is about $1.2 billion a year”.

Mr Terkper argues that a well-developed local bond market is critical in Government’s ability to mobilize the necessary funds to support capital expenditures. He added that such markets are necessary for enhanced financial stability and better integration in the global financial landscape.

Liberia: German investment encouraged

Highlighting Liberia’s numerous challenges rating from youth unemployment to lack of capacity and infrastructure amid vast natural resources, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has told newly accredited German Ambassador to Liberia, Mr. Ralph Timmermann that the country encourages German Private Sector to take a more active role as Liberia aims to manage its own resources efficiently. The Liberian Chief Executive said government’s aim was to grow the private sector to be able to manage the country’s resources efficiently to enable government support its own endowment and development agenda.

In a interview with journalists at the Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Timmermann said Liberia has many opportunities for German companies, especially where Liberia is a country rich in natural resources couple with infrastructure that has to be built.

Africa: Global Competitiveness Index – Mauritius the most competitive economy

Mauritius moved up nine places this year out-pacing South Africa in the Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014, as the most competitive economy in Africa. The country benefits from relatively strong and transparent public institutions with clear property rights, strong judicial independence, and an efficient government. Financial markets also deepened based on the improved access to different modes of financing and financial services.

Mauritius which ranked 45th globally is followed by South Africa (53rd), Rwanda (66th), Botswana (74th) and Morocco (77th) – as the most competitive economy in Africa. Seychelles, Tunisia, Zambia, Kenya, Algeria, Libya, Gabon, Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon and Gambia ranks 80, 83, 93,96,100,108, 112, 113,114,115 and 116th positions respectively.

Although the report indicated that great efforts need to be made to improve Africa’s competitiveness, it says Sub-Saharan Africa continues its impressive growth rate of close to 5 percent in 2012, providing something of a silver lining in an otherwise uncertain global economy.

Ghana: Bank of Ghana rejects cedi pessimism

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) says it has substantial buffers to defend the cedi and “completely disagrees” with a forecast that the currency will depreciate by a further 10 percent against the dollar by year-end.

Reacting to the grim forecast, which was made by French bank Societe Generale SA on August 20, the BoG’s Head of Treasury, Adams Nyinaku, said the Central Bank expects to accumulate US$6billion of foreign exchange reserves by year-end, which will maintain the cedi’s stability. “Through the Eurobond, we increased the reserves to US$5.8billion; and later this month Cocobod will bring in US$1.2billion through its syndicated loan. These inflows will make up for the decline in commodity prices,” Mr. Nyinaku told the B&FT in an interview.

Nigeria: Dangote gets $3.3bn loan from 12 banks to build refinery

Nigeria’s diversified industrial giant, Dangote Industries, said it has won a $3.3 billion “term loan facility” from 12 local and global lenders to build Nigeria’s biggest Petroleum Oil Refinery & Petrochemical/Fertilizer Plants. According to Dangote, the factories will create about 9500 direct and 25 000 indirect posts.

These plants will cut the existing volumes of refined fuel that are imported by about half.

In total, the projects will cost $9 billion, comprising $3 billion equity and a $6billiion loan.

The $3.3 billion deal struck with the banks is the initial consignment of loans made available to Dangote. It is a “term loan facility” backed by a group of 12 local and global lenders.

The first loan facility was co-ordinated jointly by Standard Chartered, the global co-ordinator, and Nigeria’s Guaranty Trust Bank, the local co-ordinator.

The 2.8 million tonnes of urea that will be made at these factories will be directed into developing the Nigerian agriculture sector. The petrochemical plant will make polypropylene which is a usual element of many plastic and fabric products. Aliko Dangote, the president of Dangote Group, said these factories would showcase Africa as maker of refined oil products and fertiliser.

Ghana: Borrowing reduced to 25 years

Ghana cannot borrow long term funds which are more than 25 years. This is because of the country’s middle income status since 2009. Ghana’s economic growth of about 8.7 percent in 2008 culminated in the country’s middle income status. Prior to that, the country was borrowing long term funds of up to 40 years from the World Bank and other institutions. Finance Minister, Seth Tekper, said the country will no longer borrow short term funds for capital projects of five years or more. He reiterated that government will be returning to the international bond market to raise long term funds to finance capital projects.

Meanwhile, 16.5 million dollars of the 750 million dollar Eurobond listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange is held by local investors. Mr. Tekper said “the need to develop the capital market in Ghana cannot be overemphasized. More especially, the wide infrastructural gaps which constraints our developments efforts as a country can only be closed when we tap into long-term financing options such as the capital markets, both domestic and foreign.”

Ghana: Government sure of investments

The government has expressed confidence that economic activities and investment will soar in the country with the resolution of the election petition.

A deputy minister of Information and Media Relations,Mr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, said the election petition resulted in uncertainty as many investors were holding on to their investment. He was optimistic that the confidence of investors would be boosted in the economy after the Supreme Court had upheld the validity of President John Dramani Mahama’s election in the 2012 presidential polls.

The deputy minister also said with the completion of the election petition, the government had now focused on implementing its programmes and policies. The programmes would be geared towards creating jobs and improving the country’s socio- economic development.

Africa: IFC investment in Sub-Saharan Africa hits $5.3 billion

International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group , says its investments in sub-Saharan Africa has hit a record $5.3 billion. This was acknowledged in its year ending financials, which showed it carried out advisory services projects worth $65 million in Sub-Saharan Africa and committed funds towards supporting the upgrades of infrastructure, health and agribusiness. According to an official statement, the investment body offered $3.5 billion from its own account, while it spearheaded the mobilization of $1.8 billion from other investors.

“This has been a record year for us,” said IFC director for eastern and southern Africa Oumar Seydi.

The Washington-based institution believes such financial offerings will further enhance the development of vital sectors key to the growth of several economies across Africa. IFC strategically focuses its investment in areas where it makes the most difference, and as such turned its attention to Africa by investing in developmental projects to stimulate economic growth in nations mostly plagued with poor living standards.

Kenya: IFC has invested 39 Billion in Kenya

The International Finance Corporation invested more than Sh39.6 billion ($456m) in Kenya in the year to June 2013.

IFC, the private development lending arm of the World Bank, put its money in energy projects, infrastructure and in the financial markets where it has partnered with 18 Kenyan banks to offer financial support to small and medium enterprises. IFC loaned Sh3.9 billion to Kenya Power to expand its network to reach over half a million new households by 2014. It has also invested in Gulf Power, Lamu Wind and made an equity investment in AAR to help it upscale operations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Ethiopia: Turkey to set up an industrial zone in Addis Ababa

Turkey is preparing to create a Turkish industrial zone in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, as part of its African policy which started in 2005 and has been showing marked development of its business assets. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the Ethiopian prime minister had proposed the assignment of some land to establish a Turkish industrial zone in Addis Ababa, and that Turkey hopes to implement this plan.

Commenting on the new diplomatic steps, Davutoglu stated that Turkey has come a long way in the last ten years. Davutoglu explained that a Turkish firm invested $50 million in Ethiopia in 2005 while there are now 341 Turkish companies with a total investment of $3 billion in the country.

The Turkish foreign minister also mentioned the results of the Turkish government’s public diplomacy in Africa. “The amount of Turkish aid to the African continent, particularly to Somalia, has reached $750 million. If we hadn’t spent billions of dollars in public diplomacy and activity, we wouldn’t have the positive image and perception that we got from our humanitarian aid in Somalia,” Davutoglu said, reiterating that Turkey is reaping the rewards of its humanitarian foreign policy.

In the African continent, there are 30 offices of the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA) and 25 trade offices of the under secretariat for Foreign Trade, aiming to strengthen economic and bilateral relations between the two countries. The number of Turkish ambassadors in Africa has risen to 34 from 12 in 2005. Turkey has a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with four African countries, as well as agreements to prevent double taxation and support mutual investments, and Turkey has also established a business council with 17 African countries.

Kenya: Eurobond advisors to be known in two weeks

The lead transaction advisors for the country’s first Eurobond will be known within the next one or two weeks. Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich said once the advisors have been picked, it will take another two months to prepare all the document terms before the roadshows to market the issue kicks off.

Rotich said it has not been decided how much will be issued but it will be between Sh87 billion ($1 billion) and Sh174 billion ($2 billion).

The government is banking on the peaceful election early this year and favourable credit rating to issue the international bond for infrastructure projects.

Ghana: Consumers saved from possible fuel increase

Consumers of petroleum products have been saved from paying extra cost on fuel as government in the most recent price review has absorbed an increase in the product. This is the second time in the row that government is taking up the increased cost since the last increment at the beginning of August. These subsidies, however worsens government’s indebtedness to the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies, an impasse yet unresolved.

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) in its most recent price review for the first half of this month, maintained prices of all petroleum products except industrial kerosene which increased marginally by 1.6%.

Petrol is being subsidised at 3% and Diesel less than 1%. Domestic kerosene continues to be the most highly subsidised, with government taking up to 42% of the cost. This was followed by Premix which is subsidised up to 19%.

Nigeria: UBA to invest $2 Billion in Africa’s power projects

CEO of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Phillips Oduoza, has revealed that the bank plans to invest an additional $2 billion into power projects across the continent over the next three years, aside the $700 million it has invested in Nigeria’s power sector this year. Of the proposed $2 billion, Oduoza said UBA will earmark about $1.2 billion to help Nigeria put an end to its chronic power shortages.

State-owned Power Holding Company of Nigeria has been broken up into 11 generation companies and six distribution companies, all being sold separately to private consortia, for about $2.5 billion.

Since Nigeria embarked on its power transformation projects, banks in the country have contributed over 70 percent (about N280 billion) of the money needed by investors for the 14 successor companies to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria. According to reports, about N400 billion ($2.4 billion) was realised by the Federal Government (FG) in the power sector privatisation project.

Nigeria: Arik operations inject U.S.$10 Billion annually into economy

Lloyds, world’s renowned insurance organisation, has said Arik Air realises about $10 billion annually from its operations for Nigeria’s economy

Arik last year engaged the services of Lloyds to assess its assets and also audit its transactions to know the expanse of its business and its worth. Lloyd in its report said with a fleet of 24 new generation aircraft, 43,000 flights per annum, airlifting over 2.4 million passengers in all its destinations in 2012, the airline injects $10 billion. The report stated the amount was inclusive of banking services and charges; the money expended on fuel, food and other supplies, aeronautical and non-aeronautical services; payment of salaries to over 2,800 employees, bills on hotel services, expenditure on training of indigenous pilots, engineers, cabin crew and other services.

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EMBARKING ON COMMODITY BASED INDUSTRIALIZATION: The first attempt towards liberating African Economies.

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Africa, Asia, China, Economic development, Economic growth, Economy of Africa, Ethiopia, Financial analyst, ghana, International trade, Japan, List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africa, Malaysia, Nigeria, South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Thailand, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, United States, World Bank, World War II, Zambia

Reflex Eco Group – Africa news

by Charles Yeboah Frimpong (Ghanaian Financial Analyst)

According to the Economic Commission for Africa’s Economic Report on Africa (ERA 2013), themed “Making the Most of Africa’s Commodities: Industrializing for Growth, Jobs, and Economic Transformation”, Africa has about 12 percent of the world’s oil reserves, 42 percent of its gold, 80 to 90 percent of chromium and platinum group metals, and 60 percent of arable land in addition to vast timber resources.

