Africa

The travails of Steinhoff International, the embattled South African retail holding company, deepened today as Christo Wiese, the entrepreneur who has built up the business, resigned as chairman.

South Africa’s FirstRand Bank signed a syndicated loan with 21 banks on Thursday for $700m, $200m higher than its launch amount, despite South Africa’s recent rating downgrade, which also led to a downgrade for FirstRand.

Savannah Petroleum, the UK oil and gas company focusing on African exploration, has announced a range of 40p to 50p a share for a follow-on share placing to fund its acquisition of the Nigerian oil and gas assets of Seven Energy.

Nigeria is expected to become only the fourth sovereign globally — and the first in Africa — to issue green bonds, by selling a $30m-equivalent five year or longer naira government bond next week.

A group of senior managers at Dis-Chem Pharmacies, the South African pharmacy chain, have completed the first equity block trade in the stock since its R4.4bn ($304m) Johannesburg IPO in November 2016. The sale of a 3.7% stake was slightly increased.

Tullow Oil, the oil company headquartered in London but with operations predominantly in Africa, has signed $2.5bn of reserve-based lending (RBL) facilities to refinance existing deals with its relationship banks.

Equity investors initially responded positively this week to Steinhoff International’s fresh attempts to shore up its operations, helping the dual-listed retail company's share price rebound, before it dropped again on Thursday amid talk of possible legal action and calls for the board to resign.

South Africa’s distressed Steinhoff has moved its meeting with lenders from Monday to next Tuesday, following its revelation on accounting irregularities last week.

Global Telecom, a telecommunications company founded in Egypt and headquartered in the Netherlands, has extended a $200m loan by six months.

Steinhoff International’s revelation of accounting irregularities has smashed the reputation of a company that had been widely admired as a daring and astute user of capital markets. Sam Kerr, Virginia Furness, Aidan Gregory, Silas Brown and Bianca Boorer examine how the retailer's troubles have rocked confidence among bond, equity and loan investors and even shaken appetite for South African risk.

Investors may be quick to pass off Steinhoff’s collapse as an idiosyncratic corporate event, but the fall of one of South Africa’s biggest companies is a severe blow to a country struggling to cling on to its image.

South African property investment company Growthpoint postponed a euro denominated five year note on Wednesday suggesting that even high quality credits from the country will struggle to do deals as investors turn increasingly negative on it.