By Andrei Skvarsky. The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) has provided a murabaha (Sharia-compliant) loan of 8m euros ($9m) to the Islamic Bank of Senegal to support operations within the African country’s private sector, traumatised by the Covid-19 pandemic. The money is planned to advance trade between Senegal, which is a predominantly Muslim country,… Continue Reading
Category Archives: News
African capital markets make poor showing, and not only due to Covid – study
By Andrei Skvarsky. According to a study by economists and financial experts, African equity capital markets have generally seen a serious activity decline over the past three years because of debts built up by key African economies and slow growth shown by them. Last year African capital markets showed some of their meagrest total annual… Continue Reading
Law firm Centurion launches service to help investors navigate in post-Covid Africa
By Andrei Skvarsky. Pan-African law and advisory conglomerate Centurion said it has launched a full-suite tax and investment advisory service to help investors find their way around Africa’s private sector during its recovery from woes inflicted on it by Covid-19. The service, to be managed by the Johannesburg-headquartered firm’s Centurion Plus unit, will enable businesses… Continue Reading
African Development Bank lending to Kenya, Mauritius to deal with Covid-19 havoc
By Andrei Skvarsky. The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved loans for the governments of Kenya and Mauritius, with each country to receive 188m euros ($205m), to combat Covid-19 and mitigate the economic and social impacts of the pandemic. The loan for Kenya, approved by the AfDB’s board of directors on May 22, is, among… Continue Reading
Permira Debt Managers prices new CLO at $225.5m
By Andrei Skvarsky. London-based debt investors Permira Debt Managers (PDM) has set the price for the Providus IV collateralised loan obligation, the fourth CLO in its Providus series, at 207.6m euros ($225.5m). Just as the previous Providus CLOs, Providus IV has environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards among its eligibility criteria, which puts restrictions on… Continue Reading
Covid-19 rules send Emirates NBD’s online corporate banking onboarding sharply upwards
By Andrei Skvarsky. Emirates NBD, Dubai’s biggest lender, has said its corporate banking division has recorded a month-on-month increase of 60 per cent in digital onboarding as businesses have been responding to lockdowns imposed in the United Arab Emirates in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. The division today processes 96 per cent of its payment volumes… Continue Reading
Tranio: Most property purchases abroad by Russians, CIS nationals are commercial investments
By Andrei Skvarsky. The returns of a 2018/2019 survey by Moscow-headquartered real estate broker Tranio suggest that commercial investment was the purpose of the majority of those years’ property purchases abroad by nationals of Russia and Russian speakers living elsewhere in the Commonwealth of Independent States. About 70 per cent of real estate purchases by… Continue Reading
US fund Princeville Capital provides Russian e-retailer with $50m convertible loan
By Andrei Skvarsky. US investment fund Princeville Capital has provided Russian online retailer Ozon with a $50m loan convertible into equity. The money came as part of a round of financing in which Ozon also received convertible loans totalling $100m from its main stakeholders Sistema and Baring Vostok, according to an Ozon statement. Sistema, which… Continue Reading
RenCap: Covid-19, cheap oil spell sharp economic slowdown for Sub-Saharan Africa
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Renaissance Capital investment bank has revised its 2020 annual growth forecast for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) down to 1.3 per cent from 3.5 per cent, chiefly because of the Covid-19 pandemic and plunged oil prices. The coronavirus outbreak has brought about a “demand shock”, which “implies a sharp slowdown across all SSA… Continue Reading
African Development Bank’s anti-Covid-19 social bond raises $3bn
By Andrei Skvarsky. The African Development Bank (AfDB) has raised $3bn via a three-year bond to help to alleviate impacts that the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to have on livelihoods and economies in Africa. Bids exceeding $4.6bn have come in for the Fight Covid-19 bond, which has a yield of 0.75 per cent and… Continue Reading
Russian conglomerate Sistema boosts share in Ozon retailer to 43%
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian conglomerate Sistema has enlarged its direct stake in Russian online retailer Ozon to 31.3 per cent from 21.9 per cent by converting earlier loans, with its total interest in Ozon swelling to 43 per cent as a result. The loans were made in 2019. In 2019, Sistema and the Baring Vostok… Continue Reading
Russia close to financial crisis – Russian credit agency
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia has come close to a financial crisis, Gazeta.ru and other Russian media cited Russian credit rating agency ACRA as warning. The recent collapse of OPEC-Russia talks with global oil prices plunging, the rouble dropping and the Russian stock market plummeting, and the havoc played with the world economy by the coronavirus… Continue Reading
Standard Chartered: profits up 8 per cent year-on-year but headwinds to affect 2020 performance
By Andrei Skvarsky. Banking group Standard Chartered has reported an underlying profit increase of 8 per cent for 2019 but predicted possible worse performance than expected for this year because of macroeconomic factors and the coronavirus outbreak. Standard Chartered’s earnings per share grew by 23 per cent in 2019, the London-headquartered lender, which is present… Continue Reading
Paxful bitcoin exchange: 2020 to be ‘landmark year’ for African crypto industry
By Andrei Skvarsky. Peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange Paxful reiterated this month that its African business is booming and was still upbeat about the use of cryptocurrencies in Africa in general, arguing that 2020 will be a “landmark year for the African crypto and blockchain industry”. In tune with a statement it issued in autumn 2019, Paxful… Continue Reading
Da Vinci obtains investment pledge for new fund from German development agency