Although Africa boasts of the production and possession of such great quantities of raw materials and minerals(natural resources), value addition is still very limited, culminating in the paltry receipts for the export of these primary commodities.

Africa has lots of natural resources. But unfortunately and sadly, most of them are exported in their raw form for processing in foreign countries. The challenge has been that, there are no strong industries in the various African countries to add value to raw materials been produced and this result in a greater percentage of the raw materials on the continent being left to the advantage of foreign buyers who come to dictate and manipulate the prices of these materials as they so desire, to the great disadvantage of the African economy.

A case in point is the coffee industry where up to 90 per cent of Africa’s total income from the commodity, calculated as the average retail price of a pound of roasted and ground coffee, goes to consuming countries in Europe, North America and Asia. African countries can benefit from their raw materials only by adding value to their raw materials.

WHY SO MUCH RAW MATERIAL EXPORTING IN AFRICA?

The structures of the economies of African countries now are partly as a result of the colonial rule which was extractive in nature and the externally imposed structural adjustment programmes which had enormous negative effects on human capital development, technological accumulation, and the ability to manufacture value added commodities.

The colonial governments in the era of colonization established institutions, structures and infrastructure that were to help them transfer and transport raw materials from the African continent to Europe. The aim for the establishment of those institutions and structures were not to ensure the manufacturing of value added commodities from the resources on the African continent internally so Africans could have what they want through their local production and trade them among themselves. On the contrary, all efforts were geared towards getting raw materials out of the continent to feed European industries. This has led to the existence of the situation today where African countries are good at exporting raw materials than semi-processed and processed goods.

The good part of the story is the fact that the past is gone and that new measures can be put in place to achieve the level of economic development that Africa desires and deserves in the future. New institutions can now be established and new structures can be put in place to create industrialized economies that will create a new economic history for Africa. Unlike it used to be previously, the world has experienced a highly widespread and extensive political and economic changes over the last half century and this has led to the reformation of global power structures, loosened old hegemonies and allowed new ones to emerge, reconfigured international relations among others which have led to serious rethinking of development paradigms. These changes present a huge opportunity for Africa to emerge as a global economic power as current projections show—and present a serious challenge too. This advent requires leadership, vision and strategies for long-term development. Africa must define and own its development agenda. At an individual and on a collective level, African countries must take bold economic transformation actions driven by massive industrialization to tackle youth unemployment, poverty, and gender disparities.

WHY INDUSTRIALIZATION AND THE WAY TO GO ABOUT IT

The benefits that will be derived from commodity based industrialization cannot be underestimated. The Economic report on Africa 2013 presents that “massive resource-based industrialization through value addition and linkage development will yield employment, income, price, and non price benefits, as well as dynamic benefits of diversified technological capabilities and deeper industrial structure”. This means that not only will industrialization provide employment, income, price and non-price benefits, by adding value to their raw materials locally, African countries could also bring about diversification of technological capabilities, an expanded skills base, and deepening of individual countries’ industrial structures.

African countries have an opportunity to promote economic transformation through a commodity-based industrialization process, taking advantage of the resources that the continent is endowed with, and high commodity prices and the changed organization of the global production process.

It is possible to embark on commodity based industrialization in every country where raw materials are produced or are found – although there is so much criticism that this direction of industrialization is a hard path to thread; that resource-based industries do not match Africa’s factor endowments, and that commodity sectors are unlikely to promote linkages and externalities. That’s quite a reasonable argument but what we see as happening in modern times in countries like Malaysia , Venezuela, Argentina, Thailand, Australia, Norway and Scotland as well as the historical experience of Finland, Sweden and the United States point to the contrary.

For African countries, success will require a good understanding of the critical factors that influence linkage development in particular and resource-based industrialization in general—and acknowledgment of the fact that one size does not fit all. Upgrades in commodity processing require a supportive policy environment, domestic firm capabilities, and sector regulatory frameworks. Interventionist state policies will play a critical role and continental policy initiatives will help provide an opportunity to deal with some of the challenges, if not all.

Nigeria’s oil supply industry and Ethiopia’s leather industry provide good examples of linkages that are not only developing, but also deepening into high value added activities. Egypt’s textile industry and South Africa’s input suppliers industry are also examples of cases where there are well-developed linkages to and from the commodity sectors, which are struggling to remain competitive. Ghana and Zambia are in the middle of the range of linkage development. In these two countries, the mining sector has been making a long and intrinsic contribution to socioeconomic growth. Ghana has experienced investment boom since the 1980s, and Zambia since the 2000s.The major challenge to African countries today is how to design and implement effective industrial policies that will promote industrialization and economic transformation. China together with other emerging economies like Malaysia and Singapore exist today as examples of countries that have achieved rapid economic transformation through industrialization in recent years.

Another factor that makes commodity based industrialization a necessity on the African continent is the unpredictable and increased volatile nature of international commodity prices. Research by UNCTAD shows that such volatility was amplified during the 2003–2008 commodity boom. These new developments were mainly due to the growing linkages between commodity and financial markets, with commodities increasingly traded as financial assets.

As a result, excessive reliance on commodities increases countries’ exposure to external shocks thus lessening their ability to conduct economic planning in a predictable manner. Moving away from a growth path that is dependent on the export of raw commodities is therefore a necessary condition for African countries’ ability to allocate resources for policy implementation regardless of the vagaries of international commodity/financial markets.

A major way to create commodity based industries to accelerate the rate of economic development in African economies is to “designindustrial policy within the national development planning framework and create appropriate institutional policy mechanisms to increase effectiveness and competitiveness” as the Economic report on Africa 2013 suggests. There is the need for African governments to strategically create realistic, clear-cut policies and establish the needed institutions for industrialization whiles putting measures in place to implement those policies to help establish the needed industries that will change raw materials to semi-processed and processed goods before they are exported.

Because African countries are not able to add value to raw materials in order to get finished goods for supply to the local markets, there is always the need to spend huge sums of money and foreign exchange to import goods from the Western world in order to keep the economic system running. There is therefore a high level of reliance on the west for supply of food and other basic goods that are needed to keep the system running. Africa needs to quit exporting raw materials and importing processed goods outside the continent since it is inhibiting employment in the continent.

The likelihood of Africa’s future economic success rests on the realistic and effective industrial policies that African countries will design and implement today. Designing and implementing industrial policies that will establish the needed industries to add value to commodities will promote sustained growth create jobs, help retain foreign exchange and result in massive economic transformation. It is therefore necessary that all bottlenecks and blockages to the development of the commodity sector be removed and linkages created.

There should be coordination in the private sector, and between farmers, growers, processors, and exporters, to promote systemic competitiveness along the entire local value chain and enable firms to meet the end-markets requirements of price, quality, and standards. Africa needs to frame specific policy for commodity-based industrialization for each country to ensure initiatives that foster linkage development and accelerate that process, through leveraging Africa’s abundant resources and high commodity prices and the changing global production process. There is also the need to invest in people on the African continent so they can acquire the skills and the technical & managerial know-how to be able to use sophisticated equipments and adopt feasible industrial strategies to spearhead industrialization and economic transformation on the African continent.

It is time for Africa to wake up. Japan can be a good example for Africa. After the World War II, Japan has used all its resources and has managed to be one of the economically powerful countries in the World. We need to love our continent, and then we can use our potentials to bring about real industrialization on the continent. Africans must think and act as Africans. Then and then alone can we can use our gold, diamonds, metals, cocoa and above all our human resources to ensure large scale commodity-based industrialization in Africa.

 

Charles Yeboah Frimpong

University of Ghana

Member, The Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ghana)

Tel: +233 -246 542 642

Email: fycharles.7@gmail.com

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REPORT OF LAST WEEK (from 19/08/13 to 23/08/13)
by Dario Galluccio – This Blog is sponsored by http://www.reflexecogroup.com

Ghana: Non-traditional export to hit 5.0 billion dollars
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) is to increase the country’s non-traditional export from the current export value of 2.64 billion dollars to 5.0 billion dollars by 2017. This will enhance the Gross Domestic Product to increase the national income. The country also aims at generating considerable number of jobs and incomes, which will be translated into improved standard of living and welfare of the people to consolidate the middle-income status.
Mr Gerald Nyarko-Mensah, Director of Export Trade of MOTI said the strategy formed part of the national strategy for the non-traditional export sector from 2013 to 2017.
He said the country needs an investment capital of 600 million dollars to implement the National Export Strategy document, which among other things, would build the capacities of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority and the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to enable the country achieve the goal. He also said the country would no longer depend solely on the export commodities but would over the period invest in fresh and processed fish, vegetable oils, root crops, grains and legumes, natural rubber and products of the creative arts.
Mr Nyarko-Mensah said the strategy would put Ghana on the global map as a world class exporter of competitive products and services to reduce poverty promote sustainable environmental development and improve the balance in spatial and regional development. He indicated that the strategy would strengthen and resource export development related institutions to ensure that the export culture is imbibed nationwide so that every district would be able to have at least one significant commercial viable agro-based export product.

Ghana: World Bank says economy is expected to grow
Mr. Jean Phillipe Prosper, the Vice-President of the International Finance Corporation for sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, says the current glitch in government’s finances is only temporary as the country’s economy is expected to continue its growth in the coming months. Government is aiming to cut the fiscal deficit from 12 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 2012 to 9 percent in 2013, through a combination of revenue and expenditure measures.
“Africa is turning heads around the world, while developed countries still find their footing after a devastating crisis and emerging markets in other parts of the world face new challenges after years of torrid growth. Ghana is leading the way. Ghana’s growth in the first decade of this century averaged more than six percent. Today that growth is even higher and expected to continue,” he said.
The World Bank has provided about US$10billion in funding to the government of Ghana since it joined the Group in 1957; with most of the funds coming from the Bank’s facility for the world’s poorest nations — the International Development Association (IDA). About US$8billion of the total funding came as grants and interest-free credits to the government.

Kenya: President Kenyatta arrives in China on first state visit
President Uhuru Kenyatta arrived in Beijing on Sunday morning on his first State visit to China, which will focus on growing Kenya’s business and investment with the East. African ambassadors accredited to China greeted President Kenyatta and First Lady Margaret Kenyatta on arrival at Beijing Capital International Airport. They told him Kenya’s agenda of seeking transformational projects in infrastructure, technology, agribusiness and finance resonated with the continent. Discussions this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other government officials, as well as the China business community will focus on investments mainly in infrastructure, energy, technology and protecting Kenya’s wildlife. President Kenyatta will also press for greater market access for Kenyan exports.
He said his visit would cement and deepen the strategic partnership between Kenya and China.

East Africa: China tops Kenya’s FDI sources
China has become Kenya’s biggest FDI source with 474 million U. S. dollars invested in the East African country, as a result of the development of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, according to Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Liu Guangyuan.
Statistics from the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi show that the bilateral trade has boomed in recent years with an annual surge of 30 percent to 2.84 billion U. S. dollars. China has become the second largest trade partner to Kenya.
Meanwhile, Kenya has become more and more popular with Chinese tourists, whose arrivals hit 40,000 in 2012 and are expected even higher in years to come.

