By Jackie Cameron
- Tongaat Hulett says it expects operating profits to jump by about 70% as a result of a turnaround at its local operations. Tongaat said headline earnings for the six-months ended September 30th will surge by between 150% to 160%. In the same period last year in recorded a loss of R315m. Tongaat has sold assets and cut jobs.
- Multinationals are eyeing opportunities for growth in Africa. Access Bank is in talks about a potential acquisition of assets belonging to Bob Diamond’s Atlas Mara, as it aims to expand its reach in the rest of Africa, reports Bloomberg. The Lagos-based Access Bank, Nigeria’s biggest lender, is interested in Atlas Mara’s businesses in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Atlas Mara, which has lost 96% of its value since listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2013, is exiting markets or seeking partners in countries where it doesn’t see opportunities to bulk up or make money, says Bloomberg. Access Bank plans to be present in 22 African countries over the next five years and currently operates in Sierra Leone, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Zambia and Congo. It recently invested in South African lender Grobank and Chief Executive Officer Herbert Wigwe has said he is also targeting Angola, Senegal, Liberia, and Ivory Coast for growth. The break up of Atlas Mara comes after Diamond, former boss of Barclays and an African bull, misjudged competition and overpaid for acquisitions, with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic accelerating the need to reposition Atlas Mara, says the news service. Diamond was replaced as chairman early last year by Michael Wilkerson, the chairman of Fairfax Africa, which owns 49% of the firm.
- In another move likely to stimulate business activity and employment across Africa, Japanese automotive group Nissan is to set up a new regional business unit for Africa as it seeks to boost manufacturing capacity and penetrate one of the world’s biggest undeveloped new car markets, it has said on its website. Until now, most carmakers have focused manufacturing and sales in South Africa – the continent’s most developed economy – which accounts for 85% of Africa’s new car purchases, reports Reuters. Nissan, along with competitors Volkswagen, BMW, and Toyota, have been lobbying African governments to grant conditions that favour local assembly and manufacturing while curbing imports of cheap used cars. Carmakers are also hoping to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which is expected to come into force early next year and will reduce tariffs and ease the flow of goods between its members states, says the news service.
