At a time oil is being exhausted all around the world, the Republic of Congo is just beginning to realise that it has more oil than it has ever imagined . A new oil discovery in the country could produce nearly 1 million barrels of oil per day, possibly quadrupling the nation’s output and propelling it into the same league as Africa’s largest producers, says SARPD-OIL, a company doing the exploration.

Here Is All You Need To Know

• Currently, Congo ’s oil output stands at about 350,000 barrels per day.
• However, production from a new field, developed by SARPD-OIL in la Cuvette region, could dwarf that, said the company’s marketing director Mohamed Rahmani.
• SARPD estimates the field holds 1 billion cubic metres of hydrocarbons, including 359 million barrels of oil, with a potential for daily output of 983,000 barrels, Rahmani said.
• That, the company reckons, could bring in $10.5 billion a year into Congo, doubling the Central African country’s GDP.
• Production, which will be ramped up in phases, could begin in six months.
• If it reaches expected levels, Congo’s production would be close to Nigeria, which produces about 1.8 million barrels a day, and Angola, at around 1.4 million.

Currently, Congo Republic’s debt stands at 114% of its GDP but the International Monetary Fund is helping to cut it down. Alone, about 1.6 trillion CFA francs ($2.7 billion) is owed to China according to a February 2018 report by the French Embassy in Congo, which cited the Finance Ministry.

Many observers see Congo as a test case for the IMF.
A number of African countries facing unsustainable debt resulting from commercial borrowing, a boom in Eurobond issues and years of Chinese lending on the continent are expected to turn to the IMF for help in the coming years.

In 2017, public debt as a percent of GDP in sub-Saharan Africa was 45.9 percent relative to the 117 percent external debt-to-GNI ratio of 1995.

Read Also: Congo Republic’s Debt Is 114% of Its GDP But IMF Has Just Approved A Major Bailout

This is even bound to grow more because sovereign debt financing is inevitable given that African countries budgetary resources are insufficient to finance their vast development agenda.

A government spokesman did not immediately comment on the discovery.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

This has to be unprecedented for Egypt’s startup, Fawry, that was formed eleven years ago. Going public and getting listed on the stock exchange is one thing, but finding acceptance from Egyptian investors is the most significant thing that shows that Egypt ’s investment community is not only looking at the dividends on shares here but on the future prospects of the eleven year old company. Plus, this is the first IPO in  Egypt this year and the largest IPO yet.

Here Is All You Need To Know

• Eleven-year-old Egyptian electronic payments company Fawry, after months of hype, finally went public on The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) in first Egyptian IPO of the year.
• The share prices were fixed at the price of EGP 6.46, but soared 31 percent to close at EGP 8.48 on the first day of trading.
• With this, the company now has market capitalisation of close to EGP 6 billion or $366 million.

“The Egyptian Exchange’s (EGX) platform welcomed today Fawry for Banking Technology and Electronic Payment, newly listed company number 216, to its main market with a trading code FWRY.CA,” the Egyptian Exchange said in a statement.

“The private placement was oversubscribed by 16 times and the IPO by 30 times. Egyptians represented 80.3% of the IPO and 50% of the private placement. Arabs & Foreigners represented 19.7% of the IPO and 49.3 of the private,” the statement added.

• Fawry raising so much money (about EGP 1.64 billion ($100 million) from the Exchange is quite remarkable given that only 36 percent (254.6 million) of its shares were made available on The Egyptian Exchange for public subscription.
• The offering was comprised of a secondary sale by Netherland Holding BV.
• Ashraf Sabry, CEO of Fawry, in a statement, said that the commencement of trading on Fawry in EGX is an important step for growth and will definitely support its expansion plans.

A Look At Fawry

• Founded in 2008 by Ashraf Sabry & Mohamed Okasha, Fawry offers over 250 electronic payment services through its network of over 100,000 service points across 300 cities in Egypt – that include ATMs, mobile wallets, retail shops, post offices, and little vendor kiosks.
• The company also has its online payment gateway that allows online businesses to collect payments from their customers using different methods including cash, credit cards, and mobile wallet.Fawry was acquired by a consortium of three investors; Helios Investment Partners, MENA Long-Term Value Fund, and Egyptian-American Enterprise in 2015. The three investors had reportedly acquired 85 percent of the company at a valuation of $100 million.
  

