Riyadh / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) said on Monday it is creating a 4 billion riyal ($1.07 billion) ‘fund of funds’ to support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The special fund will aim to boost SMEs’ access to capital by investing in venture capital and private equity funds, according to a PIF statement. The ...

Bloomberg Sasol Ltd., the world’s largest maker of fuel from coal, abandoned a plan to sell about 13 billion rand ($950 million ) of shares to meet its obligation to repay debt owed by a black investor group. A decline in the company’s stock since the mid-2014 slump in crude prices precluded payouts to more than 250,000 black South Africans ...

Bloomberg For years, investors have played Popeye to the energy industry’s Wimpy, the cartoon character famous for his “I’ll gladly pay you for a hamburger today” motto. In return for the promise of future profits, they’ve funded loss-making energy producers and explorers through a generous mix of loans, bonds and equity. That may be changing, according to a chorus of ...

Bloomberg The Democratic Republic of Congo ordered Sinohydro Corp. and China Railway Construction Corp.’s local mining venture to stop exporting unprocessed copper and cobalt and refine all its metals within the country. Sicomines must ship “only high-value products” as the government looks to “ensure the prompt repayment” of the country’s continuing $6 billion minerals-for-infrastructure deal with China, Mines Minister Martin ...

Bloomberg Vertex Ventures, the venture capital arm of Temasek Holdings Pte, has completed its biggest fundraising for Southeast Asian and Indian technology deals. The Singapore-based firm closed its third Southeast Asian fund at $210 million, a record in the region that exceeded its target of $150 million. The money will be used for early stage investments, aiming to repeat its ...

Bloomberg Almost 4 million new jobs, rising wages and eight interest-rate cuts in Indonesia should have been enough to spur consumers into action in the world’s fourth most populous nation. Instead, an increasing number of people are keeping a tight grip on their purse strings and putting their money in the bank, leaving policy makers and economists perplexed. “All the ...

Bloomberg Shares of jewellers climbed in India after the government withdrew an order that brought the industry under anti money-laundering legislation, a move that comes just as gold buying improves before the Hindu festival of Diwali, the peak season for demand. Jewellers were included in the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act in August, increasing compliance requirements. Buyers have been shying away ...

Bloomberg Consumption was India’s big story. Its 1.3 billion population was expected to guzzle everything from iron to iPhones, driving global growth and cheering investors such as Apple Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. For a while everything seemed smooth. Indians were the world’s most confident consumers and the $2 trillion economy was the fastest-growing big market. Then, last November, ...

Bloomberg ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Christmas shopping may get more hectic and crops might go unharvested unless the UK government ensures access to unskilled migrant labour after the UK leaves the European Union, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) warned. The government must make it easy for workers from the EU currently living in the UK to secure settled status and establish an immigration ...

Bloomberg General Electric Co.’s new boss has barely uttered a word in public during his first two months on the job. But he’s already sending signals that his tenure could bring one of the most sweeping makeovers in the company’s 125-year history. Chief Executive Officer John Flannery is seeking deep cost reductions, weighing portfolio changes and reshaping management from top ...