Ghana ranked 10th export country to China
Ghana has been ranked second after Nigeria as an ECOWAS country whose exports is in higher demand by China. It was however ranked 10th among sub-Sahara African countries that export to China.
Angola, South Africa, Congo, DR Congo and Zambia were the top five countries that China imported from. The rest were Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Cameroon and Ghana.
According to Ecobank Research, sub-Saharan Africa has emerged as China’s biggest bilateral trade partner. The export trade rose to $1.2 billion last year, up from $945 billion in 2008.
Ghana’s exports to China reduced from 2008 to 2012. The country mainly exports minerals and cocoa to one of the fastest growing economies in the world. China has increased its investments in Africa in mining, energy, construction and manufacturing. However, there is an increasing move towards investments in the services sector particularly finance and tourism.

Ethiopia hails Dangote’s investment in cement plant
Nigeria’s Dangote Group has seen rapid expansion across the continent and has received yet another commendation, this time by the Ethiopian government, after the establishment of a new cement plant in the East African country.
The commendation, conveyed through a letter, acclaimed the effort of the President of the conglomerate, Aliko Dangote and promised to provide the enabling atmosphere for the success of the venture.
Dangote Cement had launched a 2.5 million metric tonnes per annum plant in Mugher, Adaberga District in Ethiopia with a pledge by the company to ensure that it was completed on schedule.
Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has pledged to spend up to $15 billion pursuing investment opportunities around the continent in the next 4-5 years. He earlier revealed that his company has invested approximately $8 billion in an oil refinery and another $2 billion in fertilizer in Nigeria alone, aside other billion dollar investments outside the country.

Nigeria: Apex Bank launches $1.2m MSME fund
The central bank of Nigeria has launched a N220 billion ($1.2 million) Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) development Fund to fill the vacuum accessed in the small business sub-sector. The Fund, which would be given to Micro Finance Banks (MFBs) and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) to strengthen their operations (the credit component, the guarantee component and the refinancing component for the sector to work) will provide wholesale funding requirements in their operations and ensure that the un-served and under-served clients in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sub-sector are now covered.
The fund was set up in accordance to Section 6.10 of the revised Microfinance Policy, Regulatory and Supervisory Framework for Nigeria which stipulates that “a Microfinance Development Fund shall be set up, primarily to provide for the wholesale funding requirements of MFBs/MFIs.”
The development fund will be available for disbursement as from next year. 60 percent of the fund has been earmarked for the provision of financial services to women entrepreneurs. This is as a result of the challenges they faced in accessing financial services in Nigeria.
Special consideration will also be given to institutions that will provide financial services to graduates of the CBN’s Entrepreneurship Development Centers (EDCs).

Kenya: from nowhere plans East Africa’s first Oil exports
Kenya is headed to become the first oil exporter in East Africa, moving in less than five years from being a have-not nation to the regional leader in cutting reliance on energy suppliers such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
After Tullow Oil Plc (TLW) discovered oil last year, Kenya is set to start shipments in 2016, overtaking neighboring Uganda, where Tullow found crude more than seven years ago. The U.K. explorer plans to start pumping in Kenya as soon as next year, Chief Operating Officer Paul McDade said in an interview. Kenya’s deposits may top 10 billion barrels, according to the company, more than three times the U.K.’s remaining reserves.
Oil will allow Kenya to “diversify export earnings and act as a catalyst for infrastructural spending, especially on the transport network,” Phumulele Mbiyo, regional head of macroeconomic research at Nairobi-based CfC Stanbic Bank Ltd., a unit of Standard Bank Group Ltd., said . “The shilling is expected to benefit from inflows of foreign exchange and reduced spending on fuel imports.”

Sierra Leone: Diamond exports sees 43% increase in H1
African diamond exporter, Sierra Leone says it shipped out diamonds worth $102 million in the first half (H1) of the year, a 43 percent rise as compared to the $71 million gained from exports during the same period last year. According to the country’s National Mineral Agency (NMA), the increase – which provided the government with a tax windfall in excess of $5 million – was largely influenced by the improved level of productivity from its major diamond miner, Koidu Holdings and further highlights the growing advancement in channeling diamonds through the government.
“At the end of the first half of 2013, exports exceeded those of 2012 by 42.95 percent, an improvement of $30.71 million,” Ibrahim Mohmed, who oversees the diamond sector at the NMA, told. “The total diamonds exported amounted to 331,471 carats valued at $102 million,” he added.

Kenya: International acquisition of local firms profit entrepreneurs
Recent acquisition of Kenyan companies by foreign multinationals will provide multi-billion-dollar windfalls for local entrepreneurs, experts reveal.
Findings suggests that several billionaire entrepreneurs are selling their stakes in local companies to foreign firms eager to tap into the East African market and have a preference for acquisition as a faster and cost efficient medium of entry into the region.
According to Business Daily, sporadic deals in the past year have attracted multinationals from across Africa, Asia and Europe with concluded acquisitions involving firms such as Fina Bank, Mercantile Insurance, Kenya Data Networks (KDN) and Swift global. Other potential buyout deals include that of AccessKenya, Scangroup, KenolKobil, CMC Holdings, and Resolution Insurance.
Analysts have noted that most agreements are aimed at generating capital for cash-strapped firms or at providing expertise in resource and operational management to ensure sustainable business development for the growing economy.

Ghana: Trade between Ghana-Germany is pegged at €1.25b for 2013
Trade between Ghana and Germany currently stands at €1.25 billion as at the end of March 2013. This was made known by President John Mahama last week when he hosted the outgoing German Ambassador to Ghana, Dr. Renate Schimkoreit.
Germany is one of Ghana’s biggest trading partners in the European Union.
According to President Mahama, Germany has given Ghana €132 million out of the total portfolio of €184 million support pledge it made for the period between 2012 and 2015, reports the Ghana News Agency.
Germany’s funding in Ghana has been in major areas such as renewable energy, health, agriculture, land administration project among others.

Nigeria: To Sign $3.7bn coal project deal with Chinese firm
Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan says nothing stops the country from exploiting its abundant coal reserves for quality power generation if properly harnessed.
“Nigeria is endowed with abundant coal reserves of the required quality necessary for power generation. And so there is no reason why we should not exploit that sector.”
Nigeria’s coal reserve is put at about 360 metric tonnes.
The president also stressed on the importance of the solid mineral sector and the need to harness it in order to create jobs, wealth and increase the foreign direct investments in the economy.
During the workshop, HTG-Pacific Energy Consortium and Ministry of Mines and Steel Development signed a $3.7 billion deal for a coal to power project at Ezimo Coal Block in Enugu State and a 1,000 megawatts coal power generating plant. The MoU represents the first step to building plants that will generate additional 1200 mega watts of electricity to the national grid.
Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, said a greater part of the funds required to carry out the project will be borrowed from foreign banks.

Africa: Standard Bank will open offices in Ethiopia, Ivory Coast 
Standard Bank, Africa’s biggest lender by assets, is poised to open up representative offices in Ethiopia and the Ivory Coast, it merged earlier this week. Banks first open representative offices in the targeted countries before setting up shop and opening up a branch network offering a suite of their products.
By the time Standard Bank decides to go full steam ahead and start full-suited operations in the two countries, the lender would have increased its African operations to 20. It currently has operations in 18 African countries.
The lender is paying more attention to Africa because it is planning to take advantage of opportunities that will be proffered by the growing middle class in the continent. Standard Bank has disposed of its operations in the United Kingdom, Russia and Argentina to focus on the African continent.
In the past couple of years, Ethiopia has been seen as having great prospects for foreign banks. This is in view of the fact that it is Africa’s second most populous country.

Ghana: DHL to expand in Africa
Leading international express and logistics company, DHL Express has stated that it will continue to invest in Sub-Saharan Africa. To strengthen its 32-year relationship with Ghana, DHL’s Sub-Saharan Africa Managing Director, Charles Brewer last Friday met key stakeholders, customers, employees and the media to explain the company’s future direction.
“Despite the current global economic uncertainty, DHL expects the African region to deliver,” said Mr. Brewer.
He also said “As we see the continent ‘surge’ as a result of sector investment, increased consumer spending and economic activity, the future is still bright for the continent. Ghana is an attractive market for us and with the GDP growth rate 7 percent presents a major opportunity. The opportunity for us is to expand our footprint within the country and service semi-urban and rural areas so that anyone-from a student to a small business- can access our network and the over 220 countries and destinations that we serve.”

Ghana: 1st Made in Ghana exhibition in Nigeria
The first ever Made in Ghana Solo Exhibition to be hosted in Nigeria, which is part of efforts aimed at strengthening the bi-lateral trade relations between Ghana and Nigeria as well as introducing Ghanaian manufacturers to the largest market in Africa was declared launched in Accra by the President of Ghana Manufacturers Association, Nana Owusu Opare. The press briefing which was held in the boardroom of First Atlantic Bank; the major sponsor of the program, was said to be the first solo exhibition platform that will be strictly for Ghanaians to showcase their products in Nigeria.
First Made in Ghana Solo Exhibition which is under the theme: “Promoting Ghana’s Export Potentials To West Africa’s Largest Market” was put together by Vintage Visions, Ghana.
The exhibition is expected to take place at the LTV. Ikeja, Lagos, from 2nd of September to 7th.

Nigeria: Nigerians abroad, biggest investors
Nigerians abroad have been identified as the biggest investors into the country’s economy, which is seen as one of the fastest growing in Africa.
The chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa disclosed this at the just concluded Nigerian Diaspora Direct Investment Summit in London where she urged the Nigerian government to ensure that Nigerians abroad are given the necessary support needed to have a smooth inter-business transactions in their various countries of abode.
Moreover also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, has lauded the contributions of Nigerians abroad to national development, saying, ” Remittances of over $21 billion in the last one year, appears the highest so far in Africa.

Kenya: Kidero signs Sh90 billion deal with investors
Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero has signed deals worth Sh90billion with Chinese investors to be used for infrastructure development. Speaking in China yesterday, Kidero said that he had held a fruitful meeting with the executive chairman of China Investment Bank, on the prospects of funding the urban re-generation of Eastlands housing estates, Nairobi’s transport system and nine transport corridors to open up traffic in the county.
“The China Investment Bank is willing to invest in Nairobi county. Its chairman Hu Huai Bang will soon visit Kenya,” he said. He said some Chinese investors want to fund the second phase of the Digital Traffic and Security Control where cameras will be installed in 253 major junctions in Nairobi from Mowlem area in Embakasi West to Karen. We also got commitments for the health care sector where statistics show that there are 7.6 million hospital visits per year in Nairobi while there are 83 hospitals, clinics and dispensaries. This will be upgraded to digital imaging systems,” Kidero said.

Nigeria: MoneyGram, eTranzact sign money transfer deal
International money transfer company, MoneyGram, has finalised agreements with electronic transaction and payment platform, eTranzact’s PocketMoni, that will allow accessibility to Nigerian mobile users all over the world.
PocketMoni – which works on all GSM networks the partnership – would enable customers carry out their transactions with ease, without having to face the often “touted inconvenience” of funds transfer.
The companies said the deal which would allow 24/7 access to money transfer transactions is a step in building a comprehensive suite of mobile services.
The Regional Director for North West Africa MoneyGram International, Mr Francois Peyret noted that the partnership was another effort aimed at driving the cashless policy directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Ghana: Reserve stands at $5.7billion
Dr Kofi Wampah, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), has announced that Ghana’s external reserves stood at $5.7 billion as of August 20, 2013.
This translates into more than three months of import cover, meaning that the country’s external reserves can pay for more than three months of imports.
Dr Wampah added that the current reserve level was an appreciation of the one recorded last month; in july the country’s external reserves were $4.9 billion but rose to the current level due to the various gains chalked up in the economy over the period.
The governor attributed those gains to the numerous interventions the government introduced into the economy, such as the Eurobond and improvement in the energy sector.

