A seasoned economist in Ghana likens his country to a plane perpetually trundling down the runway, never quite taking off. Extend the metaphor along the coast, and Nigeria’s economy, the largest in Africa in dollar terms before the collapse in world oil prices, has been grounded, the Financial Times reported. In the throes of its first recession in 25 years, inflation is soaring, factories closing and the fabled middle class has been retreating to the place from which it only recently re-emerged.

Mozambique will seek to negotiate a restructuring of part of its debt, its prime minister said on Wednesday. The southern African nation is struggling to repay loans of more than $2 billion that were not approved by parliament or disclosed publicly, Reuters reported. "We will negotiate with the creditors to restructure these debts," said Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario, adding that the nation wants to honour its debts "in a balanced way", the state news agency reported.

Barclays Bank of Kenya will focus on growing its non-interest income after a jump in bad debts and a government cap on lending rates cut its 2016 pretax profit by 10 percent, it said on Wednesday. The cap on lending rates, introduced last September, was expected to squeeze margins and profits at Kenyan banks, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The cap limits commercial bank lending rates at 400 basis points above the central bank rate, which stands at 10 percent. The government brought in the cap because it said lending rates were too high.

Nigeria's government is taking over the country's biggest airline, Arik Air, to "instill sanity" and prevent "a major catastrophe" in the aviation industry of Africa's most populous nation, the receivership corporation said Thursday, the International New York Times reported on an Associated Press story. Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria said the heavily indebted airline has not paid workers for months and has had aircraft seized for non-payment of leases.

After Mozambique’s default, investors are wondering who’s next in Africa. Bloomberg’s sovereign credit risk model -- which uses data including budget deficits, foreign reserves, non-performing bank loans and political instability to calculate default probabilities -- flags four candidates among African Eurobond issuers: Senegal, Tunisia, Ghana and Zambia. Mozambique became the first African country to default on dollar bonds since Ivory Coast in 2011 when it failed to settle an almost $60 million coupon initially due in January. It had a 15-day grace period that ended on Thursday.

Mozambique's default on a coupon payment for its dollar-denominated bond last week was "unnecessary" and a step backwards for the country's relationship with the holders of the debt, a group of creditors said in a statement on Monday, Reuters reported. Mozambique announced a week ago it would not make the $59.8 million payment to holders of its 2023 bond due on Jan. 18 because A deteriorating economic and fiscal situation made its ability to repay debt this year extremely limited.

Mozambique, the financially-embattled African nation, said on Monday it will miss a $60 million (€56.6 million) payment on an Irish Stock Exchange-listed bond this week, the Irish Times reported. With the government grappling with a hit to commodities-based revenues in recent years and the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) move in 2016 to cut aid, Mozambique said in October it will seek to restructure debt.

Debt-ridden Mozambique has no chance of meeting its year-end deadline for a restructuring deal, according to investors who are preparing to dig in their heels until the country comes clear on what it owes and to whom, Reuters reported. The southern African country, one of the world's poorest, has seen its currency and investor confidence collapse since April, when the International Monetary Fund halted a loan after uncovering previously undisclosed debts that had not been approved by parliament.

Investors are preparing to fight Mozambique's plan to restructure their $726 million of bonds a second time, threatening a stalemate that could delay the country's access to much-needed aid, Dow Jones Business News reported. Bondholders are forming a committee to prepare for a potential default and say they won't negotiate debt relief now because they mistrust the government's financial disclosures and want it to seek relief from other creditors first, according to people familiar with the matter.

Kenya Airways needs to extend debt repayments and make other changes to restructure its balance sheet, which would take priority over finding a strategic partner, the new chairman of the loss-making airline told Reuters. Shares in the carrier, 27 percent-owned by Air France KLM , have surged 68 percent this month on hopes of a turnaround after four straight years of losses. The appointment of veteran telecoms executive Michael Joseph as chairman has also lifted sentiment.