Markets

VENTURES AFRICA – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said in its Economic Report for the first quarter of the year that within the period, the oil-rich country generated 179.5 billion naira ($1.136 billion) from the non-oil sector, with the industrial sector largely contributing to the revenue. The report stated: “Total non-oil export earnings by [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Foreign investors’ acquisition of shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) nearly more than doubled in the first quarter of this year. This underscores the ever-mounting interest in Kenya’s stock market by foreign investors. The value of shares acquired by foreign investors in Nairobi’s equity markets surged to Sh23.3 billion ($278 million) [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – More than 140 potential investors have been introduced to eight tech ventures in Seed Engine’s Business Accelerator Programme at its first demo day at GIBS University in Johannesburg. According to CEO Marc Elias: “Raising capital is currently a Seed Engine priority following the positive response and interest in the demo day presentations. We are [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – American hamburger chain, Burger King, on Thursday officially opened its first franchise in South Africa. Currently opened on Heerengracht Street, close to the Civic Centre down in Cape Town; the company expects to create 5 000 jobs in the first five years. JSE-listed Grand Parade Investments led by Hassen Adams brought Burger [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Standard Chartered PLC’s Chief Executive Diana Layfield said, on Thursday, that the bank is planning to expand its operations to Angola and Mozambique, as part of its plan to double revenue within five years. According to Layfeild, Standard Chartered has already applied for a banking license in Angola with the intention of [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Leaders of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) on Friday urged African leaders and governments to increase investment in agriculture according to the Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security. Jane Karuku, President of AGRA, and Strive Masiyiwa, Vice Chair of AGRA and Founder of Econet Wireless, made these [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – JSE shares ended a three-day upswing at the close of markets last night as gold stocks fared poorly. The poor performance of gold shares like Gold Fields on the JSE followed investors’ anxious wait for economic information from China. Gold prices tumbled as the metal’s charm as another investment option declined. This [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Business confidence in Africa remains the highest in the world, according to the, annual YPO Global Pulse Confidence Index for Africa. Business confidence, which in essence refers to confidence among African business leaders about business conditions in the continent, had leapt more than six points in the fourth quarter of last year. [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Oragroup, a Togo-based regional commercial banking company, today announced that it closed a first tranche of equity fundraising at $18 million from investors including Development Finance Institutions BIO and PROPARCO. Commenting on the equity fundraising, Patrick Mestrallet, CEO at Oragroup said: “This capital injection represents a major landmark for Oragroup; highlighting our existing investors’ [...]

VENTURES AFRCA - Fast growing food delivery service, Foodpanda has secured more than $20 million funding from a group of investors among them Investment AB Kinnevik and Phenomen Ventures. The company focuses especially on emerging markets, operates together with its affiliated brand hellofood already in 27 countries on four continents and reaches about three billion people [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Africa’s share of global foreign direct investment has grown to 5.6 percent from 3.2 percent over the past five years; highlighting growing interest from foreign investors, according to Ernst & Young’s third Africa Attractiveness Survey. According to the report, the size of the African economy has more than tripled since 2000, led by [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Relations between Britain and South Africa is set to strain as the British government indicated yesterday that it was cancelling £19 million ($30 million) Official Development Aid to South Africa as from 2015. Responding to the development, Pretoria said such a major decision has far reaching implications on the projects that are [...]

VENTURES AFRICA- Germany’s Foreign Affairs Minister Guido Westerwelle, has revealed plans by the European nation to deepen economic and investment ties in Africa. Westerwelle, who said this after a meeting with South African counterpart Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, indicated that it is “a strategic decision of the government in Germany to seek new opportunities in Africa, especially [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – JSE-listed South African hotel chain, Tsogo Sun Group has announced plans to invest $100 million in two hotels in Nigeria and Mozambique, in line with the group’s growth strategy. According to reports, Tsogo Sun will pay $70 million to acquire approximately 75 percent stake in Ikoyi Hotels Limited, the holding company of [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Majid Al Futtaim (MAF), a Dubai-based retail company, is in talks to acquire Egypt’s biggest supermarket chain from family-owned Mansour Group. According to a Reuters report, a due diligence audit for the acquisition of Mansour Group’s Metro chain and discount grocery store, Kheir Zaman has been concluded. Metro is one of Egypt’s [...]