Ghana: To save $279 million from crude oil revenue
Ghana has been able to save close to $279 million from revenue earned from crude oil export for the first half of 2013. This is contained in the Ghana Petroleum Funds report on the country’s earnings from crude oil export since it started exporting crude.
According to the report, $77 million will be set aside for future generations in the Heritage Fund, while $202 million has accrued to the Stabilisation Fund to cushion the country in times of crude oil price volatility.

Africa: CDB invests $2.4 Billion in infrastructure projects
China Development Bank (CDB), the largest policy lender in the country, has invested over $2.4 billion in Africa’s infrastructure development, the bank’s president, Zheng Zhijie, has revealed.
According to the president, the bank, through its wholly owned subsidiary fund, China-Africa Development Fund, has financed several economy-enhancing projects in mineral resources development, power generation, agriculture and machinery manufacturing across 30 African countries, and has also offered loans worth a reported $18.9 billion.
With the economic crisis threatening Europe and parts of North America and a quest to find cost friendly markets for trading and business development, western countries have started turning their attention towards African nations, with predictions that the continent will be the next region to enjoy an economic boom. Top economic giants including the US, UK, Japan, Russia, France and Germany are all pushing for investment opportunities in the fast growing continent, but China seems to be leading the pile.
In 2009, China became Africa’s biggest trading partner, with trade deals from $10 billion in 2000 to over $200 billion this year, thereby outdoing the US.

Nigeria: IFC invests N60bn in infrastructure development
International Finance Corporation, IFC said it has invested 25 per cent, about N60 billion of its 2012 total investment in Nigeria on infrastructure. Vice President, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and The Caribbean, Jean Philippe Prosper stated this in Lagos while interacting with news men during his visit to Nigeria.
He said that IFC has invested a total of $1.5bn in Nigeria within the organization’s last fiscal year that ended in June, 2013.
According to him, the infrastructure and natural resources sector got 25 per cent, about N60bn, while manufacturing and agribusiness got 25 per cent. The financial markets got N120bn about 50 per cent of the total investments.

Tanzania: Dar es Salaam Business prospects attract Singaporeans
Prospective investors from Singapore are in the country to explore business opportunities, thanks to President Jakaya Kikwete’s recent tour of the Asian nation. The visiting Singaporeans have expressed interest to invest particularly under the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) managed Export Processing Zone (EPZ) and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) programmes.
The arrival of the strong business delegation from Singapore is linked to President Kikwete’s tour of Japan and Singapore early last June to lure prospective investors from the highly industrialised Asian nations.

Angola: To urge diversification amid stable oil prices
Angola, Africa’s largest oil producer after Nigeria, needs to cut its reliance on crude to buffer the economy as prices for the commodity are set to remain stable over the next three years, a central bank official said.
The economy is forecast to expand 6.5 percent this year and between 7 percent and 8 percent in 2014, while oil trades at about $106 a barrel, Antonio Andre Lopes, a vice-governor of the Banco Nacional de Angola, said. Crude oil makes up 97 percent of the country’s exports and 80 percent of tax revenue.
“The price of oil is a big threat so we need to diversify the economy to mitigate this,” Lopes said. “However, the economy is getting better and I think the oil price will be stable.”
The government is seeking to increase lending from banks to businesses in industries including construction, mining and agriculture as the southwest African country recovers from a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002.
Angola’s $116 billion economy is forecast by the World Bank to expand 7.2 percent this year. Crude oil has gained 12 percent in New York in the past six months and was trading as high as $104.72 a barrel today.

Ghana can generate power for West Africa
Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources says Ghana has the potential to establish power-generation plants to feed the West African sub-region.
He said investment in relatively cheap gas-fired power plants through gas that would be made available by the Ghana Gas Company ‘would significantly enhance the competitiveness of products of Ghanaian companies and facilitate the generation of the targeted 5,000KV by 2016 for export to countries in the sub-region.’
Alhaji Fuseini made the observation when Mr. Kimihiko Inaba, Executive Director of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) led a three-man South Africa-based team comprising himself, Mr. Yasuto Suzuki, Deputy General Manager of Toshiba and Mr. Nozomu Sasaki, General Manager of Mitsubishi Corporation to pay a courtesy call on the minister. The three-member JETRO delegation is currently in Ghana to explore investment opportunities particularly in the natural resource and power generation sectors in a bid to boost investment of Japanese companies in Ghana.

Ghana: BoG issues 7-year bond
The Bank of Ghana on Thursday, 22th of August, issued its first seven year Government of Ghana bond. Proceeds from the 100 million Ghana Cedi bond is expected to be used to settle maturing debts as well as finance some infrastructure projects. This is contained in the Government of Ghana’s Securities Calendar from July till the end of the year.
A total of 1.7 billion Ghana Cedis will be raised this month from short and long dated instruments. This will bring to a total of 14.7 billion Ghana Cedis of debt instruments raised by government this year.
The Central Bank will also issue a 600 million Ghana Cedis bond next month. Another seven year bond will be issued in November

Tanzania: Vodacom will invest $124m for network expansion
Tanzania’s largest mobile network operator, Vodacom, said it is investing 200 billion shillings ($124 million) to develop and grow its business in Tanzania, but complained that rising taxes could stifle the sector.
Vodacom spent 230 billion shilling ($142 million) last year to build over 890 network sites.
Vodacom hopes the service expansion will help pull more subscribers despite stiff competition from the likes of Airtel Tanzania, India’s Bharti Tigo Tanzania, Millicom International Cellular and Zantel.
Telecommunications is the fastest growing business sector in East Africa and the government is determined on getting a bigger share of revenues. However, taxation in East Africa’s second-largest economy had become difficult for mobile phone operators.

South Africa: Gold Fields acquires Barrick’s interests in Western Australia
JSE-listed gold miner, Gold Fields, said it had acquired Barrick Gold’s interests in Yilgam South Assets in Western Australia for $300 million. Gold Fields’ purchase of these assets will give the South African gold miner an extra 452.000 ounces in yearly gold production. The transaction will also offer the gold miner 2.6 million standby ounces for $115 an ounce and 1.9 million reserve ounces.
It has been disclosed that Gold Fields may pay for these assets in cash or partly in shares offered to Barrick Gold. If Gold Fields opts for cash payment for these assets, it may use its money generated in Australian operations. It may also use money from its bank facilities. And perhaps obtain funds from the capital markets.
The purchase is dependent on a number of conditions being met, one of them being the approval by the South African Reserve Bank for the transaction. The deal will have to get the blessing of Australia’s Federal Treasurer. Lastly, the Western Australian Minister for Mines will also have to put his signature to the transaction.
Barrick Gold is the world’s biggest gold producer which has been struggling in recent years.

Nigeria: Shekau’s death excites BRIC investors
According a report published in Forbes the death of Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Boko Haram insurgency, is making foreign investors look favourably towards investing in Nigeria. Such investors are said to be frustrated by the low level of profit they are currently making from the BRIC nations of Brazil, India, Russia and China.
The report said success in cracking down on security threats in the Niger Delta is also changing the security situation for the better. And while terrorist disruption recedes, money keeps flowing into Nigeria.
In the last six months, U.S. corporations like Procter & Gamble PG -have committed at least $700 million to build new factories and agricultural facilities in the country while the Nigerian government itself announced a $1 billion fund to nurture the local software industry, which officials think can ultimately capture $20 billion a year from rivals like India.
Forbes also said Nigeria was one of the world’s four best-performing markets last year with a 35.45 per cent gain and is the biggest and most dynamic frontier economy in Africa, with a GDP at par with global capitals like Hong Kong and Singapore.
Moreover the Nigerian economy is growing at an annualised rate well above six per cent, faster than any of the top-tier emerging markets.

Ghana: First seven year bond oversubscribed by 170 percent
The country’s quest to raise funds for development through the issuing bonds has received massive interest from investors. The Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning sold its first seven-year bond and it was over-subscribed by 170%.
Government received GH¢ 270 million Ghana cedi offers from local and foreign investors but took GH¢102 million cedis. It would be paying those who participated in the bids, an interest or a yield of 17.5%. Most of the bids that government is likely to accept are from local investors.
Proceeds from the bond, would be used to finance infrastructure projects and settle some maturing debts. Government is however expected to receive the money by next Monday, 26th of August. Some analyst says this would encourage some corporate institutions as well as government agencies like Volta River Authority (VRA) to issue long-term bonds to finance their operations.

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• President Kenyatta arrives in China on first State visit (capitalfm.co.ke)
• From Indian Ocean to Uganda: China will build Kenya’s new rail line (csmonitor.com)
• Why China is investing $5 billion in Kenya’s infrastructure (smartplanet.com)
• Ties with Kenya ‘not just about resources’ (chinawatch.washingtonpost.com)
• Kirubi joins Uhuru’s business entourage in China (capitalfm.co.ke)
• Africa Attracting Technology Firms (voanews.com)
• China’s Trade with Ghana Eclipsed that of the US (atlantablackstar.com)
• Uhuru says China to help Kenya combat poaching (capitalfm.co.ke)
• Ghana-US trade equals $817m in first-half 2013 (ghanabusinessnews.com)
• IFC to Expand Nigeria Investments to $2 Billion by 2014 – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)

How to achieve energy security for growth in Africa

Tags

Africa, COMESA, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, EAPP, East Africa, Electricity generation, Ethiopia, Middle East, North Africa, SAPP, South Africa, Southern African Power Pool, Sub-Saharan Africa, United States

Reflex Eco Group – Africa News

by  Kennedy Opalo (Kenyan journalist)

According to a recent survey by Ernst & Young, 44% of business people in Africa identified inadequate infrastructure as one of the key constraints to doing business in the region. This means that as Africa continues to grow in the next two decades, infrastructure development must top the investment agenda. General infrastructure development will be especially crucial as African economies undergo structural transformation from being primarily resource-driven to having bigger manufacturing and service sectors. Indeed Ernst & Young estimates that in 2012 43.1% of investments in capital in Africa went to manufacturing as opposed to 12% that went to the extractive sector.

A key area that will require greater and smarter investment to fuel the region’s economic growth will be the energy sector.

Everyone knows about the energy woes of many an African country – from Nigeria’s infamous generators to the total lack of functional national grids in some African states. A few countries have initiated plans to boost their energy sectors through investment in power generation (Ethiopia’s 6000MW Great Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile), oil refining (Angola’s planned 200,000 bbl/day refinery in Lobito), and aggressive prospecting for fossil fuels (especially in eastern and southern Africa). Despite these national efforts, for African states to ensure energy security for their growing economies, they must also think regional (and to some extent continental) when developing their respective energy sectors. As intra-Africa trade grows in the next two decades, there will be pressure to integrate energy markets as well.

