The loan, which carries an interest rate of 1.75 percent, is for a 210 km rail line, 160 km of which will be in Northern Ethiopia, with a 50 km stretch to Djibouti.

The project line is the initial part of a larger regional project to improve railway connections and advance economic growth in the East African nation, said Ahmed Shide Mehmad, Ethiopian Minister for Finance and development, ‘‘…the railway link to a port city will provide impetus to growth, particularly in the northern region of our country’’, he said.

According to Hindu Business line, the scheme is the first line in the Ethiopian Railway sector. There are credit lines in the sugar and rural development sectors of the country as well. The line will be used for shipment but eventually made available for passengers.

Chairman and Managing Director of Exim Bank T.C.A Ranganathan said the report for the project is being prepared by RITES (Rail India Technical and Economic Service) and will be finalized in two months.

The post Ethiopia Secures $300m Loan From Indian EXIM Bank For Railway Project appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

OCI is a leading Egyptian contractor, based in Cairo, Egypt and active in more than 25 countries.

Since last month, Meller Excavating, a Lee County-based company, has been moving five thousand cubic yards of dirt to the fertilizer plant site every day.

“It’s (fertilizer plant) gotten a lot of business for the area. Local gas stations, a lot of local truck drivers, I mean everybody is getting a little piece of the pie on this job. And obviously we’re busy with it,” Scott Meller, the head of Meller Excavating, said.

The firm has hired more drivers and bought new trucks for this project. Meller did not disclose how many new people were hired and how many new trucks he bought.

Construction on the site is expected to be completed in the next two years.

Steve Bisenius, the Lee County Economic Development Director, described this project as “fantastic” and the biggest he has seen ever.

“And it certainly has made history in Iowa. But we’re really pleased that the local contractors and workers are involved in it. It’s been a great boom, a great shot in the arm for us,” Bisenius said.

It is estimated that the site will have 2,500 construction workers when construction is in full swing.

The biggest fertiliser plant in the US is expected to create 160 to 170 full time jobs when its starts operating in the next couple of years.

The post Orascom Kickstarts Construction Of New US Fertiliser Plant appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

Data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) showed on Thursday that 2.01 billion naira ($12 million) was sold in bonds against 35 billion naira ($217 million) initially planned, 18.8 billion naira ($116 million) in the note, less than the 25 million ($155, 000) initially offered, and 24 million naira ($150, 000) in the debt note against 25 million ($155, 000) advertised for offer.

The Debt office sold 21.05 billion naira ($131.56 million) worth of bonds with maturities ranging from 5 to 20 years with the 2030 maturing paper attracting 13.5 percent compared with 12.79 percent at the previous month’s auction; the 2017 paper attracted 13 percent compared to 12.25 percent, while that of 2015 attracted 12.25 percent against 11.6 percent.

The bonds which were listed on the JP Morgan government bond index (GMI-EM) sold at high yields because “investors were asking for higher returns”, one dealer said.

The auction, which took place on Wednesday, has “triggered a shift to stocks” according to Standard Chartered Bank’s Razia Khan.

The post Nigeria Sells $131m In Bonds As Yield Rises appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

As revealed by Chinese news outfit China Daily yesterday, one fund will be for commercial ventures, and the other for mining activities.

Zheng Yuewen, chairman of CABC, which represents the interests of more than 550 Chinese companies in Africa, said each fund will raise $1 billion in its initial phase from member companies and the CADFund, China’s largest private equity fund focusing on African investments.

Offices for the funds will be established in Beijing this month.

“China has been looking to invest in different ways in Africa, instead of focusing only on building infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, ports and stadiums throughout the continent,” said Zheng.

The changing global investment environment and the lingering debt crisis in the eurozone have prompted major economies such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, India and Japan to shift their investment focus from traditional markets in Europe and Asia, to Africa. Africa is one of the most growing regions in the world, the continent’s economy growing by an average of 6 percent per year, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Additionally, Africa’s hunger for urbanisation, commodities, jobs, new overseas markets, and improved manufacturing, trade, services and resource sectors, has presented unprecedented business opportunities to foreign investors.

“African countries have good opportunities to capitalize on high international commodity prices, their young energetic labour forces and abundant resources,” Zheng said.

“They also have the opportunity of taking advantage of the global investment trend to seek solutions to poor levels of infrastructure, the high unemployment and poverty by accelerating transformation through commodity-based industrialisation.

