Nigeria's Sterling Bank plans to raise up to $320 mln in fresh capital

Nigeria's Sterling Bank said on Thursday it would seek shareholder approval on November 11, to raise up to $200 million in debt or equity.

The mid-tier bank also said it would issue up to 19.8 billion naira ($120.3 mln) worth of shares to a strategic investor via a private placement at 2.65 naira each.

Nigeria Not to borrow from W/Bank, IMF to manage fiscal shocks

 

Nigeria’s Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala says the Federal Govetnnment will not borrow more from the World Bank and the IMF for managing fiscal shocks and vulnerabilities arising from declining crude oil price at the international market.

Speaking against the backdrop of threats posed on project implementation by declining crude oil prices at rap-up session for Nigeria at the just concluded annual meetings of the IMF/ World Bank in Washington DC, Okonjo-Iweala said that the government was considering a number of other options that did not include borrowing from the IMF and the World Bank.

According to local media reports, the minister’s response came against the backdrop of anxiety in some quarters that Nigeria’s rising external debt profile and declining revenues may cripple the business of governance.

The World Bank and the IMF have advised governments of developing and frontier economies to adopt contingency plans to manage downside effects of expected revenue shortfalls.

Gold rises on lower dollar, Fed rate hike uncertainty

 

Gold prices rose on Monday as the dollar fell on uncertainty about how soon the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates and worries about the global economy reduced investor appetite for risk.

Spot gold rose to a near four-week high of $1,237.30 an ounce and was trading up 0.4 percent at $1,227.75 at 1353 GMT. It posted its biggest weekly gain in four months last week, up 2.7 percent. U.S. gold futures hit their highest since Sept. 17 at $1,238 an ounce earlier.

The metal has rebounded four percent from a 15-month low of $1,183.46 hit last week after strong U.S. jobs data fuelled talk that U.S. interest rates could rise sooner rather than later.

But dovish-leaning minutes of the Federal Reserve's September meeting prompted the market to push back the expected timing of an interest rate hike.

According to Reuters, Gold's gains were helped by a lower dollar after Fed officials warned at the weekend that if the global recovery stumbled, it could delay an increase in U.S. interest rates.  

Nigerian naira firms on NNPC dollar sales

 

The Nigerian naira firmed against the dollar on the interbank market on Monday, gaining 0.48 percent, after state-owned energy company NNPC sold an undisclosed amount of U.S. currency to lenders.

The naira closed at 163.85 to the dollar, compared with 164.65 at Friday's close.

The naira has been slipping since last month, weakened by falling global oil prices and low inflows of hard currency into Nigeria's debt and equity markets.

Traders said the NNPC's dollar sales brought a temporary relief to the market, but the naira is seen depreciating again, to the 164 to the dollar level, before Friday on persistent demand from mainly offshore investors selling down their bonds and equity holdings.

Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer. Oil prices have fallen by more than 20 percent since June, touching a four-year low on Monday below $88 a barrel, and oil analysts forecast further falls.

Ivory Coast tightens regulation of world's leading cocoa sector

 

Reports say Ivory Coast's government has introduced stricter regulation of its world-leading cocoa sector for the 2014/15 season as it reasserts its control following a decade of liberalisation.

The government abandoned a system of spot buying in the 2012/13 season, selling forward its anticipated crop in order to fix a guaranteed minimum price for farmers and encourage investment in ageing plantations.

The reforms, which also included stricter quality standards, have largely won the government praise for raising farmer incomes and improving the reputation of Ivorian cocoa. Some exporters were quick to criticise the new regulations, however, claiming they were overly restrictive and risked cutting into their profit margins.

Under the new measures contained in a memorandum sent to exporters and merchants by the Coffee and Cocoa Council last week, exporters are limited to 110,000 tonnes of bean purchases during the October-to-March main crop harvest.

Of that, 70,000 tonnes will be permitted for the period from October to December and 40,000 tonnes from January to March. No restriction was placed on the volumes exporters may purchase during the April-to-September mid-crop, which generally produces smaller beans typically used for semi-refined cocoa products.

Under Ivory Coast's system of forward sales, exporters bid at auction on the right to export specific volumes of beans during a fixed time frame.

Sudan inflation falls in September to 39.2 pct

 

Sudan's annual inflation rate fell slightly to 39.2 percent in September from 46.4 percent the previous month, the Central Statistics Office said on Monday.

Inflation also fell in August after months of steadily rising rates.

Reuters reported that prices have soared in Sudan since South Sudan seceded in 2011, taking with it three-quarters of the country's oil output -- the main source of the foreign currency used to support the Sudanese pound and pay for food and other imports.

The rising cost of living is causing social unrest. Austerity measures and government plans to cut fuel subsidies prompted protests last year in which dozens were killed and hundreds were injured.

Nigerian Breweries wins approval to merge with rival firm

 

Nigerian Breweries (NB) said on Monday it won regulatory approval to merge its operations with rival Consolidated Breweries, majority owned by its parent firm Heineken.

Heineken, the majority shareholder in Nigerian Breweries, acquired a controlling stake in Consolidated Breweries in 2005 and said it would seek approvals to merge both businesses to take advantage of Nigeria's growing market for beer and malt drinks.

Nigerian Beweries, a unit of the world's third biggest brewer, said it has won Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission approval for the merger and said it would now seek shareholders' vote on the deal.

Neither firm disclosed the value of the deal. Nigerian Breweries listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange will be the surviving entity after the merger.