Nigeria's largest oil and gas bond issuance, Sovereign Fund of Egypt's $15.9 million investment in EFG Hermes Education Fund.

Welcome to your 4-minute weekly round-up of the most important news dominating the world of business and finance in Africa. Tell a friend or colleague who needs to be well informed by signing up here.

Private Equity :

• The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) has invested $15.9 million in the EFG Hermes Education Fund’s third close and signed an agreement with the GEMS Egypt Education Group to develop and manage two schools west of Cairo.

• Nigeria Private Equity firm CardinalStone Capital (CCA) has closed a $64 million fund aimed at investing in small and medium-sized businesses in Nigeria and Africa.

Venture Capital Deals:

• Nigerian Curacel, a technology company that offers claim and fraud detection services to insurance companies, has raised $450,000 in a pre-seed funding round.

• Uganda-based Tugende a digital asset financing company has raised $3.6m in Series A round funding.

M & A Activities:

• Nigeria’s Access Bank one of the country’s largest banks with operations in 12 countries has received the required regulatory approval to acquire South Africa’s Grobank which owns GroCapital Holdings Financial group.

Companies Updates:

• Rwanda’s Bralirwa, a leading manufacturer of local beverages, has increased its annual profits by 655%  from Rwf1.2 billion in 2019 to Rwf 9 billion in 2020. This was driven by a reduction in operating expenses and demand for its products even with COVI9 based restrictions.

• Uganda’s Stanbic has reported a drop in its profit after tax from Sh259 Billion in 2019 to Sh242 Billion in 2020 due to the impact of Covid-19.

• Egypt’s GlaxoSmith has revealed a decline in net profit by 80% from LE 142.6 million in 2019 to LE 28.13 million in 2020.

Liquidity Actions:

• Nigeria’s Seplat Petroleum Development Company(Seplat) which is listed on both the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) has priced its offering of $650 million in senior notes due to 2026, the largest ever Nigerian oil and gas bond issuance. The Notes are priced at a yield of 7.75% representing a pricing reduction from its $350 million

Economy updates:

• Botswana’s GDP shrank 4.1%  in the fourth quarter of 2020 a lower drop compared to a 6 % decline compared to the previous period.

• Kenya’s inflation for the month of March 2021 rate rose to 5.90% an increase from 5.78% in the month of February 2021.

• Morocco’s GDP shrank to 6% in the fourth quarter of 2020. The economy has contracted for the last three quarters.

• Uganda’s inflation rate rose from 3.8% in February 2021 to 4.1% in March 2021.

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By Africa Finance Review

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