The Editorial Team |

Bitcoin’s Rally Comes to a Halt as Prices Fall Most Since March

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Bitcoin fizzled in Monday trading as the famously volatile cryptocurrency pulled back after a spectacular new-year rally. Prices fell as much as 17% in the biggest drop since March before recovering. The losses are small in the context of Bitcoin’s broader rally, with a 50% jump in December alone. After a parabolic 2020, the digital currency had started the new year with a bang, surging as high as $34,000…

Gold Rises to Eight-Week High on Dollar Outlook, Real Yields

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Gold climbed to a eight-week high, topping $1,900 an ounce, as lower U.S. real yields and a weaker dollar helped the metal build on the biggest annual advance in a decade. Silver jumped, while platinum was little changed after touching the highest since 2016. Real yields — the difference between nominal benchmark bond yields and the rate of inflation — fell close to last year’s nadir. The decline is…

South African Covid Strain Raises Growing Alarm in the U.K.

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — The new coronavirus strain that emerged in South Africa is even more problematic than a mutated form that prompted new lockdowns across much of the U.K., health authorities said on Monday. “I’m incredibly worried about the South African variant,” U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on BBC radio Monday, citing a conversation over the Christmas holiday with his counterpart in South Africa. “One of the reasons they know they’ve got a…

Ghana’s Costly Wait for Post-Brexit Deal With U.K.: Supply Lines

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) — The first consignment of Ghanaian shipments to the U.K. to face post-Brexit tariffs docked at Portsmouth last night, including 185 metric tons of bananas, the majority of which were so-called Fairtrade. Because Britain and the European Union reached a trade deal so close to the divorce transition deadline of Dec. 31, some other “continuity” deals — those intended to roll over the terms of trade the U.K. enjoyed as…

Universal Music Plans Africa Expansion to Tap Streaming Growth

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Universal Music Group Inc. is bolstering its presence in Africa, where streaming and other forms of music distribution are relatively underdeveloped. The firm, majority-owned by Vivendi SA, plans to build up operations in countries including Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya in 2021, according to the company’s newly appointed regional chief executive officer, Sipho Dlamini. Universal also has an office in Ivory Coast to oversee French-speaking countries, alongside a base in…

Pfizer Has Offered South Africa Discounted Covid-19 Vaccines

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE offered to supply South Africa with their Covid-19 vaccine at a discounted $10 a dose, yet the president’s office still described the cost as prohibitive, according to a person familiar with the talks. The price was worked out according to South Africa’s status as a middle-income nation and is about half of what the drugmakers are charging in the U.S., the person said, asking not…

South African Insurers May Fund Vaccines for Broader Population

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South African medical insurance companies, business organizations, and the government are developing a program in which the private sector will help fund Covid-19 vaccines for people not covered by insurance. Legislation has been amended to allow the companies to fund shots for people who don’t have medical insurance and talks are now focused on the number of those who may benefit, said Stavros Nicolaou, head of the Health Workgroup for B4SA,…

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