The reasons for a regional/continental approach to energy sector development are twofold. Firstly, investment outlays in energy infrastructure development are often prohibitively expensive (because their viability relies on economies of scale), thus necessitating the pooling of resources. Ethiopia’s newest dam, for instance, will cost $4.7 billion. Not many African countries can afford such massive investments on one project.

Secondly, there is the issue of markets. With 12% of the world’s population, Africa consumes a meager 3% of the world’s electricity. Of this 75% takes place in North Africa (33%) and South Africa (45%). The remainder is shared out among the rest of Sub-Saharan African states. Furthermore, electricity connectivity on the continent remains relatively low, with rates averaging 43% (North Africa stands at 99%, with the other sub-regions between 12-44%).

This means that for projects like Ethiopia’s to make sense, access to international markets must be guaranteed. A key part of the Ethiopian project is the planned interconnector line linking the power station to the Kenyan grid. Joint investment and taking advantage of economies of scale will also help lower the cost of power in Africa. At present the average tariff per kilowatt-hour in the region is US $0.14, compared to US $0.04 in Southeast Asia. It is estimated that investing in regional grids and hydropower will save the region up to $2 billion annually. This is music to the ears of sugar millers, cement manufacturers and many small factory owners across the continent.

Existing and Planned Power Pool Connections in Africa

With this in mind, African states have begun the process of integrating their power sector infrastructure, via regional power pools (see map above of existing and planned power interconnector links). The South African Power Pool (SAPP, established in 1995); North African power pool (COMELEC , 1998); West African Power Pool (WAPP, 2000); the Central African Power Pool (CEAPP, 2003); and the East Africa Power Pool (EAPP, 2005) are all initiatives to establish regional power markets and help harmonize energy policy.

The COMELEC sub-region (27.4 GW, largely thermal, in 2009) has the highest connectivity and the best infrastructure. The region is also linked to the Middle East via the Egypt-Jordan interconnector line and Europe via the Morocco-Spain line (part of the future Mediterranean Electricity Ring, MEDRING). SAPP, with a capacity of 50GW (78.4% coal; 20.1% hydro; 4% nuclear and 1.6% diesel), is next in terms of infrastructure development. The remaining pools have 13 GW in the WAPP; 29 GW in the EAPP. There is a plan to link the EAPP to states outside of East Africa as part of COMESA. The 19-state COMESA bloc has an installed capacity of 52MW (69% thermal and 30% hydro) and has since 2009 initiated a process to harmonize regulation and energy policy. In terms of regional (intra-power pool) trade in power, SAPP is ahead with 7.5%, WAPP 6.9%, NAPP 6.2%, EAPP 0.4% and CAPP 0.2%. Clearly, there is a lot of room for improvement in levels intra-pool trade in power.

All these developments are encouraging. But a lot more needs to be done. For starters African states must work harder to harmonize their energy policies. This will necessarily involve greater liberalization of their power sectors, especially with regard to power generation and distribution. There is also an urgent need to invest in interconnector infrastructure to ensure that power can be transmitted efficiently to market. In the Day Ahead Market (DAM) of SAPP, for instance, trading is limited by between 40-50% of the potential level due to lack of efficient transmission capacity. Lastly, there will be a need to connect the regional power pools. This will reduce their overreliance on regional “anchor” economies (the best example of this is SAPP’s overreliance on ESKOM of South Africa, which has its own integrated resource plan). It will also create even bigger markets, including potentially the Middle East and Europe.

Ultimately, whether or not the dream of regional and continental power interconnectivity is achieved will depend on politics. Unfortunately, so far things do not look good. Almost a decade after the idea of regional power pools set in, governments are yet to harmonize their power sector regulatory policies. In many countries state monopolies dominate, with attendant inefficiencies. And across the continent power supply master plans are still very nation-centric and under the tight control of local vested interests. Moving forward, the challenge will be to convince governments and stakeholders (private sector and consumers alike) of the benefits of having an Africa-wide power market – which will necessarily require the liberalization of national power sectors. The alternative will be more roundtable discussions and promises of policy harmonization that never get fulfilled.

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Africa Focused News

Tags

Africa, AGOA, Alluminium, Angola, Barack Obama, Brazil, Brong Ahafo Region, Burundi, Congo, DuPont Pioneer, East Africa, Ecobank, Ethiopia, Eurobond, Fitch, ghana, Hauwei, India, Japan, Kenya, Mondelez, Mozambique, Nairobi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Singapore, South Africa, sugar, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Upper West Region, Vivo Energy, William Ruto

REPORT OF THE LAST WEEK (from 29/07/13 to 02/08/13) 

by Dario Galluccio

Ghana: Eurobond to fund 157 road projects

A part of the $1 billion raised from the international capital market in New York on Thursday will fund one hundred and fifty seven road projects; additionally, the government will use part of the money to build infrastructure in all the new 46 districts. 

To be precise a Deputy Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mr Felix Ofosu Kwakye, said $284 million from the money would be used to fund road projects and other projects captured in the 2013 budget. He mentioned the Apam-Akam road in the Central Region, the Fian-Wahabu road in the Upper West Region, the Goaso-Kukuom road and the Berekum town roads in the Brong Ahafo Region as some of the projects that would be funded from the money. The deputy minister said general infrastructure, including clinics, schools and offices, would be executed in all the new 46 districts.

Ghana: Japanese investors explore opportunities in Ghana

Dr Omani Boamah, Minister of Communication, received a 20- member Japanese delegation, so he has pledged Government’s commitment to deepen relations with Japan. The minister said the two countries have enjoyed fruitful working relations in the past and expressed the hope that this would continue as Japan has expressed its resolve to support Ghana’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. 

The delegation is in the country to explore investment opportunities in the areas of ICT, Energy, Transport and other sectors of the economy.

Mr Takeshi Hata, NEC Corporation Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa and a member of the delegation, expressed the desire to provide ICT expertise to the GMSD. He lauded Ghana for its strides especially in the areas of good governance and economic stability. The delegation is in Ghana following the investment opportunities President John Dramai Mahama presented at the 5th Tokyo International Conference on African Development.

Tanzania: Bank M assets expand, hit half trillion

Bank M Tanzania, the fastest growing bank in the market, has marked its sixth anniversary with a big bang as its total assets hit the half a trillion mark.

The bank, which opened its doors on July 27, 2007, celebrated its sixth anniversary on Saturday, with 532bn/- assets. “We are marking six years of growth, growth in all aspects”, the bank’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Ms Jacqueline Woiso.

She said during the past six years, the bank has grown in terms of not only balance sheet but also profitability, citing this year’s impressive performance. The bank has in seven months of operations posted a profit of 9.13bn/-, indicating that the 2013 will be a highly profitable year for the bank.

The bank, priding itself as among the fastest growing financial institutions in the domestic market, has grown geometrically from the balance sheet of mere 31.19bn/- at the end of 2007, to 67.59bn/- in 2008 and 106.51bn/- in 2009. The bank assets swelled to 193bn/-, 310bn/- and 421bn/- in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively.

India, Nigeria: To enhance economic partnership

Utility service provider, Umeme, is targeting the capital markets to raise over $170 million (about Shs438 billion) to finance its investments.

The energy utility firm last week said it needs to make significant investments worth $440 million (about Shs1.1 trillion) in the next five years, part of which will be raised during the this season.

Kenya: New infrastructure to ease city traffic

The government says it has finalized plans to upgrade the city’s infrastructure to ease traffic congestion and improve the living conditions of the residents. Addressing at St James ACK Buruburu, Deputy President William Ruto said key stakeholders in the Nairobi County met last week to map out ways of implementing the ambitious project that will see at least 100,000 new and modern housing units constructed for the low income earners.

“We want to transform the city within the next three years and we have already identified development partners with whom we intend to roll out the project in Ziwani, Mbotela, Bahati ,Maringo and other estates in Nairobi’s Eastland’s suburb,” he said.

He revealed that the government had developed a road map to ease traffic congestion in major city routes to reduce the time workers lost while commuting to their duty stations.

The Deputy President added that the government had introduced a Railway Development Levy to revive and improve the rail network in the capital.

Ghana: Benefits from Cuba relations

Mr Kwesi Quartey, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs over the weekend said government benefits from her bilateral relations with the Cuban government especially in the area of health and education. Mr Quartey said thousands of African students have received medical and educational support in Cuba and had returned to the continent to help their communities.

South Africa: H&M signs lease for store

South African weekly Sunday Times said in an article re-run on daily Business Day’s website that the Swedish retailer has signed a lease for a store in a mall that is due to open in 2015 in Johannesburg.

An H&M spokeswoman, which has yet to open a store in Africa, said South Africa is one of many markets it finds interesting but declined to comment further. The company opened its first store in the southern hemisphere in Chile earlier this year.

Sunday Times, which is part of the same media group as Business Daily, did not disclose its sources. H&M was also searching for suitable store locations in Cape Town, it reported.

H&M’s biggest rival, Zara owner Inditex (ITX.MC), opened its first Zara store in Africa, in South Africa, in 2011.

Ghana: Fitch rates Ghana’s Eurobond B+

Fitch has rated Ghana’s newly issued $750 million Eurobond B+. The rating is in line with Ghana’s ‘B+’ Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating, on which the Outlook is Negative, Fitch said in an email July 26, 2013.

>Fitch on February 15, 2013 revised Ghana’s Outlook to Negative, affirming it ‘B+’. It was to reflect the country’s worsening trend in public finances. During 2012 Ghana’s fiscal deficit widened to 12.1% of GDP in the run up to the December election, the ratings agency said.

Ratings agency, Moody’s also rated the ten-year bond ‘B 1’.

This second sovereign Eurobond was issued last week with a coupon of 7.875%.

Nigeria: Ecobank will exceed $310m agricultural sector loan

Ecobank Nigeria says it plans to grow its agricultural sector loan to over N50 billion ($310 million) by 2014. Citing it’s policy to support the growth and development of the industry. Ecobank Country Head, Agric and Export Finance, Abel Ajala, said the bank had introduced “concessionary interest rates” for its agriculture financing scheme.

He added that the bank has developed a robust agriculture and export unit operated by high quality professionals to ensure for an easy risk assessment of loans and adequately provide measures to guarantee beneficiaries utilize funds diligently.

The reason behind the bank’s focus on the sector, according to Mr Ajala, stemmed from its need to checkmate the impending food crisis on the continent, noting that the pan-African bank’s support cuts across the entire agricultural value chain.

Ethiopia: Hauwei sign $700m mobile network deal

Ethiopia has signed a $700 million mobile phone deal with China’s Huawei Technologies to improve the telecoms infrastructure in the country. The agreement, which is half of a $1.6 billion project split between Huawei and ZTE is expected to double phone users in the country to 56 million.

Ethiopia’s Minister of Communications and Technology, Debretsion Gebremichael stated that “this deal will deliver 4G high-speed broad band network. Although our target is 40 million, now including 3G, we will get to 56 million by 2015”, he said.

World Bank posits that Africa’s rapidly expanding telecoms industry has come to symbolize its economic growth, with subscribers across the continent increasing from a mere 25 million in 2001 to 650 million in 2012.

Before now, Telecoms in Ethiopia was considered a monopoly with only Ethio Telecoms as its only mobile phone operator in a country of more than 80 million people. The new deal with the Chinese firm is expected to boost the sector.

