The Entrepreneur - Cameroon's Premier Economic & Business Journal

Cameroon's gas-fired power plant receives 45 million Euro Loan from AfDB

By Simon Tanyi

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a loan of Euro 45 million towards the construction of a gas-fired power plant in Cameroon to help meet the country’s fast-growing demand for energy. The plant will be located nine kilometers inland north of the southern coastal city of Kribi and the transmission line will be connected to Cameroon’s southern interconnected power grid, which supplies 90 percent of total demand in the country. The project, which is estimated to cost Euro 255.8 million in total, is a joint venture between the Republic of Cameroon and AES Kribi Holding BV, a subsidiary of AES Corporation.  AES Corporation is a US-based power group that operates in 29 countries around the world, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.  The company already owns and operates power plants in Cameroon and Nigeria.

South Africa and Nigeria to Grow

An updated study by the consultancy firm Price Waterhouse Coopers, ‘The World in 2050’, projects that South Africa will be the seventh-fastest-growing economy between now and 2050, with an average annual real growth rate of 5%. The 'World in 2050' also predicts that in purchasing-power parity terms, the he E-7 group of emerging countries (China, India, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey) will overtake the G-7 economies (US, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy and Canada) by 2020. “Our key conclusion is that the global financial crisis has further accelerated the shift in global economic power to the emerging economies,” the report states. With reference to South Africa, the new report projects an average annual population growth rate of 0.3%, and an average annual GDP per capita growth of 3.6%, from now until 2050. It ranks South Africa as the world’s 20th largest economy in 2009, worth US$508 billion at market exchange rate rankings. However, by 2050, South Africa is projected to drop out of the Top 20, where it could be replaced by Nigeria, which, at 7.9%, will further have a higher average annual growth rate per capita of 5% and higher average annual population growth rate of 1.5%. //African Business

Africa’s private equity market flush with cash

By Cosmas Batunyi
 

The private equity market in sub-Saharan Africa is bubbling with optimism, following a promising performance over the past six months. The positive trend has been reported not only in Africa but also in the rest of the world. Industry players are confident of this momentum being maintained by the funds, to deliver a much better show than last year. Since the beginning of the year, investments into the funds have recorded a 55 per cent growth, raising $11 billion compared with the $9 billion recorded during the same period last year, according to the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA).

IFC Agrees to Invest $100 Million in African Infrastructure Investment Fund

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) - a member of the World Bank Group, has signed an agreement to invest $100 million in the Africa Infrastructure Investment Fund 2, an equity fund that will promote the development of basic infrastructure in Africa. The equity fund plans to raise $600 million to $1 billion to invest in unlisted equity and equity-like infrastructure investments in Sub-Saharan Africa. The fund will take significant stakes in a range of infrastructure projects including toll roads, wind power farms, and other renewable energy projects, ports, water and sewerage utilities, and social infrastructure. The fund, known as AIIF2, was established by African Infrastructure Investment Managers Proprietary Ltd, a joint venture between Macquarie Africa Pty Ltd, part of the Macquarie Group, and the Old Mutual Investment Group (South Africa) Pty Ltd, which will advise the fund on investment matters.

DSX: séance de cotation

Douala Stock Exchange (DSX) a terminé sa séance de cotation du 21 avril 2010. Concernant le marché des actions: Les valeurs SEMC, SAFACAM et  SOCAPALM suivent un trend stable et bouclent la séance respectivement à 75.023 FCFA, 34.998 FCFA et 39.999 FCFA. En terme de physionomie du marché, 25 titres SAFACAM et 30 titres SEMC ont été transigés, générant un chiffre d’affaires de 3.125.640 FCFA. La capitalisation boursière se chiffre à présent à 82.803.952.645 FCFA. Sur le marché des obligations, l’emprunt obligataire de la IFC « MOABI IFC 4.25% 2009 – 2014 » a clôturé la séance à son cours précédent, soit 100 %.

South Africa bank stocks pull bourse up, rand also firms

South African stocks at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) rallied on Monday, April 26, 2010 as better sentiment lifted banks globally on hopes for Greek aid and expectations of good earnings from UK banks this week. The rand firmed to a 10-day high against the dollar, taking its cue mostly from equity markets, with Johannesburg trade largely muted ahead of a public holiday on Tuesday. Both the blue chip Top-40 index and the broader All-Share index also touched 10-day highs, with the Top-40 closing up 1.52 percent to 26,299.58 points, and the All-Share gaining 1.31 percent to 29,309.47 points. The JSE banking sector ended at its strongest level in 14 days, jumping 3.72 percent as the country's No.2 bank FirstRand gained 4 percent at 20.80 rand. Rivals Absa, Nedbank and Standard Bank all climbed over 3 percent.

Central Africa's Stock Markets: Unexploited Potential or Stunt Growth?

By Mathias Victorien Ntep

Since their inception in the early years of the first decade of this new millennium and century, business on the Douala Stock Exchange (DSX) and on the Central Africa Securities Exchange ( CASE), headquartered in Libreville, Gabon, has remained sluggish. There´re less than five publicly-quoted companies on the DSX. The CASE on its part has fewer corporations having issued shares of stocks, bonds and debentures in Libreville. At times, days elapse without securities being traded on the two securities markets. Why?

Housing's Big "Shadow": Up to 10 Million More American Homes Could Be for Sale...

Le Douala Stock Exchange: 20 titres SAFACAM pour la valeur de 699.960 FCFA

Le Douala Stock Exchange a terminé sa séance de cotation du 03 mars 2010. Les valeurs SAFACAM et SOCAPALM, suivent un trend stable et se maintiennent respectivement à 34.998 FCFA et 40.995 FCFA. Tandis que la valeur SEMC réalise une performance en signant la plus forte hausse soit 2.998% et boucle la séance à  64.717 FCFA. 20 titres SAFACAM ont été transigés, générant une valeur de 699.960 FCFA. La capitalisation boursière se chiffre à 83.385.014.225 FCFA.© The Entrepreneur Newspaper 2010. All Rights Reserved . Follow The Entrepreneur News on Twitter. See Our Events in Face Book.

Common Currency Woes

After the dollar's fall in 2009, analysts are now fo-cusing on troubles of the euro as differences among euro zone countries get bigger. Greece has a 12.7 % public sector deficit - four times higher than the accepted rate in the EU. Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal are other countries that jeopardize confi-dence in the euro. Although Greek Finance Minister denies that Greece will quit the euro zone, unem-ployment and euro devaluation will challenge these weak economies...More