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Egyptian real estate developers say Saudi project suspended

24 February 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters Like

CAIRO (Reuters) – Three Egyptian real estate executives said on Thursday that their companies have suspended housing deals with the Saudi Arabian government amid political tensions between the two countries.

A Saudi housing ministry official denied that any project had been suspended.

Four Egyptian real estate companies had signed memorandums of understanding with the Saudi Housing Ministry during King Salman’s April visit to Cairo last year.

Since then, political differences have emerged as the two Arab powers have diverged on the conflict in Syria, and an Egyptian court blocked the transfer of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia which Cairo had agreed during Salman’s visit.

Al Ahly for Real Estate Development, Talaat Mostafa Group, Misr Italia, and Orbit Group were to build housing units in Saudi Arabia. Details of the deals were not clear, but local media had said each firm would build between 10,000 to 15,000 units.

“We suspended the agreement with the Saudi Housing Ministry despite all project studies being concluded because of worries over tensions between Egypt and Saudi Arabia,” Al Ahly for Real Estate Development Chairman Hussein Sabour told Reuters.

Misr Italia Deputy Chairman Mohamed al-Assal said his company was no longer in contact with Saudi Arabia over the deal.

“The agreement was cancelled due to a lack of cooperation from the Saudi side and a breakdown in communications between both sides since last June,” he told Reuters.

Orbit Group also told Reuters its agreement with Saudi Arabia was suspended but declined to provide details. Talaat Mostafa Group has not said that it has suspended work, and did not respond to requests for comment.

A Saudi official denied that projects had been suspended.

“There has been no suspension of any deal between Egyptian real estate developers and their Saudi clients,” Naif Abdulmouhsin Al-Rasheed, an advisor to the housing minister and general manager of Investments and Real Estate Development in the ministry, told Reuters in a written statement.

He said the notion that “any alleged tension between Saudi Arabia and Egypt is causing a strain on bilateral economic partnerships is categorically false”.

“In fact, there are advance dealings that are still taking place with specific projects. In addition, the Ministry of Housing welcomes any interest from both local and international developers, including our valued Egyptian partners,” he added.

Signs of political disagreements between Egypt and Saudi Arabia became apparent months after the two countries signed various agreements worth $22.6 billion during Salman’s visit in April.

Saudi Arabia’s state oil firm Aramco halted shipments of oil products to Egypt in October without providing reasons.

Egypt voted in favour of a Russian-backed U.N. resolution on Syria in October that excluded calls to stop bombing Aleppo, which Saudi Arabia strongly opposed.

An Egyptian court rejected last month a government plan to transfer two uninhabited Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, a final ruling that deepened tensions between the Arab World’s most populous state and its richest.

Officials from both countries deny the existence of tensions or disagreements.

(Reporting by Afaf Ammar and Katie Paul in Riyadh, Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Dominic Evans and Toby Chopra)

IMF agrees to $149 million extended credit facility for Benin

24 February 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters Like

COTONOU (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund has agreed to lend Benin 93 billion CFA francs ($149 million) to help the government implement a macro-economic reform programme, the country’s presidency and the IMF said on Tuesday.

The three-year Extended Credit Facility programme should help it meet balance of payments commitments, achieve sustained GDP growth and improve the business climate, said Norbert Toe, head of the IMF mission that visited the country this week.

The deal must be ratified by the IMF board.

The West African country has a population of 10.9 million and a gross domestic product of around $8.3 billion. GDP grew at an estimated 4.6 percent in 2016 and is expected to rise to 5.2 percent this year, according to World Bank figures.

Benin exports cotton, and its ports are a key route for imports for its eastern neighbour Nigeria and Sahelian nations to the north.

($1 = 622.4500 CFA francs)

(Reporting by Allegresse Sasse; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Hugh Lawson)

Gabon oil workers strike at Maurel and Prom Gabon fields: union

23 February 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters Like

LIBREVILLE (Reuters) – Workers in Gabon have gone on strike at the Maurel and Prom Gabon SA oilfields halting production of 28,000 barrels per day, said Sylvain Mayabi Binet, deputy secretary general of the National Organization of Petroleum Employees.

“All wells are stopped so zero production,” Binet told Reuters.

(Reporting by Gerauds Wilfried Obangome; writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; editing by Jason Neely)

Barclays agrees to pay $988 mln to split with Barclays Africa

23 February 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters Like

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Barclays PLC has agreed to pay Barclays Africa 12.8 billion rand ($988 million) to fund investments required to separate it from its African unit, Barclays Africa said on Thursday.

Sealing the separation agreement terms paves the way for the British bank to reduce its stake to below 50 percent under a strategy which will see it focus on the United States and Britain.

($1 = 12.9545 rand)

(Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; editing by Jason Neely)

South African lender Barclays Africa FY profit misses estimates

23 February 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters Like

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Barclays Africa missed estimates with a 5 percent rise in annual profit on Thursday as higher interest rates at home and sluggish growth elsewhere on the continent hit consumption and investment spending.

The South African lender, majority owned by Barclays Plc, said diluted headline EPS came in at 17.69 rand in the year to end December.

This was slightly below the 17.95 rand estimate by Thomson Reuters’s StarMine SmartEstimates, which puts more weight on recent forecasts and those from historically accurate analysts.

Headline EPS is the primary measure of profit in South Africa that strips out certain one-off items.