“The continent can go through the same industrial transformation as China did three decades ago, and in time it will become a major goods producer, rather than just being a shipper of raw materials to different foreign destinations,” Zheng said.

He said that during this long-term transition, more Chinese companies will move their factories to Africa to help the continent upgrade its technological ability.

The two new funds will provide capital to Chinese enterprises seeking investment opportunities in Africa, particularly in the mining sectors, commercial and trade investment.

To further strengthen cooperation with Africa, the Chinese government has consistently encouraged capable State-owned and private companies to invest there.

The post New Chinese Funds To Boost Trade With Africa appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

The Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved the International Development Association (IDA) grant this week as it sees those areas as priorities for the Ghanaian government.

“The funds will support two of the Government of Ghana’s priorities-manage natural resources in a sustainable manner and bring improved sanitation and water supply to over 3.6 million people living in and around the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA),” the World Bank said in a statement.

$150 million of the total grant will support the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) Sanitation and Water Project which is a five-year programme designed to bring sanitation facilities and water supply to residents in the metropolis, according to the bank.

The remaining $5 million, the World Bank says is allocated to support the country’s Natural Resources and Environmental Governance project with technical assistance.

The project is designed to provide technical assistance to help improve the capacity of government agencies to plan, manage and use natural resources in selected sectors more effectively and sustainably.

The post World Bank Approves $155m For Ghanaian Projects appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

According to a Reuters report, the deal will see KT Corp provide $140 million under a joint venture company, tasked with fast tracking the provision of 4G LTE broadband network to 95 percent of the landlocked East African country’s population.

Speaking on the deal, Jean Philbert Nsengimana, Rwanda’s Minister of Youth and ICT, said in a statement that the agreement with KT marks a major milestone in Rwanda’s “drive to become a modern, knowledge-based economy.”

“By expanding our information infrastructure, we will create jobs, support social progress and propel economic growth”, he added.

Nsengimana also noted that Rwanda’s 25 year-term equity in the joint venture would comprise using its national fibre optic cable, spectrum and wholesale-only license operators. Kigali also encourages other operators to invest in the project, while providing retail avenues to the 4G LTE wireless broadband, which will service its 12 million population.

Rwanda is one of the fastest growing economies, according to the World Bank. The country has laid down more than 3,000km of fibre-optic cable since 2009, with aim to grow a regional service based company that could become a market leader in Africa’s ICT sector.

The post Rwanda Signs 4G Internet Deal With South Korea’s KT Corp appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

The Ghana Alternative Market (GAX), as it will be called, will accommodate companies at various stages of their development, including start-ups and existing enterprises, both small and medium. SMEs must have a minimum stated capital of GHC250,000 ($125,800) at the time of listing and at least 20 shareholders at the time of the public float.

The GAX is intended to promote the listing of SMEs in the country. It is also to improve liquidity on the stock market by providing a structure conducive to attract SMEs to float shares on the Ghanaian bourse. This will enable them to raise capital through the Exchange to support growth and expansion.

“We have the governing committee in place; it has been inaugurated and has had its first meeting. The Support Fund is in place. So all the infrastructure as far as the market is concerned is in place,” Mr. Yamoah told journalists at a meeting with members of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), the umbrella body for businesses in the country, on the processes involved.

“What we want to do is to launch it with the first company that will come on it. Basically, we are talking to a number of brokers as to the companies they are working on; and once that first company comes and raises money from the market and is listing, we will seize the opportunity to do the launching,” he said.

The GSE, he said, has already contributed an initial amount of $50,000 to the establishment of the Support Fund and is expecting about $600,000 from the Africa Development Bank, plus an initial amount of $100,000 from Ghana’s Venture Capital Fund.

The Fund, known as the SME Listing Revolving Fund Facility, will assist qualifying high-growth companies to pay for their listing expenses (such as listing and legal fees) ahead of actual public floatation.

The idea of an Alternative Market has been hailed as a novelty that will help SMEs to raise long-term capital. The difficulty may however lie in the age-old Ghanaian entrepreneurial mindset of wanting to be the sole owner, however small the entity is.

“All companies in Ghana started as family companies, and, therefore, we have to change our mindset and know that for a company to really survive in this competitive global village, we need to expand our vision. We need to expand our companies, and it is only by forming partnerships that we can do that,” President of the AGI, Nana Owusu Afari, told the local Business and Financial Times newspaper in Accra.

