South Africa-Nigeria

Lagos: Some ex-militants from the Niger Delta region who were taken to South Africa to train as pilots under the Federal Government's Amnesty programme performed so well that some of them were employed and are operating as commercial pilots in that country while others became instructors in the training institute where they graduated. This was in addition to the 170 youths from the region who were earlier employed in different countries where they underwent their skill acquisition training and higher education.

Abuja: The South African government has expressed its readiness to help Nigeria improve its internal security. A delegation comprising top members of the South Africa’s ruling party, African National Congress (ANC), the Peoples Democratic Party of Nigeria and South African Business people held a meeting with the Minister of Interior in Abuja to kick-start the negotiation process. The leader of the delegation, ANC Treasurer, Matheous Phosa said his country was concerned about the internal security situation in Nigeria and have decided to help replicate in Nigeria, what was achieved in his country.

Abuja:  Some South African investors plan to invest in Nigeria’s power sector, the former South African Minister of Power, Mr. Matthews Phosa, has said. Phosa, who is now the Treasurer  General of the ruling African National Congress, said this when he led a team of South African investors to a meeting with the Minister of State for Power, Mrs. Zainab Kushi, in Abuja on Tuesday. He said South Africa had what it took to assist in lifting Nigeria’s tattering power sector out of the woods, according to statement made available to our correspondent after the meeting.

Abuja: As part of moves to boost the economy of Nigeria and South Africa, Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, and African National Congress, ANC, have both agreed to come together. Speaking, yesterday, in Abuja, at his private residence when he received the delegation of ANC, led by its Treasurer-General, Dr. Mathews Phosa, PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, called on the South Africa ruling party to come to Nigeria and invest in infrastructure, solid mineral exploration, agriculture, refineries, among others.

Johannesburg:  South African holding company Shanduka Group said Wednesday it has acquired a stake in MTN Group's (MTN.JO) Nigeria business, the largest investment so far in its push to expand across Africa.   Shanduka Group bought the minority stake for $335 million to become the third largest shareholder in MTN Nigeria, the country's biggest mobile operator with an estimated market share of 48%. The investment firm declined to say exactly how much it owns of the Nigerian unit, purchased from an undisclosed private equity firm.

Johannesburg: Last month marked the celebration of Oliver Tambo, the ninth and longest-serving president of the African National Congress (ANC). Renowned for his gentle humility, punctilious perfectionism and understated wisdom, he led the party between 1967 and 1991. At his funeral in 1993, Nelson Mandela described Tambo as "a great giant who strode the globe like a colossus". He was the political mentor of several ANC leaders, such as Thabo Mbeki and Pallo Jordan, inculcating in them values of integrity, honesty and open debate. He kept the party together in exile during its most difficult period. It was thus fitting that Nigeria’s most eminent scholar-diplomat, Ibrahim Gambari, was last month awarded the Companion of OR Tambo, South Africa’s highest decoration for foreigners.

Lagos:  Nigeria has appointed a local unit of South Africa's Standard Bank as stockbroker for its debt, in a move aimed at expanding participation in government bond issues to retail investors on the bourse, the debt office said on Wednesday. Africa's second-biggest economy issues tens of billions of naira (hundreds of millions of dollars) in sovereign bonds each month to support the local bond market, create a benchmark for corporate issuance and fund its budget deficit.

Abuja: Standard & Poor's upgraded Nigeria's credit rating on Wednesday because of improved financial stability and optimism over reforms to the banking and electricity sectors. Nigeria is among the world's top 10 crude oil exporters and a key supplier to the United States, China and India. It is Africa's second-largest economy after South Africa. GDP growth is projected at around 6.5 percent this year, down from 7.4 last year due to the impact of insecurity and the economic slowdown in countries importing Nigeria's oil. The ratings agency raised its long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit rating to BB- with a stable outlook, three notches below investment grade, from B+. This brings its view in line with Fitch's rating.

London:  Insurer Old Mutual unveiled a Nigerian acquisition as it pressed ahead with plans to grow in sub-Saharan Africa, and said it was closing its Austrian and German units to new customers. Old Mutual, an Anglo-South African financial conglomerate with operations in about 30 countries, has agreed to buy the Nigerian property and casualty insurance unit of pan-African lender Ecobank for about $20 million, it said on Wednesday.

Lagos: Sephaku Cement - a subsidiary of Dangote Cement and an indigenous player in South Africa’s cement industry - has signed $222 million (N34.85 billion) of domestic debt funding for its $390 million (N62.4 billion) cement and clinker plant projects spanning two provinces in the continent’s biggest economy. A statement from Dangote Group yesterday, stated that the company was advised on the transaction by Sasfin Capital, which is jointly funded by two of South Africa’s big four banks - Standard Bank and Nedbank.