Africa

The Ghana Association of Restructuring and Insolvency Advisors (GARIA) has called for the speedy passage of the Corporate Insolvency Bill which is currently before Cabinet into law, to prevent companies from premature liquidation, Ghana Business News reported. The Association is of the belief that an effective law on corporate insolvency would enable companies to fall on options to recuperate rather than closing the company, as is the common prescription under the country’s current laws. Mr.

The World Bank is suspending direct financial aid to Mozambique, joining the International Monetary Fund in cutting off budgetary assistance after learning of more than $1 billion in previously undisclosed loans, a person familiar with the matter said, The Wall Street Journal reported. The bank will continue to fund individual investment projects, but it is holding back payments of approximately $40 million this year for direct budgetary support, the person said.

To stem an ongoing fall in foreign reserves caused by the oil price crash, Nigeria’s central bank introduced restrictions last summer that have effectively blocked imports of hundreds of items that typically enter Nigeria through its ports, the Financial Times reported. The policy, backed by President Muhammadu Buhari, also aims to boost local manufacturing and agriculture. The country has long used its oil revenues to bring in essential items such as steel and palm oil that the Buhari administration says should be made locally.

Mozambique faces a deepening crisis after the International Monetary Fund suspended funding to the southern African nation following the discovery of more than $1bn in previously undisclosed government debt, the Financial Times reported. The scandal will heap pressure on Maputo, which is dependent on donors to finance about a quarter of its budget. Mozambique is battling to narrow a wide fiscal deficit, its currency has plummeted and its foreign reserves are dwindling.

Angola will turn to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout to help cope with the oil-price rout that has hit its economy hard, joining a growing list of commodity-dependent African economies seeking assistance from the institution to weather the adverse economic climate, The Wall Street Journal reported. The announcement represents an about-face for a government that had previously rejected the idea of seeking IMF assistance and ends months of speculation over how the West African country will cope with a looming financial crisis on the back of record-low oil prices.

Kenya's Uchumi Supermarkets Ltd is on the verge of insolvency as efforts to negotiate a cash injection hit a snag in the first quarter of 2016. Its debt to suppliers has skyrocketed to Ksh3.6 billion ($36 million), double the Ksh1.8 billion ($18 million) quoted last year, according to the management, AllAfrica.com reported. "Settling a significant part of this debt requires funds outside our normal operating activities. We are working on this through disposal of land and sourcing for an investor.

Kenya's central bank said on Thursday it would require another three months of investigation to determine the fate of Imperial Bank, which was put into receivership in October, delaying a resolution that had been scheduled for the end of this month, Reuters reported. The Imperial Bank receivership, which came two months after the liquidation of a smaller bank, rattled confidence in a financial sector where more than 40 foreign and local banks operate.

Nigeria’s central bank on Tuesday hiked its key lending rate four months after lowering it, as Africa’s largest economy navigates a perilous combination of record inflation and the worst growth in 17 years, The Wall Street Journal reported. Governor Godwin Emefiele said the bank would lift the rate to 12%, up 1 percentage point. That is meant to curb inflation, which rose to a three-year high of 11.4%, last month: “The balance of risk should be tilted toward price stability,” he said.

The African budget airline Fastjet is considering legal action against its second-biggest shareholder, easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, after he said the company was at risk of going bust, The Independent reported. In an astonishing escalation of the row between Sir Stelios and Fastjet, the airline yesterday said it was “taking legal advice” after the businessman published a letter stating concerns about the risk of an “insolvency event” in the months ahead.

Stakeholders have expressed support for a new bill that repeals and re-enacts the 37-year-old Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, Business Day Online reported. The new bill – Bankruptcy and Insolvency (repeal and re-enactment) bill, 2015 – also provides for corporate and individual insolvency to provide for the rehabilitation of the insolvent debtor as well as create the Office of the Supervisor of Insolvency.