African Minerals said on Friday its Chinese partner in its sole asset, the Tonkolili iron ore project in Sierra Leone, has taken on some of its multi-million dollar debt and is demanding repayment, Reuters reported. The loan is secured against certain assets of the borrower and by taking ownership of the debt, Shandong is in a position that could allow it to take control of the project. "The borrowers and guarantors do not have sufficient funds available to make the payment demanded," African Minerals said in a statement on Friday.

A deepening power crisis that has triggered almost daily outages across South Africa, hitting key industries as well as households, has forced the government to sharply downgrade its growth forecast for the year, the Financial Times reported. Nhlanhla Nene, the finance minister, highlighted energy supply as the government’s critical challenge as he projected that growth for the year would be 2 per cent, down from the 2.5 per cent the Treasury forecast in October.

South Africa recorded its worst economic growth in five years in 2014 as Africa’s most developed economy counted the cost of a wave of strikes, infrastructure bottlenecks and fragile business confidence, the Financial Times reported. An unprecedented five-month wage strike in the platinum mining sector, followed by a weeks-long strike by more than 220,000 metalworkers and engineers, dragged growth down to 1.5 per cent for the year. Mining and manufacturing however rebounded in the fourth quarter, with the economy expanding 4.1 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

The business rescue plan for the furniture arm of failed South African lender Abil has realised a better cash position than had been earlier hoped, administrators said in a report. The retailer with debts adding up to around 1.3 billion rand ($115 million) was forced into business rescue last year, which allows for temporary protection from creditors, as parent African Bank Investments (Abil) crumbled under bad debts.

Angola has dramatically slashed its budget for the year and is reaching out to the World Bank and international lenders for at least $1bn in loans as Africa’s second-biggest oil producer and one of the continent’s star economic performers grapples with the fallout from the collapse in crude prices, the Financial Times reported. Luanda has already approached Goldman Sachs and Gemcorp Capital LLP, a small London-based investment firm set up last year, for loans of $250m from each institution. Both groups declined to comment.

The International Monetary Fund said Thursday it will provide a total of $100 million in debt relief and another $160 million in low-interest financing for the three West African countries hardest hit by the Ebola crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported. The deadly Ebola epidemic has slammed the economies of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone as the health disaster slashed state revenues and crisis costs overwhelmed the governments’ budgets.

One of Zimbabwe's smaller banks, owned by a senior minister in President Robert Mugabe's government, has surrendered its licence because it was insolvent and had a high level of non-performing loans, two sources at the bank said on Thursday. Unlisted Allied Bank, majority-owned by Transport Minister Obert Mpofu, has been struggling to meet capitalisation requirements and volunteered to close.

The personal hospitality business may be the most obvious sector of Sierra Leone’s economy that has been decimated by Ebola. After all, the main slogan in Freetown, the capital, these days is A.B.C. — avoid body contact. But all across the most affected nations — Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia — Ebola continues to lay waste not just to immune systems but also to balance sheets, the International New York Times reported.

Administrators implementing a rescue plan for African Bank Investments'(Abil) furniture business Ellerine have so far failed to find bidders for the bulk of the assets, they told creditors in an update on Friday, Reuters reported on Saturday. Failure to dispose off assets could potentially reduce the amount creditors can expect to receive after the business that owes nearly 1.3 billion rand ($118 million) is wound down fully. Ellerine was forced into a business rescue process -- similar to chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S.

South Africa's competition watchdog on Wednesday gave Lewis Group preliminary approval to purchase more than 60 stores from failed furniture firm Ellerine, paving the way for a $8 million deal that is expected to save nearly 400 jobs, Reuters reported. The Competition Commission said in a statement it would recommend that Lewis, which sells furniture and appliances to lower-income shoppers, be allowed to acquire 63 shops operating under the Beares brand as long as there were no job cuts. Approval from the commission is the first hurdle under South African law.