By Andrei Skvarsky. Da Vinci Capital, an emerging markets private equity fund manager, has launched its third successive fund, Da Vinci Emerging Technologies Fund III, with German state-owned development finance institution DEG having pledged to be an anchor investor in it. DEG (Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft) made a pledge in December 2019 to invest more… Continue Reading
EVENTS: Scores to take the floor at Opal’s Family Office Winter Forum in NYC
Scores of speakers, among them prominent Wall Street figures, will address an audience of more than 500 at the Family Office Winter Forum in New York City on March 3 organised by Opal Group. The topics will include a global macroeconomic and geopolitical outlook, family governance, impact investing, and key challenges in seeking to preserve… Continue Reading
Da Vinci Capital passes control of Global Fintech Solutions to Prytek
By Andrei Skvarsky. Guernsey-based private equity company Da Vinci Capital has sold a majority stake in software developer Global Fintech Solutions (GFS) to the Prytek investment firm in what has been described as “one of the fastest exits” in Da Vinci’s history. According to a joint statement from Da Vinci and Prytek, the sale makes… Continue Reading
Angola to privatise oil firm stake, advertise other foreign investment opportunities
By Andrei Skvarsky. Angola has decided to partially privatise its state oil and gas company Sonangol as part of a campaign to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) that includes plans for a global roadshow and a large-scale conference at home. Up to 30 per cent of Sonangol is planned to be sold off by 2022,… Continue Reading
EVENTS: MoneyNext Summit, London forum in July on finance world digitisation
MoneyNext Summit, a conference to be held in London on July 1-2, 2020, will focus on the digitisation of the financial world, delving into the future of payments, banking, blockchain, insurance and regulation. The wide range of issues to be raised at the forum include digital solutions to risk management, ethical considerations in the use… Continue Reading
RenCap: Russia entering time of ‘strong’, stable growth
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital argues that Russia is entering a time of “strong” and stable economic growth and has become a country with splendid investment opportunities. “We expect growth in Russia to more than double to 2.6% YoY in 2020”, which “could surprise the markets”, RenCap economist Sofya Donets has said… Continue Reading
EVENTS: Moscow to host Blockchain Life 2020, key blockchain and crypto forum
On April 22-23 Moscow is going to host Blockchain Life 2020, an event in the Blockchain Life series – annual flagship international conferences on blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Blockchain Life 2020 is expected to bring together about 5,000 participants from about 70 countries, among them investors, cryptocurrency miners, blockchain developers, startup founders and government figures. The… Continue Reading
EVENTS: ESG no burden but source of more money – Jan 29 webinar
“Taking ESG Mainstream – Unlocking Financial Materiality”, a planned webinar at 1030-1130 GMT on January 29 to be hosted by Reuters Events, will focus on key points of environmental, social and government (ESG) criteria in investment decision-making. Please register for the webinar here. This interactive webinar is made in conjunction with ESG Investment Europe, a… Continue Reading
RenCap to host 2nd annual event to stimulate capital flow into N. Africa
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital is due to host its second annual conference on January 22-23 to drum up institutional investment into economies in North Africa, a region RenCap is very optimistic about, being particularly upbeat about Morocco and Egypt. The venue of the 2nd Annual North Africa Investor Conference is Marrakech,… Continue Reading
EVENTS: ESG Investment Europe 2020, London, May 27-28
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria are ceasing to be optional factors in investment decision-making, but data shortages are a big problem, and ESG Investment Europe 2020, a conference in London on May 27-28, will try to help solve it by putting the data issue at the front. The forum is expected to have an… Continue Reading
EVENTS: Investment Education Symposium, New Orleans, Louisiana, February 19-21
Pension system executives, financiers, actuaries, lawyers and others will talk about investing, fiduciary responsibility and the selection of money managers at the Investment Education Symposium in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 19-21, 2020. Institutional investors such as pension funds, endowments and foundations are the main target audience of the event, co-organised by New York-based company… Continue Reading
Sberbank, 500 Startups finish second joint accelerator for Russian firms
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank and San Francisco-based venture capital firm 500 Startups have finished the second seed accelerator in a joint programme for Russian technology start-ups. Sberbank invests in companies that take part in the programme. It pledged to put 6m roubles ($97,000) into each of 14 start-ups that were involved in… Continue Reading
Silicon Valley’s Fort Ross invests in Kryon to promote business automation in Russia
By Andrei Skvarsky. Silicon Valley-based Russia-focused company Fort Ross Ventures has made an investment in multinational technology firm Kryon that is expected to boost the use of its automation solutions by Russian businesses. Kryon has developed a platform that comprises process discovery and robotic process automation (RPA) tools. The platform is used by companies including… Continue Reading
Russia’s Sberbank carries out big promo campaign, sells bonds worth $26.8m
By Andrei Skvarsky. Hundreds of thousands of people took advantage of an annual promotion campaign by Sberbank last month which, besides a bunch of special offers, enabled Russia’s biggest lender to sell bonds worth 1.71bn roubles ($26.8m). There were offers in a wide range of services, including medical treatment, tour operating, car sales and taxi… Continue Reading
One of Inflexion’s portfolio firms makes five buyouts in November
By Andrei Skvarsky. British investment company Inflexion Private Equity has announced that its portfolio company Radius Payment Solutions, a fuel card manager, made five acquisitions in November. Inflexion owns a minority stake in Radius, which is based in Britain and has offices in various parts of Europe. Radius’s five acquisitions are two vehicle tracking companies,… Continue Reading