Africa in Business: from volts to votes
STORY: Here are five business stories making headlines in sub-Saharan Africa this week.
1. Investors have welcomed South African government plans to take on some 60% of Eskom's debt - saying it could pave the way for a sustainable future.
The struggling state-owned utility has been implementing South Africa's worst power outages on record.
On Thursday (February 23) Eskom also named CFO Calib Cassim as interim CEO following the departure of Andre de Ruyter.
2. Relatives of 346 people killed in two Boeing 737 Max crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia have appealed a U.S. judge's rejection of their bid to prosecute the planemaker.
Earlier this month the judge ruled he did not have authority to grant the relatives' requests to reopen or dismiss a deferred prosecution agreement.
It gives Boeing immunity from criminal prosecution on fraud conspiracy charges related to the plane's flawed design.
Boeing declined to comment.
3. Someone else submitting an appeal is Facebook parent company Meta.
It's filed paperwork challenging a Kenyan court ruling that said the company could be sued in the East African country.
Meta is arguing that the court does not have jurisdiction in the case, brought by a former content moderator, alleging poor working conditions.
4. A new investment fund with nearly $93 million will finance solar power production across Africa, French fund manager RGREEN INVEST and investment advisor ECHOSYS INVEST said on Friday (February 24).
A statement said the AFRIGREEN Debt Impact Fund would focus on West and Central Africa, providing direct lending and asset-based debt facilities.
5. And finally, Nigerians head to the polls on Saturday (February 25) to elect a new president and parliament.
Investors and analysts say their top concerns are multiple exchange rate, widespread insecurity and low oil production due to massive crude theft - as well as soaring fuel subsidy costs that are driving up debt.
