Business

Ritz-Carlton hotels are popping up in prestigious, exotic locations all around North Africa lately, with properties under construction in Marrakech, Morocco (around the Jenan Amar Polo Fields); within the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat; and east of Tangiers on the Mediterranean atTamuda Bay. And over in Japan, The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto will open in early 2014.

Middle East countries which are energy exporters have better investment ratings than  oil importers in the region, Fitch says, and that gap is widening.

Paul Gamble, director in the sovereigns group at Fitch, told a briefing this week that the ratings gap has never been bigger and that:

If you look at the outlooks, it has the potential to widen further.

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The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) will host a workshop on infrastructure and diaspora bonds in Africa during AfDB’s annual meetings in Morocco on May 29, 2013. One of the main objectives of the seminar to be at held at the Palmeraie Golf Palace in Marrakech, themed “Financing African Structural Change – Infrastructure and Diaspora Bonds” is to raise awareness of all stakeholders in the role that infrastructure and diaspora bonds can play in catalyzing financing to address the existing infrastructure gap in Africa.

With the widely cited and largely conservative continental infrastructure gap of USD 93 billion per annum, the urgency for innovative financing was never more palpable. “The resources required to develop and maintain modern infrastructure far exceeds the funds available to African governments through taxes, bilateral or multilateral aid or any other traditional source of funds. This raises the question of what new sources of capital can be mobilized and how to attract them to finance Africa’s infrastructure needs. Using innovative financing tools like infrastructure and diaspora bonds will be critical to ensuring continued economic growth across the continent”, said AfDB Group Treasurer, Mr. Pierre Van Peteghem, the event’s moderator. (more…)

Two United Arab Emirates banks raised $1.3 billion from bonds sales and Morocco plans to boost the size of its existing dollar-denominated notes as Middle East issuers take advantage of falling borrowing costs.

Emirates NBD PJSC (EMIRATES) sold $1 billion in bonds that don’t mature, the second sale by the Dubai-based lender this year, according to four people familiar with the matter. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC (ADCB) returned to the bond marketfor the third time this year, selling $300 million in 10-year securities, two people said. Morocco hired Barclays Plc, BNP Paribas SA, Citigroup Inc. and Natixis to manage its sale, one person said.

“It’s a good time to tap the debt market and take advantage of the low yield levels at the moment,” Hakim Azaiez, the head of investment at GCA Asset Management in London, said by e-mail today. “There is also a factor that interest rate may rise and that would be another reason for this flow of issuance.” (more…)

Chariot Oil & Gas says it seeks to continue to de-risk its asset base whilst maturing multiple prospects for drilling. And it says it also remains fully committed to creating transformational growth for shareholders. Chariot says that over the past year it has acquired substantial datasets that have served to significantly enhance the team’s understanding of its acreage and further develop its prospect inventory. Chief executive Larry Bottomley says: “We have also diversified our risk portfolio through the acquisition of acreage offshore Morocco, Mauritania, and, more recently, Brazil. In doing so, we are building a balanced portfolio of high potential assets as well as further exposing the company to additional transformational prospect opportunities. “Whilst no drilling will take place during 2013, this will be a busy year of development and growth as we look to de-risk and mature the portfolio through the evaluation of our extensive 3D seismic databases and integration of well results, including those of nearby third-party drilling activity. “We are focused on preserving our cash through prudent asset and prospect selection and through seeking partners who will provide access to third party funding as well as further validation of the potential of our assets.”