According to the minister, other operators like South Africa’s MTN Group have been granted operation licenses.

Ghana: Singapore consolidates trade ties

Investors from Singapore have strengthened bilateral trade ties with their Ghanaian counterparts following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the opening of its Overseas Centre in Accra.

The Singapore investors are in the country by courtesy of their external trade facilitating agency, the International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, and were led by the Singapore Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and National Development, Mr Lee Yi Shyan.

The IE Singapore’s Accra Overseas Centre aims to boost economic collaboration by accelerating trade and investment cooperation in the ECOWAS sub-region focusing on the logistics and oil and gas consumer sectors. Also, the Singaporean investors are focusing on infrastructure, oil and gas and the manufacturing sector to help drive the growth of the Ghanaian economy.

Mozambique: Thailand seeks to double trade

Mozambique and Thailand have agreed to a series of measures to strengthen bilateral cooperation. The accords cover technical cooperation, diplomatic visa exemptions, hydrocarbon development, economic cooperation and tourism. Currently, trade between the two countries stands at 180 million US dollars a year. These new measures could see trade double over the next five years.

The signing of the accords in Maputo on Monday followed the arrival of the Prime Minster of Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra.

The Prime Minister will also visit Tanzania and Uganda before returning to Thailand to attend the new session of parliament on Thursday.

Ghana: To create 2.3 million jobs in Aluminium sector

Ghana is set to create more than 2.3 Million jobs under the Integrated Aluminium Project, which has been described as the key to growing the economy with a capital injection of about $8 billion. Under the Integrated Aluminium Project, an Aluminium refinery is to be constructed to refine the rich bauxite deposit at Nyinahin into alumina, would then be processed into aluminium by VALCO, and sold to the several downstream industries as aluminium ingot and billet.

It is believed the project hold the key to transforming Ghana’s economy by bringing in benefits, far more than the nation currently receives from oil.

The Nyinahin mine with bauxite deposit of 700MT, valued at $17.5billion , is estimated to create about 98,000 jobs whiles the aluminium refinery expected to produce about 350metric tones of alumina, will generate about 19,000 jobs.

Ghana: First Rand still interested in acquiring a bank

South Africa’s biggest finance group, First Rand says it is still interested in acquiring a bank in Ghana despite failing to take over Merchant bank.

This is because Ghana remains a priority for the group’s expansion drive.

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) last month announced that it was unable to reach an agreement with First Rand over Merchant Bank’s sale. The Trust added that it is now looking for new suitors for the Bank.

Kenya: Brazilian entrepreneurs ready to invest

The businessmen, representing multi-billion dollar operations, included oil and gas company Queiroz Galvao, aerospace conglomerate Embraer Defense & Security, diversified engineering, construction and chemicals outfit Odebrecht, manufacturers Randon and Agropeucaria Foletto & Alimentos, the globe’s largest private rice farmer.

An executive from Argentinian agriculture products firm Rizobacter, which is looking to expand to Kenya, accompanied the Brazilians who held an exhibition in Nairobi this week as part of their exploration of business opportunities in Kenya.<

The entrepreneurs are keen to use Kenya as a major regional hub and launching pad for their enterprises in this part of the world.

Nigeria: To attract N480 billion investment for sugar production

In line with the country’s desire to grow the industrial sector, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, has said the country attracted $3 billion (about N480 billion) investment into the sugar sector since the implementation of the National Sugar Master Plan (NSMP). The approval of the NSMP by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on the 19th September 2012 had raised the country’s profile, making it to rank among the top five exporters of sugar in Africa.

Aganga also noted that the gains made through the development of the manufacturing sector had led to a reduction on the country’s dependence on oil and gas, saying N305 billion was generated from non-oil export within the first quarter of 2013.

NSMP has stimulated investments of $3 billion thus far. NSMP is targeting the production of 1.7 metric tonnes of sugar; creation of 117,181 direct jobs; generation of 411.7 megawatts of electricity; total forex saving of up to $565.8 million annually from savings from sugar production and fuel importation.

Ghana: To list Eurobond on local exchange

Ghana will list the second Eurobond it secured this week on the country’s local bourse next month, says the chairman of the governing council of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), Dr Sam Mensah. Speaking in New York after Ghanaian finance officials concluded the Eurobond sale, Dr Mensah said the decision will give local investors an opportunity to actively trade in the bond as well as helping to boost the development of the GSE.

South Africa: Mondelez ventures into South African market

Food group Mondelez International has announced that it will start business operations in South Africa. A possible competition in South Africa’s food and beverage sector seem likely as it has been controlled by JSE-listed Tiger Brands and AVI. Mondelez manufactures Cadbury sweets and chocolates, Oreo biscuits and Stimorol.

This news comes shortly after another the world’s second biggest clothing retailer, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), announed that it is poised to set up shop in Johannesburg, South Africa. Last week, it was reported that H&M will open up a new shop in the Mall of Africa in Johannesburg and plans are already afoot to open another in Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront.

Nigeria: To begin online business registration

Nigeria is a step closer to launching its global online business registration platform, as it moves closer to divesting from the oil and gas sector. The soon-to-be-launched platform will allow Nigerians living in the diaspora or foreigners planning to register their businesses in Nigeria to register their businesses in Nigeria from any part of the world within the next two months.

Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga confirmed this at the 2013 Ministerial platform in Abuja on Tuesday, saying, “Global online business registration will take off in two months’ time. This will ensure that anyone can register their businesses in Nigeria from any part of the world and also make payment without necessarily coming to Nigeria.”

Studies have found that the creation of new businesses is a significant indicator of the level of economic growth and development of a country; in addition to the job creation and wealth generation that come with it.

The country’s foreign direct investment currently stands at $7 billion.

East Africa: Uganda builds new refinery, Kenya upgrades

Plans to construct a new refinery in Uganda and upgrade an existing one in Kenya are already afoot, according to an oil and gas analyst. Jeffrey Kerr, the managing oil and gas analyst for GlobalData, said this has led to an amazing corporation between Kenya, Uganda, Congo, Rwanda and Burundi and improved relations between the countries.

Kerr added that government delegates from these countries and three global oil firms have agreed to corporate in the erection of this 30 mbd refinery in Hoima, Uganda.<

The construction of the new refineries in Uganda and the improvement of an existing one in Kenya has been prompted by estimates that the need for “aggregated” processed oil products in East Africa could more than double in 2025.

Ethiopia: FDI to Ethiopia second best in Africa

Japan says the fact that Ethiopia achieves 1 billion dollar Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow in to the country shows how focused the government is to develop the sector.

Hiroyuki Kishino, Ambassador of Japan to Addis Ababa, says Ethiopia has given priority to food security, infrastructure development, human resource development and FDI to make significant transformation as part of its 5 year strategic plan. The Ambassador takes the development of the FDI to show the progress happening saying in just a couple of years Ethiopia’s FDI grows from 300 million dollar to 1 billion dollar, which he labeled as significant upward spiral.

FDI is expected to facilitate technology transfer in the industry sector, bring in huge capital and machineries, create employment opportunities and increase global market share.

Ghana: Bank of Ghana stays policy rate at 16%

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has maintained the policy rate at which it lends to commercial banks at 16 per cent for the third quarter of the year. This was after it assessed economic activities in the country and policies put in place to prevent prices of goods and services from rising constantly.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the bank, chaired by the Governor, Dr Henry Kofi Wampah, told that the bank was satisfied with the policies put in place by the government to check increases in general price levels, hence the decision to maintain the rate at 16 per cent.

Angola: Be promoted to list of middle-income states

According to a United Nations (UN) official, Angola, Africa’s biggest oil producer behind Nigeria, may be promoted to a list of middle-income countries that get better terms from international lenders such as the World Bank.

“Angola will make it to the middle-income category because it has a growing economy, the government is moving toward the right direction and it has the financial capacity to invest,” the director of the UN Africa Division for Least Developed Countries, Tesfachew Taffere, said.

Angola, a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, wants to diversify its $114bn economy away from crude, which makes up almost all of its exports and 80% of tax revenue. Middle-income status will help it rebuild from a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002 by gaining access to risk and credit guarantees that lower the cost of public investments containing private funding.

South Africa: DuPont Pioneer acquires 80% stake in a seed company

DuPont said that it completed its purchase of an 80 percent stake in South Africa-based competitor Pannar Seed Limited, giving the chemical and agricultural giant an opportunity to expand its reach throughout Africa.

DuPont said the acquisition of Pannar by DuPont Pioneer, its agricultural seed unit based in Johnston, Iowa, would allow it to tap into Pannar’s insight into Africa while giving the U.S. firm access to the company’s corn genetics that have been specifically tailored for the region. Pannar would be able to use Pioneer’s genetics library and corn breeding and biotechnology work.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Ghana: Vivo Energy adds Shell Ghana Limited to its group

Vivo Energy, the company formed by Vitol, Helios Investment Partners and Shell to distribute and market Shell-branded fuels and lubricants across Africa, has acquired a majority shareholding in Shell Ghana Limited.

The company, which will be renamed Vivo Energy Ghana, will be headed up by Fred Osoro as Managing Director. He will take over from Vincent Richter, the former acting Managing Director

Christian Chammas, CEO of Vivo Energy, said: ‘Ghana is an important market and a growing economy which is set to benefit from significant developments in the energy sector. We are acquiring a business with great potential; a long history in Ghana, a high calibre workforce and a large and diversified customer base. Vivo Energy is looking forward to serving our Ghanaian customers and investing in the business, to ensure it realises its full potential under Fred Osoro’s leadership.’

The Shell brand has been in Ghana for 85 years and Shell has been the leading marketer of fuels and lubricants. Vivo Energy Ghana has a storage capacity of 8,300m³ and 124 retail stations with the majority offering Shell Cards and convenience retail stores. Over the years, the company expanded its portfolio by acquiring Texaco in 1988. Vivo Energy Ghana employs 134 people but the business provides indirect employment to over 1,000 people. The company is recognised as the leader in the oil industry especially championing and setting standards for safety in sales and distribution.

Africa: Obama works to extend AGOA

The Obama administration has indicated that it is working with the United States Congress to extend the Africa Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) programme, which is set to expire by 2015.

Florizelle Liser, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa in the Office of the United States Trade Representatives, stated: ‘We recognize that AGOA can do so much more. We have to look at how we can fulfill its promise and potential, and as AGOA is extended, we want to make sure that Africans are in a position to compete in the global economy.’

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) was enacted in 2000 and permits 39 eligible African countries to export most products duty-free to the United States.

AGOA aims to promote economic development and better integrate African economies into the world trading market. Additionally, it intends to create a platform for governments, the private sector and civil society to expand business links and build trade capacity between the United States and Africa.

Total exports under AGOA have risen more than 300 percent since the programme began.

Though 84% of the United States’ AGOA imports were petroleum products, its non-oil imports from sub-Saharan Africa amounted to $4.7 billion in 2012 more than a 250% rise since AGOA’s start.

Ethiopia: Hailemariam confers with Kenyan investors

Prime Minster Hailemariam Desalegn meets Kenyan business delegation at his office to look into interest of Kenyan investors wanting to invest in Ethiopia. They are here to see the opportunities for themselves to decide their involvement in investment. Mr. Hailemariam explains how Kenya and Ethiopia are working to integrate their economies after a special economic agreement signed recently to ease business transaction between the two neighborly countries.

