Morning Beats

MTN to Plan $500 Million Nigeria Share Sale in 2018

MTN Group Ltd. plans to raise about $500 million from the sale of shares in its Nigerian business during the first half of the year, fulfilling the terms of a deal struck with the West African nation to settle a record fine, according to people familiar with the matter.Bloomberg

T-Bill Yields in Egypt Haven't Been This Low Since the Float

Egypt has hit another milestone in its turnaround story.

The yield on the nation’s one-year Treasury bill has fallen to 16.7 percent, the lowest since Oct. 20, 2016, two-weeks before Egypt loosened controls on the currency. Bloomberg

MTN Nigeria to list its shares on NSE this year
MTN Nigeria, yesterday, discussed plans to list its shares on Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, at its board meeting,  with the aim to launch its Initial Public Offering,  IPO, this year.Vanguard

Pension fund assets hit N7.5trn in 2017 — NBS
Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday said that the nation’s pension fund assets grew by N351 billion to N7.5 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2017 (Q4 2017).Vanguard

Naira appreciates to N360.21/$ in I&E
The Naira Wednesday appreciated to N360.21 per dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange market.Vanguard

Oil, Gas Investment: Local, foreign investors consider opportunities in Nigeria
With over 36 billion barrels and 192 trillion standard cubic feet of oil and gas respectively, Nigeria stands tall as a leading petroleum giant, with many viable and feasible opportunities in Africa. Vanguard

Nigerian Stock Exchange: Investors lose N122bn as 40 equities decline
The downward movement in the equities market continued into the third day today in the week as investors lose another N122 billion spiked by depreciation in the price of 40 companies.Vanguard

FG borrows $300m from Nigerians abroad

Everest Amaefule, Abuja The Federal Government borrowed $300m from Nigerians in the Diaspora before it secured the approval of the National Assembly, the Debt Management Office indicated on Wednesday. The DMO gave this indication in a response to an enquiry by a non-governmental organisation, Social Action Nigeria. Social Action Nigeria had in a letter written Punch

Spending on infrastructure attracting new investments – Adeosun

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, on Wednesday said the huge amount that the Federal Government was spending on infrastructure projects across the country was attracting fresh investments into the country. Punch

FG reappoints consortium of banks to handle $2.5bn Eurobond

The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday reappointed a consortium of banks to handle the nation’s $2.5bn Eurobond issuance.Punch

Rising US Shale to keep oil prices below $70

Oil prices would likely be below $70 per barrel this year, as the growing United States onshore production as well as rising production from conventional fields would keep a lid on prices, Statoil’s Chief Executive Eldar Sætre told Reuters on Wednesday. “I think we will most likely be below $70 a barrelPunch

NCC approves two Infraco licences

The board of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued two additional Infrastructure Company (Infraco) licences pursuant to its drive to deepen broadband penetration in the country. The two new licencees are Zinox Technology Limited for Southeast and Brinks Integrated Solutions Limited for Northeast.The Nation

Hedge funds made R1.5bn off Steinhoff

Two hedge funds based in the US and the UK pocketed at least €98.7m (about R1.5bn) from taking short positions in Steinhoff International in 2017, profiting from the collapse in the retailer’s share price in December amid news of accounting irregularities.Business Day Southafrica