The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday put the value of financial transactions carried out through automated teller machines (ATMs) as at June 2014 at N1.7 trillion, up from the N1.3 trillion it was as at 2012. Equally, the volume of ATMs deployed in the country also rose from 10, 727 in 2012 to 15,000 as at June 2014.
Updated 6 Years ago

Ghanaian investment-advisory firm, Weston Capital has launched the country’s first sector-focused fund aimed at boosting local participation in the country’s oil and gas industry. The open-ended mutual fund called Weston Oil and Gas Fund (WOGFund) launched Wednesday in Accra, Ghana’s capital city, seeks to build the financial strength of indigenous companies in the sector.
Updated 6 Years ago

Nigeria’s leading financial institution, Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB), on Thursday, released its audited financial results for the half year ended June 30, 2014 which showed a 7 percent increase in gross earnings, from N124 billion in the corresponding year period 2013 to N132 billion, but profit before tax dipped by a similar profit margin to N53.40 billion in the first half of the year from N57.4 billion recorded in H1 2013. Reuters news agency reports that the dip in profit prompted the bank’s shares were down 2.03 percent to 28.90 naira at 1050 GMT. GT Bank however declared an interim dividend of 0.25 naira, unchanged from a year earlier.
Updated 6 Years ago

JSE-listed construction firm, Group Five, late on Thursday said Ghana’s Cenpower Generation Company had awarded it a R4 billion ($374 million) contract for the design and construction of a 350 megawatt gas and oil-fired power plant in Kpone municipality in Ghana. Group Five said the contract duration is three years from award to commercial operation and the project is subject to certain conditions. The contract must now continue to commercial and financial close.
Updated 6 Years ago

Airtel Zambia, one of the largest local telcos, says it has invested over $140 million in upgrading its network system, and also admitting that its service has been poor. “Our network and data services have been a pain. Our roaming experience has had its challenges from pricing to connectivity. We have not been responsible in instances to attend to queries,” said Airtel Zambia managing director Charity Lumpa.
Updated 6 Years ago

Dubai developer Nakheel has awarded a contract worth over Dhs146 million to UAE-based Metac General Contracting for the construction of 84 townhouses and a new retail centre at its Jumeirah Islands community. Under the deal, Metac will construct the four bedroom townhouses in two packages of 53 and 31 homes respectively. Set in a gated community with a large communal swimming pool, each townhouse covers 3,630 sqft and comes with a double garage, maid’s room, study and private garden.
Updated 6 Years ago

Saudi Arabia’s stock market regulator proposed rules for opening the $580 billion market to direct investment by foreign institutions, including a rule capping foreign ownership at 10 percent of the market’s value. Among other draft rules issued on Thursday, a single foreign investor could own no more than 5 percent of any listed firm, while all foreign institutions combined could own no more than 20 percent of a company.
Updated 6 Years ago

Dubai’s iconic island resort, Atlantis, The Palm, owned by Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) is looking to reprice or refinance an $880 million syndicated loan signed in September 2013, banking sources said. The five-year loan was provided by seven local and international banks comprising Barclays, HSBC, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Union National Bank and Emirates NBD and was priced at 500 basis points (bps) over LIBOR.
Updated 6 Years ago

Zoomlion, China's leading construction machinery producer, has signed a deal worth $340 million to purchase a majority share in farm machinery maker Chery Heavy. In deals signed Tuesday, Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Development Co Ltd, based in the Central China's Changsha city, purchased 1.8 billion shares, or 60 percent of Chery Heavy Industry Co Ltd, for 2.08 billion yuan.
Updated 6 Years ago

A former director at China's economic planning agency who oversaw corporate bond issues between 2003-2006 is being investigated, the country's top prosecutor said on Friday, the latest official to be implicated in an anti-corruption drive. Zhang Dongsheng, who was more recently the head of the employment and income distribution division at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), was "suspected of taking bribes", the Supreme People's Procuratorate said on its official microblog.
Updated 6 Years ago