The electric transmission line, the road and rail lines under development are evidences of the ambitions between these two countries, and businesses in both countries can benefit from such developments, Hailemariam remarks.

Nigeria: Airtel and FirstBank launch mobile payment platform<

Telecommunication service provider, Airtel Nigeria has partnered FirstBank Plc to launch Firstmonie Talkmore, a mobile payment service platform, for the country’s citizens. The platform, which was made official after the signing of an MoU on Tuesday, in Lagos, will allow subscribers on the Airtel network to send and receive money, buy airtime, pay bills and carry out other forms of transactions without owning a bank account. And the mobile operator has stated its confidence that the innovation will revolutionize the mobile payment industry

The partnership, according to both firms, is the first major collaboration between leading operators in the nation’s telecom and banking industries and follows a recent partnership between Airtel and the bank’s insurance company, FBNLife Insurance, on the unveiling of PAD14Life.

Tanzania: Investors exhibit high appetite for treasury bills

Despite the end of month obligations, the twelve-month Treasury Bills auction that the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) conducted on Wednesday was oversubscribed by 63.6 per cent. According to the auction results, the total amount tendered jumped to 237.34bn/- against 145bn/- sought by the central bank at an average interest rate of 14.18 per cent.

However, despite the oversubscription, the government ended up taking only 210.32bn/-. It is common that most investors fulfil end of month obligations including the disbursement of tax, salary and other statutory payments, cutting down the share of investments in the government papers. But the situation was contrary and the auction was oversubscribed, a sign of excessive liquidity in the market. The bank report states further that there was a higher appetite for 364-day bills but there was no appetite for 35 day.

Rate of return has been one of the major determinants in drawing attention of investors’ appetite on the treasury bills auction although in some past tenders, little changes were noticed despite hiked interest rates leading to under subscription.

Commercial banks have remained to be the giant investors in government securities, contributing over 60 per cent of the total market share. Pension Funds, insurance and few micro-finance institutions firms are among the key investment players in the instruments.

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Uganda gets Social Impact funding

Tags

Acumen Fund, Collective investment scheme, East Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda

Reflex Eco Group – Uganda News

by Stephen Otage (Local journalist)

 

The Acumen Fund, an American social impact investment fund, using poverty as an investment product has launched operations in Uganda targeting peasant farmers as beneficiaries.

The fund which is already operating in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia, is coming to Uganda with a $367m investment to finance the capital needs of the poor particularly along the agricultural value chain so as to spur growth of enterprises. It is anticipated that the fund will facilitate the production of agricultural in puts, increasing access to health care as well as affordable and renewable energy.

According to Duncan Onyango the fund director for East Africa, the fund is financed by the Melinda & Gates, Rockefller and the Soros family Foundations. He adds that the fund is implementing the aspirations of its funders among which include providing affordable solutions in water and sanitation, education, housing and financial services like agricultural micro-finance to the poor.

In an interview, Mr. Onyango said the fund is already operating in the Northern district of Gulu where it has invested $5million in cotton ginning benefiting 55,000 farmers already.

“We are looking at attracting entrepreneurs who will be game changers by building businesses which are impacting on communities. We also want to attract investors in leadership to change the way communities tackle poverty,” he said.

He added that in Kenya, the fund invested $30m in a seed company producing high yielding hybrid maize that has had an impact on 300,000 farmers, while in Rwanda, the fund has invested in a coffee processing firm while in Ethiopia, the fund has got approval to start poultry and animal feeds production.

He said the overall desire of the fund is to ensure that there are industries along the value-chain.

“We would like to see more investments in agriculture, water and sanitation. We would like to see people who operate toilets as businesses through turning waste into fertilizer, businesses providing clean water solutions for cooking and drinking,” he said.

According to Mr. Onyango, J.P Morgan the leading global financial services firm last year estimated that for the last four years alone, social impact funds as an emerging financial market targeting the rural poor have reached $4bn and close to 300 impact investors have been registered across the world.

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Africa Focused News

Tags

Africa, Bank of Central African States, Burundi, Central Africa, East Africa, Ethiopia, Eurobond, Fina Bank, ghana, gold, Guaranty Trust Bank, Hilton, Kenya, Marriott, mines, Mozambique, Nigeria, Oil, Rwanda, Singapore, South Africa, South Sudan, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Starwood, Sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, West Africa, World Bank

REPORT OF THE LAST WEEK (from 22/07/13 to 26/07/13) 

by Dario Galluccio

West Africa: Sifca invests $417 Million for palm-oil expansion

Sifca Group, which owns Africa’s biggest palm-oil refinery located in Ivory Coast, plans to spend $417 million in the next five years on plantations and factories in Ghana, Nigeria and Liberia.

The company, which is also West Africa’s largest rubber producer, plans to boost palm-oil output 33 percent to 400,000 metric tons annually over the next four years.

Ghana: GTBank acquire 70% stake in Kenyan bank

Parent company of Guaranty Trust Bank (Ghana) Limited, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc has reached an agreement to acquire a 70 per cent stake in Kenya’s Fina Bank Limited for $100 million.

The new acquisition will increase the number of countries that GTBank has presence from seven to ten, since Fina Bank, headquartered in Kenya also operates in Rwanda through its 92 per cent owned subsidiary Fina Bank Rwanda Limited and in Uganda through its fully owned subsidiary Fina Bank (Uganda) Limited. GTBank currently operates in Ghana, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote D’Ivoire and the United Kingdom and the acquisition forms part of the bank’s strategy to increase its international footprints across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Ethiopia: Mines earn U.S. $593 Million revenues

The revenues of mines this year shows decrease by 61 million US dollar compared to earnings of same period last year. According to Sinkinesh Ijigu, Minister of Mines, the decrease is down to price of gold reduction in the global market, which causes companies in Ethiopia to hoard their gold mines.

Last fiscal year the country provided to the global market 12 thousand kilogram of gold, over 81 thousand tons of tantalum and over 25 thousand kilogram of gem stones among others.

Ghana: Stanford SEED West Africa Centre opens in Accra

The Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies (SEED) has opened its office in Accra. It is the first innovation centre in West Africa.

The Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, expressed appreciation for the initiative undertaken by the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the alumni and foreign donors, noting that Ghana would be made a hub of private partnership investment, when the SEED project which primarily aimed to change lives and transform businesses in the country and the sub regions of West Africa took roots.

Central Africa: BEAC projects 6% growth rate in 2014-2016

The Monetary Policy Committee (CPM) of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) is projecting a 6 per cent economic growth rate for the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) in 2014 to 2016. The Governor of BEAC, Lucas Abaga Nchama, who is also the Statutory President of the CPM made the disclosure last Friday July 19 during a press briefing that was preceded by the second ordinary session of the committee for 2013 at the BEAC’s headquarters in Yaounde.

The promising macroeconomic perspectives, Mr Abaga Nchama said, is based on the rhythm with which growth-induced projects are being executed in member countries. He said many giant projects in the mining, energy and infrastructure sectors are off the ground and raising hopes that upon completion, they would be able to fire the economies of the respective countries to boom.

Nigeria: State integrates infrastructure master plan to gulp U.S.$2.9 trillion

The federal government has said the implementation of a new blueprint on Nigeria Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP), would cost $2.9 trillion.

The Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, stated the master plan had been designed to raise the nation’s stock of infrastructure from the current 35 to 40 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 70 per cent of GDP in 2043- that is, in 30 years. He also pointed out that according to the master plan, 48 per cent of the $2.9 billion would come from the private sector.

The NIIMP is a 30-year master plan for accelerating infrastructure development in the country. It focuses on core infrastructure, including energy (power and oil and gas), transport (roads, rail, ports and airports), housing, water and ICT. Other infrastructure classes include agriculture, mining, social infrastructure, vital registration and security.

The draft NIIMP contains a long term vision that sets the overall direction for the master plan and strategic objectives, such as per capita income and GDP growth. It also describes the overall investments required in infrastructure, over the next 30 years and contains a financing plan and sector and regional strategies, as well as a priority projects portfolio. As an actionable plan, the NIIMP also highlights enablers for implementation and an implementation plan.

East Africa: Delonex Energy will invest US$600 million

Delonex Energy Ltd, an energy sector company, plans to invest US$600 million in financing oil and gas projects in several African countries, including Mozambique.

One of the investment areas will be East Africa’s rift valley, which runs from the Red Sea through Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique.

The main investor in this project is a consortium led by Warburg Pincus LLC, a private equity company, which previously financed Kosmos Energy allowing it to discover an oil field in Ghana.

Ghana: GPHA seeks 1.5 billion dollars for expansion

The Ghana Ports and Habours Authority, GPHA, requires $1.5 billion to expand the Tema Port.

The expansion, which is necessary to meet traffic growth, transshipment and transit demands will involve the dredging of the basin and access channel, construction of new break, dry and liquid bulk terminals and a new fruit container terminal among others. The proposed project is to be financed through commercial loans, government of Ghana funding and public-private partnership.

South Africa: Investec approves $813 million debt for renewables

Investec Bank Plc said it’s able to provide 8 billion rand ($813 million) in debt funding for clean-energy projects in South Africa as the country adds wind and solar output. The money would be used to finance plants in the nation’s third renewables bidding round.

South Africa, seeking to cut dependence on coal for power, intends to add 3,725 megawatts of renewable-energy capacity by the end of 2016 with five tenders. That may help state utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. meet demand as it struggles to fund maintenance and expansion in the continent’s biggest economy. The second round attracted bids from Electricite de France SA (EDF), Tata Power Co. and Acciona SA (ANA). The deadline for submissions in the third is Aug. 19.

Investec has participated in about 20 billion rand of financing for South African clean-energy and renewable ventures so far, including 6.4 billion rand of debt.

Kenya: World Bank will finance Kenya, South Sudan road project

The World Bank has pledged to finance Kenya’s Lodwar-Nadapal link-road project to South Sudan, a key infrastructure that will boost trading activities between both nations.

In an official statement, the bank’s Lead Transport Specialist for Africa, Josephat Sasia, said the construction which is part of the Eldoret Napal 595-kilometre project embarked upon by the World Bank, will be administered by the Kenyan National Highways Authority as an initiative to improve Kenya’s infrastructure.

Sasai disclosed that the cost of the project is yet to be ascertained, pending the completion of designs – which is slated for September – but noted that the funds will be disbursed by the apex bank through its regional transport facilitation programme. He, also, expressed optimism over the quality and pace of infrastructural development in the country, stating that the economy stood a better chance of developing through infrastructural expansion.

Earlier this year, the World Bank partly funded a 960km stretch of road connecting the two East African states and has so far disbursed an estimated $1.2 billion for various infrastructural projects across the East African country.

Kenya: Boom for East Africa economy as Kenya removes roadblocks

The Kenyan government has removed roads blocks along its roads to Rwanda. The roadblocks have been a cause for delays when transporting goods to Rwanda. The presence of many traffic police officers in the over 25 roadblocks has also been linked to increasing bribery and other corrupt practices. The move is a boost to the East African common market which came into force in 1st July 2010. Known as The East African Protocol, the agreement was passed by heads of the five member countries; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.