Barclays Africa, along with rivals, has struggled to increase lending as slowing economic growth in many African markets tempers demand from corporate clients and rising interest rates at home hit consumption by retail customers.

Barclays Africa’s results come a year after its parent unveiled a major strategic overhaul that included plans to sell down its stake in the African unit to below 20 percent to focus on the United States and Britain.

Barclays Plc has already trimmed its interest in the South African bank to 50 percent from 62 percent in the open market via the Johannesburg stock exchange.

Barclays Africa’s Chief Executive Maria Ramos said she would issue an update on the company’s separation form Barclays Plc later in the day.

(Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by Ed Stoddard and Biju Dwarakanath)

Tunisia growth slows to 1 pct in 2016: official data

22 February 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters Like

TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia’s economic growth slowed to 1 percent in 2016 compared with 1.1 percent in the previous year, official figures showed on Tuesday.

The state statistics institute said the economic growth for the full year 2016 slowed because of a decline in the agricultural sector and in phosphate production.

Tunisia aims to achieve 2.5 percent growth in 2017

The North Africa state has been struggling with a fall in tourism revenues after two major attacks on foreign visitors in 2015. Strikes and protests over jobs also hit the state phosphate business, another government revenue earner.

(Reporting By Tarek Amara)

Nigeria to seek World Bank loan of at least $1 bln: finance minister

22 February 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters Like

LAGOS (Reuters) – Nigeria wants to borrow at least $1 billion from the World Bank, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said on Tuesday.

Adeosun also told CNBC that Nigeria hoped to sign in the next few months a loan worth $1.3 billion from China’s Export-Import Bank (Exim) to fund railway projects in the West African nation.

(Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Oludare Mayowa; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Nigeria says sees no need to go to IMF, plans its own reforms

22 February 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters Like

LAGOS (Reuters) – Nigeria sees no need to apply for an International Monetary Fund programme as it is pursuing its own economic reform plan, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said on Tuesday.

Sharp falls in the price of crude oil, its main export, have tipped Africa’s biggest economy into its first recession for 25 years and hammered the naira currency, prompting speculation it might need IMF funding to cover a growing budget deficit.

“For us the IMF is really a lender of last resort when you have balance of payments problem. Nigeria doesn’t have balance of payments problems per se, it has a fiscal problem,” Adeosun told CNBC in an interview.

“We are already doing as much reform as any IMF programme would impose on Nigeria,” she said. “Nigerians want to take responsibility for their future. We must have our home-grown, home-designed programme of reform.”

Adeosun said non-oil revenues were improving while the government was fine-tuning an economic reform plan needed to support an application for a loan of at least $1 billion from the World Bank. It is also seeking further funds from the African Development Bank.

“Non-oil revenue is improving very steadily. All the measures we have put in place are beginning to yield fruits,” she said, without giving numbers.

“Oil production is back up, we are very grateful for that, but we should be careful for getting excited about that.”

Diplomats and officials have told Reuters the Nigeria, Africa’s leading crude producer, which relies on oil revenues for most of its income, plans to finalise its proposal to the World Bank this month.

The country needs to plug a gap in its record 7.3 trillion naira ($23.17 billion) 2017 budget, which contains a number of measures aimed at stimulating the economy.

It had initially promised to submit an economic plan to the World Bank by the end of December but did not do so, sources told Reuters last month.

Nigeria will also present its economic proposal to the African Development Bank to help release a second loan tranche worth $400 million to support the budget, officials have said.

($1 = 315.0000 naira)

(Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Oludare Mayowa; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Nigeria’s presidency says no cause for worry about Buhari

21 February 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters Like

ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari said there was no cause to worry about his health but he had to stay longer on medical leave in Britain than planned, the presidency said on Tuesday.

“During his normal annual checkup, tests showed he needed a longer period of rest, necessitating the President staying longer than originally planned,” the presidency said in a statement.

“President Buhari wishes to reassure Nigerians that there is no cause for worry,” it said.

(Reporting by Feix Onuah; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Dominic Evans)

South Africa’s Gordhan sees difficult political year for ruling ANC

21 February 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters Like

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Monday he sees a “difficult political year” for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) but that he saw “green shoots” of growth in an economy that is barely growing.

The ANC has a major policy conference at the end of June and late this year will pick a new party leader to replace President Jacob Zuma as its candidate when his second term ends in 2019.

In an interview with the eNCA TV news channel before the unveiling of his annual budget on Wednesday, Gordhan said: “We seem to be improving slightly on the growth side, seeing some green shoots which we will describe for you on Wednesday.”

“At the same time we have our challenges,” he said, including: “A difficult political year for the ruling party which will create its own dynamics.”

Asked about fraud charges that were brought against him last year and then dropped, Gordhan said: “That kind of abuse is totally unacceptable in our kind of young democracy.”

That saga unsettled markets and led to speculation that Zuma and his allies wanted to remove Gordhan, who commands huge respect among investors.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said last month that ANC infighting could derail government efforts to improve policy implementation and that Pretoria had little room to boost spending. South Africa risks having its debt downgraded to junk status.

There has been widespread media speculation that Zuma, who has called for “a new chapter of radical socio-economic transformation”, still wants to replace Gordhan.

The political noise comes against the backdrop of a tough economic situation.

In his October mid-term budget statement to parliament, Gordhan cut the 2016 economic expansion forecast to 0.5 percent from the 0.9 percent previously predicted by the Treasury, but said GDP growth would recover to 1.3 percent next year.

(Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Louise Ireland)

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