Africa

Martin Kingston, who on April 1 steps down as chief executive officer of Rothschild & Co.’s South African unit after 13 years, wants to help revive the country’s beleaguered state-owned companies…South Africa’s state-owned companies became beset by skills shortages, unsustainable debt and bloated work forces during the nine-year tenure of former president Jacob Zuma, which ended in February last year, Bloomberg News reported. The country suffers regular power outages, a dysfunctional commuter train system and almost daily corruption scandals related to the firms.

Steinhoff International Holdings NV plans to dig deeper into the accounting misdeeds that brought the retailing giant to its knees as it seeks to get to the bottom of some $7.4 billion in fictitious or improper deals, Bloomberg News reported. A forensic probe by PwC found that a small group of former executives -- with the help of others outside the company -- structured phony transactions that substantially inflated earnings and asset values, according to a 10-page summary of the report published Friday.

Steinhoff International Holdings NV is seeking to sell properties in Europe worth about 400 million euros ($450 million) to raise cash as it restructures its debt, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported. The South African retailer, which almost collapsed amid an accounting scandal in late 2017, has hired Eastdil Secured LLC to advise on the sale of office buildings, warehouses and production sites in countries including the U.K., Germany, Poland, and Hungary, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.

Mozambique is seeking the cancellation of government guarantees on debts run up by state-run security firm Proindicus which helped spark a debt crisis in the country, its prime minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday. Mozambique has a case in London's High Court against investment bank Credit Suisse and a number of other parties linked with the $2 billion (£1.5 billion) worth of loans, which have sparked investigations in the United States and Mozambique, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

South African builder Group Five filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday after lenders pulled funding, threatening the collapse of one of the biggest names in the local construction industry and more than 8,000 jobs, Reuters reported. Group Five, which traces its roots back to the 1970s with the tie-up of five construction companies, has struggled to make money for years in an industry squeezed by stagnant economic growth and a pullback in infrastructure spending by the government and private sector.

Absa Group Ltd., the South African lender once controlled by Barclays Plc, fell for the ninth straight day to head for its longest streak of losses in six years as full-year profit missed analyst estimates, Bloomberg News reported. Banks in Africa’s most industrialized economy are battling to overcome the challenges of tepid gross domestic product growth and a loss of consumer and business confidence, pressuring their ability to generate revenue.

Mozambique will continue with restructuring talks over $2 billion of defaulted loans, the Ministry of Finance said, even as an international scandal around the debt intensifies, Bloomberg News reported. The $2 billion comprises three loans, one of which was converted into a eurobond, and another two that are guaranteed by the state.

Hopes of a trade truce between China and the U.S. and a more dovish Federal Reserve are giving South Africa’s rand a boost -- and President Cyril Ramaphosa some breathing space as he struggles to stabilize the state-owned electricity company while curbing government debt levels, Bloomberg News reported. Given the outlook for South Africa’s economy -- sluggish growth, a widening fiscal deficit, and the threat of a credit-rating downgrade to junk -- the rand shouldn’t be a popular investment.

EOH Holdings Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Van Coller is in a race against the clock to restructure the sprawling South African IT business before shareholders and lenders run out of patience, Bloomberg News reported. Van Coller, a former executive at Barclays Africa Group Ltd. and MTN Group Ltd., was brought in to turn around the troubled business and improve its corporate reputation after allegations of corruption linked to government contracts.

South African retailer Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. said on Thursday it had received a petition by a group of shareholders looking for an inquiry into the company before a Dutch court, the latest addition to its growing troubles, Reuters reported. The company has been in the middle of a clean-up of its balance sheet after discovering multi-billion euro holes in its balance sheet more than a year ago. One of Steinhoff’s creditors has also challenged the company’s plan to restructure its convertible debt into new secured loans.