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Airtel Africa sells Towers in Malawi, Madagascar, Tanzania, recalls bonds over debts

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Airtel Africa Plc has been forced to sell off its telecommunication Towers in Malawi, Madagascar and Tanzania for a total of $284 million.

The company also recalled $505 million of its bonds as part of measures to pay off close to $3 billion debt on its balance sheet weighing down its continental operations.

By recalling a bond, a firm had to pay off the principal amount and the interest of a debt instrument before the due or maturity date and this occurs where the issuer, or the borrower, intends to clear the debt from its books and save on the regular interest payments.

The telecommunications company, a subsidiary of India’s Bharti Airtel Ltd, with operations in 14 African countries which has been going through a turbulent business terrain in recent times, redeemed the bonds that were to mature in March 2023, thereby saving $26 million on interest payments from the early redemption.

“In line with our strategy to continue to reduce foreign currency debt at Holding Company, we also repaid $505 million bonds in March 2022, a year earlier than their March 2023 redemption date,” the company said in a statement on Friday as part of its financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2022.

“Our balance sheet has also been further de-risked by continued localisation of our debt into the operating companies (OpCos) and material debt reduction in Holding Company (HoldCo),” the statement added.

As part of its revenue generating drive, The Airtel Group completed the sale of more than 2,600 telecommunication towers in Tanzania, Madagascar and Malawi generating total proceeds of $284 million which were used to partly reduce its debt to $2.9 billion from $3.5 billion.

The Tower sale proceeds, according to the company were Tanzania ($177 million), Malawi ($55m) and Madagascar ($52m), gaining it a profit of $111 million but the loss of tower sharing revenue as a result of the sale of these towers amounted to $29 million per annum.

In March 2021, the Group announced a memorandum of understanding arrangements with Helios Towers for the potential sale of its tower assets in Chad and Gabon, while in February 2022, Airtel Africa announced it had agreed an extension to their memorandum of understanding with Helios Towers in Gabon, with completion still subject to Helios Towers obtaining a passive infrastructure licence.

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Nigeria: Marketers predict further price cut as another refinery begins operations

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Oil marketers and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority expect refined petroleum product prices to reduce as another public refinery in Warri begins operations.

The marketers made the prediction when the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited launched the 125,000-barrel-per-day Delta State WRPC. NNPCL also wants to export locally refined goods for foreign cash. Last month, the 60,000-barrel-per-day Port Harcourt Refinery in Rivers State began operations.

During an inspection tour of the facility on Monday, the NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, explained that the inspection aimed to show Nigerians the level of work completed so far.

During a tour with NMDPRA CEO Farouk Ahmed and NNPC Board Chairman Pius Akinyelure, Kyari said that while facility repairs were not yet 100% complete, refining operations had begun and would produce straight-run kerosene, diesel and naphtha.

In a statement commemorating the milestone, President Bola Tinubu stated the plant is functioning at 60% or 75,000 barrels per day.

Kyari said, “We are taking you through our plant. This plant is running. Although it is not 100 per cent complete, we are still in the process. Many people think these things are not real. They think real things are not possible in this country. We want you to see that this is real.”

Since some of these goods would be shipped to foreign markets, he said, the reopening of the Warri refinery will help the country become a net exporter of petroleum products.

“Secondly, this plant had three stages; we have started plant one, which we call Area One. It can produce AGO (diesel), kerosene, naphtha, and a blend of crude oil. These are high-grade quality products required in the country, and we may need to export them. So this will give us cash, this company will make money and the promise of Mr President that this country must be a net exporter of petroleum products is already happening. Some of these products will go into the international market.

“Most importantly, I must put on record that Mr President believes that we can get this to work and get them to start and gave us the charge that we must start all three refineries. It’s already happening; we have started the 60,000 barrels per day refinery, and Area One of the Warri refinery is already working. Other plants that would produce PMS are being streamed and they would also come alive.

Mustapha Zarma, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria’s National Operations Controller, stated that the rivalry in the downstream oil industry will become more fierce.

There will undoubtedly be a further decrease in pricing if the plant begins producing goods in bulk, he stated. This is because the market will ultimately be influenced by market forces and there will be fierce rivalry.

Until recently, none of Nigeria’s publicly owned refineries has worked to capacity for years, despite several investments to revive them. The failure of the government to revive them contributed to the high level of national anticipation surrounding the Dangote refinery whose operations appear to have revolutionalised the industry.

The refinery will concentrate on manufacturing and storing essential goods, such as heavy and light naphtha, automotive petrol oil and straight-run kerosene.

The country’s first fully owned refinery, the WRPC, was put into service in 1978 and is situated in Warri, Delta State, Nigeria. It was first built to process 100,000 barrels of crude oil a day, but in 1987 it was updated to process 125,000 barrels.

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Kenya: Consumer inflation rises to 3.0% from 2.8%

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Kenya’s statistics agency said on Tuesday that Kenya’s consumer price inflation increased slightly to 3.0% year-over-year in December from 2.8% the previous month.

According to a release from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, monthly inflation was 0.6%, down from 0.3% in November. Kenya aims to have a medium-term inflation rate of 2.5% to 7.5%.

With inflation under control, Kenya’s central bank said there was an opportunity for looser policy to assist economic development, lowering its benchmark lending rate by a larger-than-expected 75 basis points to 11.25% on December 5.

 

Kenya’s GDP expanded by 5.2% in 2023, up from 4.8% in 2022, thanks to a recovery in agriculture and a modest increase in services. Household consumption accounted for 70% of the growth on the demand side, while services and agriculture accounted for 69% and 23% of the growth, respectively, on the supply side.

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