The removal of the roadblocks comes at a time when massive economic gains awaits the region with the discovery of oil deposits in Northern Kenya and Uganda. More gold deposits have also been discovered in Tanzania. Free flow of goods, labor, capital and services are some of the key pillars of a free market economy as envisaged in the East African Protocol.

Africa: Marriott, Starwood and Hilton increase their investments

Marriott International Inc. (MAR), Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT) and Hilton Worldwide Inc. are turning to Africa, where a growing middle class and rising travel are fueling the fastest pace of hotel development in the world.

Marriott, that plans 3,900 rooms at 22 hotels, has increased the number of hotel rooms it plans on the continent by 55 percent from last year. For Starwood, which plans to increase its number of properties in Africa to 50 by 2016 from 38 today, the revenue per available room in Africa and the Middle East is the highest of any region worldwide, the average room rates were $209.87 in the fourth quarter. The high-end Transcorp Hilton Abuja, in Nigeria’s capital, commands some of the steepest management fees in the world for its operator, according to Lagos, Nigeria-based hotel-consulting firm W Hospitality Group, in fact in Abuja, a shortage of high-end hotels combined with rising demand allows Hilton to charge more than $400 a night for its rooms and lets the hotelier collect some of the highest management fees in the world.

Hotel investors and operators, finding growth slowing in mature European and U.S. markets, are expanding in Africa as the continent is buoyed by increasing trade with countries including China and rising demand for services such as lodging. More than half of Africa’s countries probably will post gross domestic product growth of 5 percent annually through 2016.

Ghana: GIPC targets huge investments from Singapore

The Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) is expecting high volumes of foreign direct investments (FDIs) from Singapore in the coming months, following recent increase in investor interest from that country in the Ghanaian economy.

The Chief Executive Officer of GIPC, Mrs Mawuena Adzo Trebarh, added that the investments were expected to go into light manufacturing, ports and logistics, agriculture as well as the ailing power sector.

Trade between Ghana and Singapore is currently around US$1 billion and FDI inflows amounted to US$250 million in 2012, information from the GIPC showed.

Mozambique: To invest up to $5 Billion in Rovuma Basin

The publicly owned Mozambican Hydrocarbon Company (ENH) plans to invest between 2.5 and 5 billion US dollars as it exercises its rights to participate in the Offshore Area 1 and Offshore Area 4 gas fields in the Rovuma Basin in northern Mozambique.

ENH has a 15 per cent stake in Offshore Area 1 (operated by the US company Anadarko) and a ten per cent stake in Offshore Area 4 (operated by the Italian company ENI). The latest estimate is that these two areas contain 170 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The economic model developed by the operators expects that the project will generate a total of 400 billion dollars. From this, the government would receive 119 million dollars from its share of production and from royalties.

Africa: Oil discoveries in East Africa attract West African banks

The recent discovery of substantially large amounts of oil deposits estimated at 2.5 billion barrels in Kenya and Uganda and has come as a shocker to the local banks which are now partnering with investors to exploit the liquid gold. There has been growing interest among investors especially from the West African banks and insurance companies in countries like Nigeria and Ghana. A similar interest in also growing in Tanzania following recent data published by the Ministry of Energy and Minerals on substantial amount of gas estimated at 33 trillion cubic feet. Gold has has also been discovered in the Republic of Tanzania.

South Africa’s banks and insurance companies had identified this opportunity a little more than three years back.

Insurance firms Ghana Re and Nigeria’s Continental Re have launched new wholly-owned firms in Nairobi in the past 12 months, paying more attention to the oil and gas sectors.

Ghana: BOST will build gas storage facility in Kumasi

The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) Company is looking forward to building a gas storage facility in Kumasi for power generation; there are also plans to build an oil pipeline from the Western region to the Kumasi oil depot as part of upgrade and expansion re-engineering to meet the energy needs of the country.

Uganda: exports hit $2.3billion

Uganda’s exports reached $2.3b (5.9 trillion) last year, up from $2.1b (sh5.4 trillion) in 2011, the executive director of the Uganda Export Promotion Board, Florence Kata, has said.

Top Uganda export markets include France for cotton and oil seeds, Sudan, Congo, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, Rwanda and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) partner states.

COMESA accounted for 46% of Uganda’s exports, while the East African Community market accounted for 22% of the total export earnings. Kata, however, said last year registered drops in export values for four important sub-sectors – coffee, fish, cotton and cocoa. She said the four sectors earned $590.7m in 2012, down from $678.7m in 2011.

She said that this drop in traditional exports can be attributed to a combination of factors, including the tough economic conditions in Europe, America and Asia which took a negative toll on the country’s exports.

Ghana: Turkish businessmen explore opportunities

A five-member Turkish business delegation which was in Ghana to explore investment opportunities has paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Haruna Iddrisu in Accra.

The delegation also toured the Ghana Free zones area in Tema to explore opportunities in the construction, real estate, fertilizer production and manufacture of tomato paste and spaghetti sectors.

The leader of the delegation, Mr Suha Ozkan, who lauded Ghana’s political climate said they were determined to scale up trade between Ghana and Turkey.

South Africa: Union of mineworkers declared wage war

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity and UASA on Wednesday, the 24^th of July, announced that they had declared a wage dispute with the Chamber of Mines. The deadlock has been referred to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

NUM said the “dispute comes amid the Chamber of Mines ‘s gold producers having further insulted mineworkers by putting a 1 percent increase, taking their offer to 5 percent”, moreover NUM wants surface workers to earn a minimum of 7000 rand a month, and underground and open-cast workers 8000 rand a month.

Mining remains the backbone of the South African economy.

Rwanda: Government and UN Sign U.S. $400 Million deal

The government and One UN Rwanda have signed a five year agreement aimed at helping the country achieve the Millennium Development Goals, the Economic and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRSII) as well as Vision 2020.

The assistance, worth of US$400 million (Rwf264 billion), is a mid-term strategy running until 2018 under the United Nations Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP), through which the organization seeks to consolidate its support to Rwanda’s development strategies.

The US$400 million budget will be financed through funds that UN agencies will invest from their core and non-core resources, as well as through mobilization efforts headed by the resident coordinator.

UN announced in 2007 that it would explore new ways of enhancing its efficiency at country level, naming Rwanda, Albania, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Pakistan, Tanzania, Uruguay, and Vietnam as pilots in its “One UN” agenda.

Tanzania: Uranium project will attract Sh1.6 trillion investment

The Mkuju River Project (MRP), a uranium mining project in Namtumbo District, Ruvuma Region, is expected to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) amounting to US$ 1bn (about 1.6trillion) over the project’s life. The project is owned by Mantra Tanzania and operated by Uranium One Incorporation.

According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Uranium One, Mr Chris Sattler, if all goes as planned construction of the project should begin in the next dry season and take two years to complete. Before construction can begin, a nine month detailed engineering and design programme must be completed; moreover he said that uranium produced by the project will be supplied to electrical utilities solely for the generation of electricity.

When operations at the MRP commence, Tanzania would become Africa’s third largest producer of the mineral after Niger and Namibia. Some 1,600 people are expected to be employed during construction and there will be 750 permanent jobs when the mine starts operations. There will be even more indirect jobs created by the Mkuju River Project over its life. At present there are 120 employees who are involved in exploration activities.

South Sudan: Ecobank opens an affiliate

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, a leading pan-African banking group, has opened a banking affiliate in South Sudan. The new banking affiliate, the 34th on the African continent, offers the opportunity to support the youngest African state in addressing the challenges in regards to its development, the group said in a statement. Ecobank South Sudan started operations on July 10 and it offers the suite of products and services of the group to individuals, small to medium enterprises, multinationals and institutions.

The Togo-based Ecobank Transnational Incorporated is the parent company of the leading independent pan-African banking group, Ecobank. It currently has a presence in 34 African countries, namely Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (DR) , Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Sub-Saharan: World Bank investment rises to $14.7billion

The World Bank Group’s financial assistance to sub-Saharan Africa rose by $2.5 billion in the 2013 fiscal year to a record high $14.7 billion. In a statement issued by the Group, its International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA) credits, grants, and guarantees to the region increased by $800 million from the previous year to $8.25 billion.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) committed a record of nearly $5 billion for private sector development projects in sub-Saharan Africa, its preliminary and unaudited data released July 23, 2013 showed.

About $1.5 billion political risk guarantees were issued by the Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) for projects in the region during the fiscal year which ended June 30, 2013.

The World Bank’s support for developing countries was worth $52.6 billion during the fiscal year.

According to the information, IDA commitments during financial year 2013 reached a record $16.3 billion, IBRD’s commitments totaled $15.2 billion while IFC investments were nearly $25 billion.

The Bank Group’s political risk insurance arm, MIGA, issued $2.8 billion in guarantees during the fiscal year. This included a $500 million financial guarantee for Angola.

Despite the slowly recovering global economy, the World Bank Group indicated that it supported an estimated 1,956 operations across all sectors such as governance, infrastructure, human development and the private sector.

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said “the Bank’s performance has been strong during my first year as President, and we are well positioned to address the economic challenges developing countries face during these still uncertain times.”

Ghana: Fan Milk sees 14% rise in profit

Ghana’s Fan Milk Limited revealed yesterday that its first-half net profit rose nearly 14 percent to 14.85 million cedis ($7.12 million) as against 13.05 million cedis ($6.3 million) a year ago on lower operating costs.

Earnings per share increased to 0.13 cedis from 0.11 cedis compared with the first six months of 2012. However revenue fell to 71.41 million Cedis from 73.31 million cedis, the company said in a filing with the Ghana Stock Exchange.

Fan Milk is Ghana is the leading producer of dairy products including ice cream in Ghana.

Fan Milk International, the leading manufacturer and distributor of frozen dairy products and juices in West Africa, was acquired last month by Abraaj Group. The deal, that is expected to close by November, implies Abraaj would also take majority stake in Fan Milk Ghana Limited. Apart from Ghana, Fan Milk International currently also operates in Nigeria, Togo, Ivory Coast, Benin and Burkina Faso.

The company, which started as a family business more than 50 years ago, currently sells over 1.8 million products daily across West Africa through its fully integrated regional manufacturing and distribution cold chain network.

Ghana: Eurobond oversubscribed by US$1.2 billion

Ghana’s second bid to raise US$1 billion from the international capital market to finance key development projects has been oversubscribed by US$1.2 billion. The first bond of US$750 million was raised in 2007 with a coupon rate of 8.5 per cent and a maturity period of 10 years.

This current bond of US$1 billion has a maturity period of 10 years, with a coupon rate of 7.875 per cent which will be paid semi-annually. The bond will be listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE). This will be the first listing of a sovereign bond on a local stock market in sub-Saharan Africa.

The over-subscription shows the level of confidence the international financial community has in the Ghanaian economy. The economy, over the past year, has received positive ratings from international rating agencies. Moody Ratings rated Ghana B1; Standard and Poor’s B, while Fitch rated the economy B+.

The foreign lead managers for the transaction were Barclays Bank and the Citi Bank Group, while SAS and EDC were the co-managers.

Proceeds from the bond are expected to be used to finance infrastructure projects and restructure maturing debts and interest payments. They are also to be used as counterpart funding for capital projects such as the Atuabo Gas Processing project, as well as to finance capital expenditure approved in the 2013 budget, with priority given to self-financing projects such as ports and power projects.

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