By Kumeshen Naidoo, Head of Debt Capital Markets, and Narisa Balgobind, Head of Debt (AR), at Absa Kenyan beverages giant East African Breweries recently refinanced an existing KES 11 billion corporate bond through a medium-term note priced at 11.8%, marking the first issuance under its newly approved KES 20 billion programme. The timing mattered. Kenya’s 10-year government bond yield had eased to around 13.3%, its lowest level since mid-2022, which made the economics of refinancing workable again. The offer received strong demand, driven by active participation from banks, fund managers, pension schemes, and retail investors. This resulted in an oversubscription of…
Author: Montage Africa
By Vanashree Govender, Senior PR Manager, Media and Communications, Huawei South Africa For millions of people, the digital world still begins with a quiet translation. They speak one language at home, think in it, play in it, then switch to another to search, type, learn or use everyday apps without friction. It isn’t because people lack multilingual ability, but because many digital systems still don’t meet users where they are, in their mother tongue. International Mother Language Day, marked by UNESCO on 21 February, is a reminder that language is more than communication. It is identity, belonging and cultural continuity.…
Investor confidence in Africa’s agricultural trade is strengthening, with Nigerian commodity firm Sunbeth Global Concepts Limited raising ₦165.73 billion through a commercial paper issuance that significantly exceeded expectations. The offering, which opened on February 27 and closed on March 6, 2026, initially targeted ₦100 billion, but strong demand from qualified investors pushed subscriptions 65% above the original goal. The issuance was structured across three series with tenors of 179 days, 270 days, and 364 days, giving investors flexible short-term options while allowing the company to align funding with its trading cycles. The notes were issued at discount rates ranging from…
At least 30 people have been killed in floods and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall in the Gamo Zone of southern Ethiopia, local officials have said. Authorities reported that most people had died in highland areas, where saturated slopes gave way after days of intense rain. Officials have urged residents in vulnerable areas to take precautions. Torrential rains have unleashed widespread flooding across East Africa in recent days. Dozens have also died in neighbouring Kenya. Forecasters say storms are becoming more intense in the region, partly due to climate change. The Southern Ethiopia regional state governor offered his condolences to…
By Rédaction Africanews and Agencies Denis Sassou Nguesso, one of Africa’s longest serving leaders, has ruled oil-rich Congo-Brazzaville with a tight grip for more than 40 years, earning him a nickname associated with tough invincibility. The former paratrooper colonel, who is now aged 82, used the army as a springboard to power and has allegedly amassed a fortune over the decades as a strongman who detractors accuse of corruption and rights abuses. Sassou Nguesso’s first stint as president began in 1979, at the helm of a single-party system run by the Soviet-aligned Congolese Labour Party (PCT). He was voted out…
The arrest in South Africa of the youngest son of Zimbabwe’s former President, Robert Mugabe, has brought renewed attention to the former first family and their controversies over the years. Bellarmine Mugabe, who appeared in court on Wednesday for a bail hearing, is accused of attempted murder, among other charges, after a 23-year-old man was shot and injured at a property in an upmarket suburb of Johannesburg. He has not commented on the charges but in an unexpected move, he abandoned his request for bail and agreed to plea negotiations with South African prosecutors. He is charged alongside his bodyguard.…
Mauritania has taken a significant step toward strengthening its economy after signing a $1 billion five-year framework agreement with the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC). The agreement, covering 2026–2030, aims to expand trade capacity, strengthen key sectors, and support long-term economic development. The deal was signed during an official visit by Mauritania’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Development, Abdallah O. Souleymane O. Cheikh-Sidia, to the headquarters of the Islamic Development Bank Group in Jeddah. The agreement was finalized with ITFC Chief Executive Officer Adeeb Yousuf Al Aama, alongside senior representatives from both institutions. Under the framework, ITFC will mobilize financing and technical support for priority…
By Rédaction Africanews with AP Soldiers were deployed on the streets of South Africa’s biggest city on Wednesday after the president announced plans last month to use the army to help police fight gang violence and illegal mining. The soldiers were seen in the Johannesburg suburb of Riverlea in the first major deployment since President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his annual speech to the nation that organised crime was the greatest threat to South Africa’s democracy and economic development. South Africa’s police and the Department of Defense, which oversees the military, did not immediately provide details on the deployment. Ramaphosa…
By Africanews with AFP Nigeria’s Dangote mega-refinery pledged on Monday to prioritise the domestic market to help prevent fuel shortages and limit the impact on prices of the war in the Middle East. It warned, however, that this hinged on government support and Dangote could not rule out further price hikes. Fuel prices in the west African country have already risen by around 20 percent in the space of a week, following US and Israeli strikes on Iran and the latter’s subsequent retaliation. Supply disruptions from the Middle East war sent benchmark crude prices above $100 a barrel on Monday,…
By Africanews Proceedings in the case where Swiftair, a Spanish company accused of manslaughter in an Air Algerie crash twelve years ago kicked in Paris on Monday. Several dozen relatives of victims were present to observe the proceedings. The aircraft involved in the crash, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83, had been leased to Air Algerie, Algeria’s national carrier, by Swiftair along with its crew. On July 24, 2014, while operating a flight from Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou to Algiers, the plane crashed in the Sahel region of northern Mali. All 110 passengers including 54 French, 23 Burkinabe, Lebanese, Algerians and six…