  Charles Rapulu Udoh

  Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.

  Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Good news for international investors. Africa’s second most populous country Ethiopia has shown it is now open for business by granting its first ever finance license in years to a foreign-owned company, Ethio Lease. 

Here Is All You Need To Know

• The license was from the National Bank of Ethiopia which granted the first financial services license to a foreign-owned company, Ethio Lease.
• Ethio Lease is a wholly owned subsidiary of New York-based equipment leasing firm, Africa Asset Finance Company Inc. (AAFC).
• Ethio Lease will address the equipment and foreign exchange shortages facing Ethiopia by providing local businesses with access to high-quality equipment, allowing businesses to grow their operations and thereby creating jobs and increasing productivity throughout the country. 

• 

Ethio Lease Is Leading The Way For Explosion In Foreign-Led Investments In Ethiopia

Indeed, this finance license is a major invitation for foreign-led businesses to come invest in Ethiopia. So expect the emergence of a vibrant startup ecosystem led by foreign investors.

The United States is already leading the pack of investors 

“Ethio Lease represents an amazing opportunity — tens of millions of dollars of American capital; the latest in manufacturing, agriculture, and construction equipment technology; and a sustainable financial model that unleashes the potential of Ethiopian businesses without adding to Ethiopia’s debt burden. This is a prime example of how the United States invests in Ethiopia,” US Ambassador to Ethiopia, Michael Raynor said,

U.S.-based Africa Asset Finance Company Inc. (AAFC) is a non-banking financial services firm that provides equipment leasing and finance solutions. The firm is headquartered in New York. AAFC’s wholly-owned Ethiopian company, Ethio Lease, specializes in providing capital leases (or finance leases) to Ethiopian businesses for equipment in a range of vertical markets. For additional information, please visit www.aafc.com and www.ethiolease.com.

Here is what Ethio Lease Would Be Offering 

Ethio Lease’s offerings include leases for high-quality equipment, mostly in partnership with leading Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). This equipment includes:

• Agricultural machinery (e.g., tractors and irrigation equipment)
• Medical equipment (e.g., MRI scanners)
• Food processing equipment (e.g., imaging technology for coffee sorting)
• Large IT equipment (e.g., data center servers)
• Drilling rigs (for water bore holes, geothermal and infrastructure)
• Power generation (e.g., solar, wind, storage and energy efficient back-up power)

AAFC will provide funding, expertise, oversight and governance to Ethio Lease, which is independently managed by an experienced team of mostly Ethiopian professionals located in Ethiopia. Frans Van Schaik, Chairman and CEO of AAFC will serve as Vice Chair of Ethio Lease.

“Ethiopia is poised for growth as the government takes significant strides to create jobs and improve the quality of life for its population of more than 100 million. By providing leasing solutions to growing businesses, we believe our capital will help stimulate economic activity while generating attractive risk-adjusted returns for our lenders and investors,” noted Van Schaik

Read Also: Foreign Nationals In Ethiopia Can Now Set Up Banks And Insurance Business

A Look At Equipment Finance and Leasing Market In Africa

There is a large, underserved market for non-bank financial institutions in Africa. While equipment finance and leasing is widely used in developed countries and has become a trillion-dollar market in the U.S. where the Equipment Leasing Finance Association (ELFA) estimates the market at 70% of all equipment purchases it’s a different story in other parts of the world. According to the latest Global Leasing Report by the White Clark Group, the Pan-African leasing market was estimated to be just USD 5.4 billion in 2015, while the International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimated the Pan-African market at USD 40 billion in 2017. AAFC believes the increased adoption of leasing will be economically transformative and accelerate the development of many African nations and companies.

“Throughout my career, I saw first-hand the importance of having high-quality equipment in sustaining and growing a business. This equipment not only makes businesses more productive, but it allows them to expand into new sectors and to hire new workers, driving overall economic growth,” Girma Wake, vice chairman of AAFC and chairman of Ethio Lease, said,