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Angola plans to join eurobond rush
2012 was a great year for frontier-market hard-currency bonds, and Angola hopes to get in on the action in 2013. The oil producer announced on Friday plans to raise $1bn from a debut eurobond issue later this year. Continue reading »
Chevron commits to $5.6bn African crude investment project
Californian oil major Chevron has given the go-ahead to a $5.6bn development project of an Angolan offshore oil field which will be the company’s second largest investment in African crude to date after its Agbami field in Nigeria.
The Mafumeira Sul project, run through Chevron’s subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company, is scheduled to begin production in 2015, and will eventually pump 110,000 barrels of crude oil per day from five new platforms, Chevron said. Continue reading »
When it comes to trade, sub-Sarahan Africa is highly exposed to the eurozone, isn’t it? You would think so, given the warnings from the IMF to that effect.
But park your assumptions for one minute. Yes, any eurozone slowdown hurts African trade. But not by as much as a slowdown from other parts of the world, and the eurozone dependency is falling. Continue reading »
Angola joins the SWF club
Forget sovereign debt for a moment. This is turning into the year of sovereign wealth, with Angola becoming the latest African country to create a fund to invest some of the proceeds of growing oil riches.
The sovereign wealth fund – known as Fundo Soberano de Angola (FSDEA) – will start with $5bn in assets, and look to invest primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. Angola joins Nigeria and Tanzania in launching or planning to launch a SWF in 2012. Continue reading »
With emerging market debt markets booming, is now time for African nations to join in? If Zambia’s recent bond is anything to go by, the answer would be a firm ‘yes’ – as many analysts are fond of pointing out, Zambia’s yield on its 10-year bond is lower than that of Spain.
So what’s stopping African countries jumping in and issing international bonds? Continue reading »
Angola: power and petroleum
After 33 years in power, José Eduardo dos Santos has finally been elected president of Angola. Observers universally expected him to win last Friday’s polls. Many even predicted the questionably wide margin of victory. Nevertheless, the election has changed the war-scarred southern African petro-state.
In the words of one long-serving Angola-watcher, “the fear barrier has been broken”. Neither the denunciations of a ruling party that has held power since independence in 1975, nor the thuggery of pro-regime militias, could deter the dissenting vanguard that has begun to challenge the status quo. Continue reading »
Daewoo lands $1.9bn African oil platform order; but who is the client?
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, the world’s third-biggest shipbuilder by sales kicked off the week with a $1.9bn order to build five production platforms for an unidentified African-based customer.
This is almost a quarter of its revenue from offshore platform deals last year. The news of the contract, which ends in 2016, on Monday sent DSME’s share price up 1.8 per cent and left observers puzzling who might be the client. Continue reading »
The African growth story is well known. But what of the continent’s credit worthiness? Is it lagging behind as far as credit ratings suggest? As European countries seek bailouts and teeter on the brink of default, should African nations have a higher credit rating to reflect their growth?
Not quite. Rating agency Standard and Poor’s delivered an assessment of Africa on Tuesday, and investors shouldn’t get too carried away, yet. Continue reading »
Angola: bonds and blunders
If you always want what you can’t have, that must be why so many investors have been desperate for a piece of Angola. The oil-rich economy was booming for much of the past decade, but it’s been near impossible for portfolio investors to get exposure.
So there was great anticipation when Angola began talking last year about issuing a debut eurobond – initially mooted at $4bn. This year a shocking arrears crisis seemed to kill off the ambitious plan, as well as the investor ardour. But it’s now coming back to life. Continue reading »
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Stefan Wagstyl
Rob Minto
Pan Kwan Yuk
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Heba Saleh