Africa

Military company Paramount Industrial Holdings (PIH), a part of the Paramount group of companies, has filed for business rescue amid legal disputes within another division of the Paramount group. Despite this, other subsidiary companies in South Africa are expected to continue operating normally, Military.Africa reported. The PIH board made the decision to enter business rescue on 11 November.

Ghana’s new leader’s pick to be finance minister, Cassiel Ato Forson, said the West African nation hopes to secure more support from the International Monetary Fund and other multilaterals, Bloomberg News reported. “We are committed to working with the IMF and are working hard to get more funding from the IMF, World Bank and international development partners,” Forson told reporters in the capital Accra on Thursday.

Gokada, Nigeria’s largest-mile logistics delivery startup, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in 2024, Tekedia.com reported. The filing highlighted significant financial difficulties, with liabilities exceeding $5.4 million against assets valued at just over $564,000. According to the court documents, Gokada principal assets include its 100% ownership in Gokada Rides limited, it’s Nigerian operational entity which it valued at $500,000, and $64,132.56 in cash held in a Silicon Valley bank account.

Entrepreneur Joseph Kairo Wambui, also known as Khalif Kairo, has addressed allegations of bankruptcy related to his company, Kairo and Karo, which specializes in car sales and importation, The Kenya Times reported. This comes after images circulating on social media showed his car yard nearly empty. In a video shared on Wednesday, Kairo dismissed claims that his company is facing bankruptcy, stating that these accusations are part of a smear campaign aimed at damaging his reputation.

The International Monetary Fund is open to renegotiating Ghana’s $3 billion financing program with the incoming administration provided accompanying reforms aren’t jeopardized, Bloomberg News reported. “IMF-supported programs are developed collaboratively with each country’s authorities,” a spokesperson for the Washington-based lender said in response to emailed questions.

Zambia and France signed a bilateral debt restructuring agreement, a key step in a protracted process that started when the southern African nation defaulted four years ago, Bloomberg News reported. The deal is part of Zambia’s efforts to revamp about $13 billion in external debt after it became the first African nation to default during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. “Three years ago, Zambia was a basket case,” Zambian Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said at the signing ceremony on Sunday in Lusaka, the capital.

Uganda’s central bank maintained its key lending rate at 9.75%, citing easing inflation amid increased investment in the country’s fledging oil-and-gas industry, the Wall Street Journal reported. Uganda’s economic outlook remains positive, strengthened by inflows into the oil industry, where France’s TotalEnergies and China’s Cnooc Ltd are developing a 230,000 barrels-a-day crude project. These investments are strengthening the local currency, easing imported inflation, Bank of Uganda Deputy Governor Michael Atingi-Ego said in a statement.

South Africa’s State airline is being approached by banks keen to discuss lending the carrier money, aided by a turnaround in the company’s finances, interim Chief Executive Officer John Lamola said, Bloomberg News reported. South African Airways (SAA) needs to finance a growth strategy that envisages its fleet more than doubling to 43 planes over the next five years. The company is constrained from seeking funds from the government, which is limiting bailouts to state-owned enterprises as it focuses on stabilising the nation’s debt.

South Africa’s central bank lowered borrowing costs for a second successive meeting and said its modeling showed further cuts were in the offing, but that the outlook remains highly uncertain, Bloomberg News reported. Policymakers cut the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 7.75%, Governor Lesetja Kganyago told reporters at a briefing north of Johannesburg on Thursday. That was in line with expectations of all 20 economists in a Bloomberg survey.