By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Nigeria’s leading congloromate in several industries, AG Leventis (Nigeria) Plc said on Tuesday it has entered into a joint venture agreement with South African Pick N Pay Retailers Limited.

“The indicative scope of services by the new company to be formed pursuant to the joint venture shall consist of retail services especially with respect to Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG),” the company said in an issuer’s announcement with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Shares of AG Leventis at the close of trading on the Nigerian Bourse on Tuesday climbed up 4.88 percent to N1.43 from N1.32 recorded the previous session; gaining 0.04 kobo per share.

Click here to view full notice by AG Leventis (Nigeria) Plc

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26/4/2016/Vantage Capital

Vantage Capital, Africa’s largest mezzanine fund manager, announced today that it has provided a debenture facility of N$80 million (R80 million) to United Africa Group (UAG), an established hospitality and property-owning group in Namibia. The funding is being used to support the group’s equity contribution for the construction of a new Hilton Garden Inn, a 181-key three-star hotel to be located in the heart of the Windhoek city centre on Freedom Square, adjacent to UAG’s existing five-star Hilton Windhoek Hotel.

UAG was founded in 1992 by Haddis Tilahun and was later joined by his wife, Dr. Martha Namundjebo-Tilahun. It has since grown rapidly to become one of the largest property-owning and hospitality groups in Namibia, with ten existing hotels in its portfolio (nine operated by Protea and one by Hilton) as well as commercial real estate in Windhoek covering over 12,000 m2 of office space and in excess of 2,500 m2 of retail space.

Growing tourism demand in Namibia has been a key driver behind the hotel construction project. Tourist arrivals to Namibia have shown consistent growth over the past five years and the trend is expected to continue going forward, with tourist arrivals projected to double over the next ten years. The Namibian Government has in fact identified tourism as one of the economy’s key growth sectors over the next decade. The new hotel will be equipped with all the amenities expected of a world-class business and leisure hotel including a pool, sundeck, gym and roof garden. The proximity to the existing Hilton Windhoek Hotel will also allow for the sharing of services including conference facilities.

The Hilton Garden Inn forms part of the broader 2.4 hectare Freedom Square development that is being undertaken by UAG. The site is bordered by Sam Nujoma Drive to the south, Independence Avenue to the west, Fidel Castro Street to the north and the Supreme Court of Namibia to the east. It is one of the few remaining undeveloped sites in the Windhoek city centre and is in a prime location, situated close to a host of government ministries, corporate head offices and shopping centres. In addition to the five-star Hilton Windhoek Hotel and three-star Hilton Garden Inn, the square will incorporate public spaces as well as government’s new Social Security headquarters, a high-end residential building and a new head office for First National Bank.

“We are delighted to partner with UAG for our first investment in Namibia and Vantage’s 21st mezzanine transaction overall,” said Warren van der Merwe, chief operating officer of Vantage Capital. “UAG has built up a quality portfolio of hospitality and commercial property assets under the strong leadership of Haddis and Martha Tilahun and we are pleased to provide them with financial backing as they further entrench themselves as a leader in the local hospitality sector.”

David Kornik, associate partner at Vantage Capital, added that “we always look for our funding to facilitate expansion and economic development; in this investment we are therefore proud to be supporting a local business group, in a project that will have a significantly positive impact on tourism growth as well as on the development of Windhoek’s city centre.”

Willem Mouton, chief executive officer of UAG added, “We are pleased to bring Vantage on board as an experienced African investor who shares our views on the exciting prospects for Namibia’s tourism and hospitality sector. We look forward to a mutually rewarding partnership in the coming years.”

The United Africa Group investment is Vantage Capital’s third transaction in Fund III, which is targeting a final close of US$260 million (R4 billion), and has a 60% allocation to countries outside South Africa. After supporting the Servest buyout last year, Vantage’s Fund III recently concluded a $20 million investment in a Nigerian property group, Landmark. The Fund is expecting to close its fourth transaction during the first half of 2016 for an investment of over $17m (R250m).

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20/4/2016/Reuters

Nigeria will hold off new talks with South Africa’s MTN over a $3.9 billion fine for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered SIM card users until parliament concludes a probe, its communications minister said on Wednesday.

Last month, the House of Representatives launched a probe into whether Nigeria can reduce the fine, which had originally amounted to $5.2 billion. In December, telecoms regulator NCC cut the fine to $3.9 billion.

The probe has hindered efforts by MTN to launch new talks aimed at getting the fine reduced further.

“As soon as the ongoing (parliamentary) investigations are concluded we will sit down with them (MTN),” communications minister Adebayo Shittu told reporters.

The House launched its investigation after MTN angered lawmakers by snubbing an invitation to its Nigeria Chief Executive Ferdi Moolman to appear at the telecoms committee, according to MPs.

MTN offered in March to pay $1.5 billion, according to a document seen by Reuters. And it dropped a legal case against the regulator as the first step in its efforts to reach an out of court settlement.

Last year, Nigeria imposed a deadline on mobile operators to cut off unregistered SIM cards, which MTN missed, amid fears the lines were being used by criminal gangs, including militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

(Reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing Ulf Laessing; Editing by Mark Potter)

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