Natcom wins Nitel takeover with bid of USD 252 mln

The Natcom consortium has won the bidding to acquire Nigerian Telecommunications (Nitel) and its mobile unit Mtel with an offer of USD 252.5 million.

The preferred bidder must still get the approval of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) and be able pay the sum within a specified time to seal the deal. If all the conditions are met, the transaction would mark an end to years of attempts to privatize Nitel.

The Nettag consortium, the other group qualified for the bidding, was disqualified for failure to enclose a bid bond stipulated by the Bureau of Public Enterprises. The government had initially rejected a USD 221 million bid from Natcom before the company increased the bid to USD 252 million.

Natcom's shareholders include Natspace Telecommunication Investment, PCCW Global and Prime Union Investment. Other members of the consortium are Prime Union Investment, Olutoyl Estate Development & Services, Sahara Energy Resources, Legal Resources Alliance & Co and Ericsson Nigeria.

Nigerian overnight rate spikes, naira stabilises as central bank curbs liquidity

 

Nigeria's overnight lending rate spiked to 30 percent on Friday while the naira stabilized, after the central bank drained liquidity from the banking system as part of efforts to support the currency, hit by falling global oil prices.

The central bank withdrew around 300 billion naira ($1.7 bln) from the system this week to reinforce monetary tightening introduced last week, pushing the interbank overnight lending rate up to 30 percent, from 12 percent a week ago, dealers said.

The central bank is struggling to prop up the naira, which has taken a beating over the past few months as falling oil prices have shaken confidence in the assets of Africa's leading energy producer.

As the bank has been forced to tighten monetary policy to defend the currency, it also risks hurting Africa's biggest economy as high interbank rates will constrain credit growth and could create bad loan problems for lenders.

Brent Falls Below $69 as Price Rout Rolls On

Brent crude slipped below $69 a barrel on Friday, on track to finish the week below $70 a barrel for the first time since 2010, as cuts to official selling prices from Saudi Arabia added to recent pressure.

Prices remain near five-year lows as the market grapples with oversupply due to the US shale boom and the recent decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries not to cut production.

Prices pared early losses after stronger-than-expected US employment data, while a slightly lower physical supply from the programme that underpins the Brent crude benchmark in January also provided support.

But analysts said the Saudi cuts to monthly prices for crude it sells to the United States and Asia just a week after blocking cuts to OPEC's output show it is stepping up its battle for market share.

Ivory Coast hands international cocoa contracts to local exporters

 

Ivory Coast has appointed around 20 local exporters to handle the top cocoa grower's contracts with international buyers, according to a marketing board official and exporters, as part of reforms to boost the position of domestic companies.

Reuters reports that the contracts, which involve the delivery of cocoa to buyers outside Ivory Coast, represent around 200,000 tonnes of the country's annual exports of roughly 1.5 million tonnes.

For the period running from October to December, the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) attributed contracts totalling 40,000 tonnes to local exporters, with volumes varying from 500 to 15,000 tonnes, a CCC official said.

According to exporters, the companies receiving the largest contracts include SONAMAT, with 1,500 tonnes for Cargill , AGRICOM, with 1,500 tonnes for ADM, and Novel SA Cote d'Ivoire, with 1,500 tonnes for Sucden.

Africa Sourcing, formerly known as Armajaro Negoce, will handle contracts for 15,000 tonnes of cocoa and CNEK 1,500 tonnes, but the buyers were not identified.

A second list of exporters will be released in December for the first three months of 2015.

CBN licenses 7 banks as MMOs

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it has licensed seven banks as Mobile Money Operators (MMOs), as part of efforts to deepen the financial inclusion in Nigeria for which over 70 per cent of the population is said to be excluded.

Speaking at the Finance Correspondents Association and Business Editors seminar in Katsina, yesterday,  Head, Payments System Policy and Oversight Division, Banking and Payments System Department of CBN, Mr. Musa Ilopa Jimoh, said that though over 15 million Nigerians have subscribed to operate MMOs, telecommunications companies (telcos) have been excluded from being subscribers.This, he said, is because the telcos are not regulated by the CBN but Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

He added that, if they are licensed as MMOs, they could become dominant and prioritise transactions from other networks.

Naira hits another record low outside CBN’s new target

The naira hit yet another record low against the dollar on Tuesday, trading outside the target band set by the central bank last week after the bank auctioned dollars at the currency’s newly devalued rate, dealers said.

The currency traded at 187.55 naira on the interbank market, or 6.2 percent below the lower end of the new band, shortly after the market opened, as dealers scrambled to fill orders not met at a central bank’s twice-weekly auction on Monday.

It sold about $169 million dollars at 168 naira at the auction versus last week’s rate of 165 naira, dealers said, compared with its usual $200 million and $300 million at previous auctions.

The bank has also been selling dollars daily to commercial lenders to try to prop up the currency.

Ghana Power Cuts Extended to Coca-Cola and Unilever Plants

Ghana says it will cut power to factories including ones run by Unilever NV and Coca-Cola Co. to offset a worsening shortage of electricity.

Factories will lose power for 48 hours and then have continuous supply for six days, the Electricity Company of Ghana said on its website. Electricity will be available to residential areas for 24 hours, followed by cuts for 12 hours, the company said.

Bloomberg reports that the new schedule runs from yesterday through Jan. 1. Ghana is West Africa’s second-largest economy and the second-largest gold producer in Africa.

Ghana cut its economic growth forecast for 2015 in about half because of soaring inflation and chronic power shortages that are curbing investor sentiment. President John Dramani Mahama created a Ministry of Power last month to deal with shortages that worsened this year because of a lack of natural gas and low water levels at the largest hydroelectric dam.

The world’s second-largest cocoa producer has struggled to chip away at power and water shortages that have held back investment in the economy since the discovery of oil in 2007.

Nigeria's index shed 1.74 pct, as oil stocks tumble

Nigeria's share index fell 1.74 percent on Monday, dragged lower by oil stocks Oando and Seplat, trailing tumbling global oil prices.

The index had fallen to 33,941 points by 1255 GMT. Oando fell almost 10 percent while Seplat lost 5.9 percent.

Nigerian naira at record low close against dollar despite intervention

The Nigerian naira posted a record low closing level against the dollar on Monday, despite the Central bank intervention to try and halt its slide, which is being driven by worries about the impact of plunging oil prices on the economy.

The CBN sold an undisclosed amount of dollars to commercial banks, but dealers said it was not sufficient to lift the naira, which closed 2.9 percent weaker than at its previous close on Friday.

The central bank has struggled to keep the naira within its preferred band even after devaluing the currency by 8 percent last Tuesday in a bid to halt a decline in the foreign reserves of Africa's leading energy producer. Oil sales provide around 95 percent of foreign exchange.

On Monday the naira touched an intraday low of 184.42 to the dollar before the bank's intervention. Afterwards, it recovered very slightly to end at 184.10 naira to the dollar, a record low closing level. Downward pressure came partly from concerns that foreign investors would demand dollars to pull out of local assets, dealers said.

The central bank's target band since the devaluation is 5 percent plus or minus 168 to the dollar, but doubts remain about whether the devaluation went far enough given the likelihood of continuing low oil prices and the fact that Nigeria's oil savings were being depleted even when crude prices were at a record high.

The coming weeks will test the bank's ability to maintain that level -- the naira is trading well below it and forex reserves are still being run down.

Nigeria's share index fell 1.8 percent on Monday, dragged lower by oil stocks Oando and Seplat.