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Zambia will decide Mopani Copper Mines investor this month— Source

Published

1 year ago

October 10, 2023

A source close to the Zambian government has revealed that the country will later this month make a final decision on the sale of Mopani Copper Mines it bought from Glencore in 2021.

Zambia’s Mines Minister, Paul Kabuswe had initially said a new investor for the copper mines struggling to make a profit would be selected by the end of July.

The process for the sale of Mopani Copper Mines has been delayed by complex negotiations, as it also involves Glencore, to which Mopani owes money. Glencore had previously said it would not comment on the sale process as it had exited the assets.

Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema is bent on attracting new investors in Africa’s second-largest copper producer with the aim of tripling the output of the metals key to the clean energy transition, and to drive growth in battery-powered electric vehicles.

Situmbeko Musokotwane, the finance minister had also stated last month that the choice of an investor for Mopani was “imminent.”

Some of the potential investors include the United Arab Emirates with links to International Holding Company (IHC), rated to be in a strong financial position, but with limited mining experience, the source said.

Another interested party is China’s Zijin which offers a good blend of financial strength and mining expertise, but the global macro-economic environment and uncertainty in commodities could be limiting its interest in Mopani, the source added.

The CEO of the Johannesburg-based precious metals miner, Neal Froneman stated last week that the selling process was still in progress after the company had already declared its bid for Mopani. “I sense that they now do want to bring it to a close quite quickly,” Froneman said in an interview.

Zambia has one of the greatest mineral resource bases in all of Africa. It produces the eighth most copper globally and is also rich in cobalt, gold, nickel, lead, silver, uranium, zinc, and a variety of precious and semi-precious stones.

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VenturesNow

IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

6 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.