The GSE understands that for the market to be successful it will have to undertake a lot of education to disabuse the minds of local entrepreneurs from the idea they will lose control of their businesses when they share.

“There is a large amount of financial illiteracy in the market, so people don’t understand what it means to list and what the financial implications are. All they know is that you need money, you go to the bank, work, pay; that’s it,” Mr. Yoofi Grant, Executive Director at Databank, a local investment firm said.

In the view of Mr. Grant, Ghana’s capital markets are comparatively young, and local entrepreneurs are yet to appreciate the benefits of going to the equity market to raise money to expand their businesses.

The post Ghana: Alternative SME Stock Market To Launch 2013 appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

These funds will support the rebuilding of some ten kilometers of drainage infrastructure in Lome and of about five kilometers of secondary road networks.

The drainage works are expected to benefit some 48,000 people while the road upgrades will benefit as many as 27,500 people with all-season transport access, a World Bank press release said.

According to Madani M. Tall, World Bank Country Director for Togo, “Togo, together with most countries in West Africa, suffered from heavy precipitation and flooding during the fall of 2010 rainy season,” The proposed rehabilitation works will improve access to basic services and contribute to creating jobs and supporting the government in its efforts to build resiliency to future flooding impacts.”

World Bank Task Team Leader for the project Kwabena Amankwah-Ayeh said, “The labour-intensive methods for drain rehabilitation to be used under the project will clearly contribute to the livelihoods of local residents in the project neighborhoods. Moreover, the road rehabilitation efforts supported by these funds will improve and lower the cost of transportation in low-income neighborhoods located far from job opportunities.”

“I am pleased to continue supporting this project and the jobs and benefits it brings to the people living in and near Togo’s capital city,” he added.

The post Togo Gets $14m IDA Grant For Infrastructure Development appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

The Nigerian capital market experienced a major collapse in 2008, recording an all-time downward surge from N13 trillion ($82.1 billion) to N6 trillion ($37.8 billion), believed to have resulted from a spill-over of the financial crisis’ witnessed in parts of Europe and America, as market borders where open to foreign competitors.

However, in recent times the market has gradually seen a turn in fortunes. Since the turn of the week, stock trading has remained on an upward course as investors have found certain shares financially attractive – Marginal trade growth, Monday, jumped from 0.7 to 2.5 percent by Wednesday, a 2.2 differential.

The market capitalization closed at N12.605 trillion ($79 billion), gaining N309 billion ( $1.9 billion) yesterday, with Dangote Cement the leading driver of this growth.

According to ThisDay, of the N309 billion($1.9 billion) recorded on Wednesday, Dangote Cement accounted for an astonishing N233 billion ($1.47 billion) as the share price witnessed a N13.74 ($0.086) gain to close at N210 ($1.33).

This increase can be linked to an increase in investor confidence due to the stable rise of its CEO, Aliko Dangote in the world billionaires ranking – Dangote recently consolidated his position as the richest black man while rising to 25th amongst the world top men.

Other companies such as National Salt Company, Dangote Sugar Refinery and Dangote Flour Mills also recorded gains this week.

Overseeing this growth is the CEO of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr Oscar Onyema. Mr Onyema, a former Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of the American Stock Exchange (Amex), was instrumental in the integration process of Amex equity into the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Euronext after its acquisition back in 2008. The stock market has witnessed steady growth since his appointment back in 2011.

The post Dangote Cement Drives NSE Market Capitalization Rebound appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

The first deal involves a transmission line project that would see Chinese company, TBEA, construct additional and upgrade power transmission lines in the East African country to deal with problems of a saturated power transmission system.

The second is where China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC) will design and construct a Thermal Plant at Kammwamba in Neno, a district in southern Malawi.

The Energy Minister of Malawi, Ibrahim Matola, revealed that after a survey of the existing transmission network, TBEA had proposed three possible upgrades in the following descending order of priority–Phombeya-Salima-Nkhotakota-Chatoloma, 220 KV Transmission Project; the Nkhota-Kota-Chintheche-Luwinga-Bwengu, 220KV Transmission Project; and Lilongwe- Mchinji-Chipata 330 KV Transmission Line.

“As government, we are extremely excited at the prospect of upgrading and construction of new power transmission lines as the project would create jobs for the locals besides, crucially, alleviating the challenge of power outages, which is critical for industrial development,” he said.

He said the two projects will economically transform Malawi in the next 10 to 15 years.

The post Malawi Signs $600m Energy Pact With China appeared first on Ventures Africa | .