Global Courant
Here are the three most important events in the African business world from the past week that you probably missed but should keep in mind this week.
BlackRock buys Adebayo Ogunlesi’s company
Adebayo Ogunlesi was the most talked about African businessman last week. Why? BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, will acquire Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), Ogunlesi infrastructure investment fund, for approximately $12 billion in cash and shares. The deal should close in the third quarter of this year, pending regulatory approval. BlackRock will pay $3 billion in cash and about 12 million shares, currently worth $9.5 billion. Ogunlesi and five of GIP’s founders will join BlackRock upon completion.
Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is an independent infrastructure fund manager that manages companies and assets across the energy, transport, digital, water and waste sectors. The portfolio includes Edinburgh Airport, the UK’s Gatwick Airport, the ports of Brisbane and Melbourne, East India Petroleum, Sydney Airport and the Ruby Pipeline.
The acquisition of GIP, which has about $106 billion in assets under management, would make BlackRock the world’s second-largest infrastructure manager behind Macquarie and strengthen the leadership of its alternatives business.
The Dangote refinery has become operational
On Saturday, January 13, the Dangote refinery announced that it has finally started diesel and aviation production. It is a huge milestone for the company and the Nigerian energy sector, especially as this achievement has taken more than a decade.
Aliko Dangote built Africa’s largest refinery for $20 billion on a peninsula on the edge of the commercial capital Lagos. Its completion came just after the Nigerian transport sector fell into recession due to expensive fuel. So there is a lot of public hope in the company’s ability to deliver results. The refinery will be crucial for Nigeria to process its crude oil instead of importing expensive fuel that is processed abroad.
However, there is still a somewhat long way to fully commercial activities. After the start-up of the refinery’s crude oil distillation unit, it could take months for test runs to transition to producing high-quality fuels at full capacity. Nevertheless, Dangote has said it will start refining 350,000 barrels per day, hoping to ramp up full production later this year. The refinery has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
Lyca Mobile has closed in South Africa
Lyca Mobile, the world’s largest mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), has closed in South Africa. The company stayed in the country for six years. Customers can therefore no longer call, text or access mobile data.
It announced the move on January 9 and advised customers to move their numbers to other mobile networks to minimize the risk of losing them. Lyca Mobile also stated that subscriptions or top-ups purchased at retail locations would expire on or before the cut-off date. While users can request a refund by contacting customer support, those who switch to another operator without doing so will not be eligible for a refund.
Lyca Mobile was founded in the United Kingdom in 2006 and has since grown to serve more than 15 million customers across Africa, Europe, the United States, Australia and Asia. It entered South Africa in 2017 through a partnership with Cell C, a South African telecom company. But in November 2023, Cell C issued a trading update with audited figures for 2021 and 2022. According to the report, the company is experiencing financial difficulties due to a declining user base and stagnant revenues.
ICYMI: Market Overview
The Nigerian stock market continued last week’s bullish run. The All-Share Index rose 4.24% to end the week at 83,042.96 points, with the market capitalization reaching N45.442 trillion. The biggest gainers were Cadbury Nigeria Plc. (+42.31%), Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc (+39.47%), Julius Berger Nig. Plc. (+32.94%), The Initiates Plc (+31.43%) and Jaiz Bank Plc (+31.30%). The biggest decliners were Daar Communications Plc (-30.23%), TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria Plc (-10.00%), NEM Insurance Plc (-9.45%), CWG Plc (-9.29%) and May & Baker Nigeria Plc. (-7.73%). Brent crude futures ended the week at $78.4 per barrel, while WTI crude ended at $72.3 per barrel. The naira ended the week at ₦890.54 against the dollar, after a volatile week on the Investors and Exporters Window. The global cryptocurrency market ended the week at a valuation of $1.68 trillion. Bitcoin lost 2.01% to close at $42,664, Ethereum gained 14.61% to close at $2511 and BNB gained 7.54% to close at $317.
Badilithe first re-commerce platform in Africa, has raised an undisclosed seed round of funding.
Seedstars Africa Ventures has received a $30 million capital commitment from EIB Global, a branch of the European Investment Bank.
Baimsone of Kuwaiti’s leading ed-tech companies, acquired Orcas, an Egyptian startup for online tutoring.
Lapairean Ivory Coast-based pan-African eye care company, has secured $3 million to support its expansion across the continent.
