Africa

Kenya Airways Plc has selected financial advisers at Seabury Securities to help the airline evaluate options to restructure its debt load, Bloomberg News reported. The airline, in which the Kenyan government has a 48.9% stake, faces mounting debts and depressed passenger demand amid pandemic-related travel restrictions. A representative for Kenya Airways said the carrier is in talks with several consultants, including Seabury, but declined to elaborate further. A representative for Seabury Securities declined to comment.

The International Monetary Fund approved a $455 million loan for Republic of Congo to support the country’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and a tumble in oil prices, Bloomberg News reported. The IMF executive board approved the package under a new three-year Extended Credit Facility arrangement, the lender said in a statement Friday. The decision will enable an immediate disbursement equivalent to about $90 million. “Reducing debt vulnerabilities while implementing fiscal policy that supports a strong and equitable economic recovery will be key,” the fund said.

The International Monetary Fund urged public and private creditors to complete a renegotiation of Chad’s loans by the end of March, a critical step to restore the sustainability of the nation’s debt, Bloomberg News reported. The move follows a series of calls by the IMF and the World Bank for private creditors, including Glencore Plc, to agree on a restructuring of Chad’s debt on the same terms as those reached with its official creditors under a Group of 20 debt-relief initiative. About a third of Chad’s public external debt is owed to Glencore and other commercial lenders.

Ghana’s inflation rate jumped to the highest level in almost five years in December, underscoring the dilemma the central bank faces in trying to balance its efforts to curb price growth and boost the economy, Bloomberg News reported. Annual inflation accelerated to 12.6% from 12.2% in November, Government Statistician Samuel Kobina Annim told reporters Wednesday in Accra, the capital. That’s the highest rate since April 2017, exceeding the finance ministry’s forecast of 8% and topping the median estimate of 12.5% projected by six economists in a Bloomberg survey.

January 6 NCLAT Junks Anil Agarwal-led Firm's Takeover of Videocon, Calls for Fresh Bids A bankruptcy appeals court on Wednesday scrapped billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Twin Star Technologies' winning bid to take over Videocon Industries Ltd on a plea by some creditors that the money offered imposed a steep Rs 62,000 crore haircut upon banks, the Times of India reported.

Ivory Coast cashew processors are being driven towards bankruptcy by Asian exporters who buy up all the local supply, thwarting a government plan to invigorate the sector, Reuters reported. Five Ivorian processing companies have gone bankrupt and closed their factories in the last two years, while four others are in difficulty and have considerably reduced their activities, according to interviews with company leaders.

Chad on Friday reached an agreement for a $570 million program with the International Monetary Fund under its Extended Credit Facility, Bloomberg News reported. The three-year program, seen as crucial to meet the central African nation’s financing needs, allows for an immediate disbursement of $78.28 million, the Washington-based lender said in a separate statement.

Uganda’s chief legal officer urged the Finance Ministry to refrain from renegotiating the terms of a $200 million Chinese loan as it is able to meet its debt obligations, Bloomberg News reported. The agreement signed in 2015 with the Export-Import Bank of China to fund the expansion of the Entebbe Airport came with several contentious clauses, including one that could see the lender take ownership of the facility in the event of a default.

South African Airways (SAA) said an amended business rescue (BR) plan for its low-cost subsidiary Mango was approved at a meeting of creditors on Thursday, paving the way for the airline to seek an equity partner, Reuters reported. "According to the BR practitioners the process to secure a successful bidder, inclusive of concluding the relevant acquisition agreements, is anticipated to be completed by the end of March 2022," SAA said in a statement. Business rescue is a form of bankruptcy protection in South Africa.

South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund, the biggest investor in Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. debt, said there were significant hurdles to a proposal that its bonds be converted to equity to help rescue the struggling power monopoly, Bloomberg News reported. The initiative, which has been backed by the country’s biggest labor unions, was first examined by the Public Investment Corp., which manages most of the pension fund’s investments, but the GEPF has not been formally approached about a potential swap, its investment chief said.