naija business

China’s lack of experience with tricky debt restructurings and slow coordination among its public lenders is holding up debt relief for Zambia, a test case for the top emerging market creditor, three sources familiar with the matter said. Zambia became in 2020 the first country to default in the COVID-19 pandemic era, struggling under a debt burden worth 120% of GDP. Its external debt topped $17 billion at the end of 2021, of which a third was owed to China, according to Zambian government data. China agreed last month to co-chair Zambia’s official creditor committee with France, a move welcomed by Zambia’s government, which has made tackling the country’s debts a priority since taking power last year. Emerging market investors and other debtor countries are closely watching Zambia’s case ...

Former Vice-President Atiku emerged again as the candidate of the PDP after a Presidential primary that lasted for a few hours. The veteran politician, who is running for a record 6th time, won in style by defeating his main challenger, Nyesom Wike, the governor of the oil-rich Rivers State, and 12 others to win the party’s ticket. Two things of note occurred at the primary.

By Pierre-Olivier Rouaud, with additional reporting by Nicholas NorbrookPosted on Monday, 11 April 2022 15:19 After the damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the financial year 2021 will undoubtedly be a period of significant rebound for most African companies. This is evidenced by the turnover of the Algerian giant Sonatrach (#1), which in 2021 soared by 70%. Meanwhile, our latest edition of the Top 500 Companies ranking, which focuses on the performance of companies in their financial year 2020, was marked by a depression. The cumulative turnover – $590bn – of this exclusive ranking by The Africa Report represents a decline of 4.8%. In absolute terms, we have to go back to 2016 to find a lower figure, namely $569bn. At that time, there were currency crises in Egypt, N...

Two years ago, Sasol (#3) experienced unprecedented headwinds triggered by the Covid-19 macro­economic shock and a collapse in oil and chemicals prices. Combined, these factors placed pressure on the global chemicals and energy company’s highly leveraged balance sheet. Source

ArcelorMittal’s operations in Liberia focus on mining, railing and shipping iron ore. The company is the single largest private investor in the country since the end of the second civil war in Liberia in 2003. However, the third Mineral Development Agreement (MDA) amendment, which was signed between the company and the executive in 2021, has to be ratified by both houses of the Liberian legislature before being transmitted back to the executive for the President’s signature.

ArcelorMittal’s operations in Liberia focus on mining, railing and shipping iron ore. The company is the single largest private investor in the country since the end of the second civil war in Liberia in 2003. However, the third Mineral Development Agreement (MDA) amendment, which was signed between the company and the executive in 2021, has to be ratified by both houses of the Liberian legislature before being transmitted back to the executive for the President’s signature.