Urgent Food Help to Africa Strained as Covid-19 Adds to Hunger

Urgent Food Help to Africa Strained as Covid-19 Adds to Hunger

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Fatou Fofana used to be able to support herself, her baby daughter and two other children by selling spices and stock cubes on the outskirts of Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s biggest city. But measures to contain the coronavirus have reduced her earnings to about $2 a day, leaving her reliant on local food aid to survive. The 39-year-old’s market stall was closed by authorities enforcing the country’s lockdown in late…

Read More

Africa’s Top Fund Manager Appoints First CEO in 18 Months

Africa’s Top Fund Manager Appoints First CEO in 18 Months

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South Africa’s Public Investment Corp. appointed Abel Sitholeas its chief executive officer, filling a post vacated 18 months ago by his predecessor over accusations of questionable investment decisions. The appointment comes two months after a judicial inquiry found senior management flouted internal procedures and recommended sweeping changes to laws that govern the PIC. President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the investigation in October 2018, one of a handful he’s instituted to probe alleged…

Read More

Negative-Rate Debate Is Powering Gilts’ Longest Rally in Decade

Negative-Rate Debate Is Powering Gilts’ Longest Rally in Decade

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — The longest U.K. bond rally in a decade has seen yields close in on German equivalents, fueled by the prospect that the Bank of England could cut interest rates below zero next year. Yield premiums on 10-year gilts over bunds have hit lows unseen since 2016, as bets increase that the BOE will add monetary stimulus to support an economy struggling with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. U.K….

Read More

Boris Johnson Faces More Questions Over His Support for Top Aide

Boris Johnson Faces More Questions Over His Support for Top Aide

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — Pressure continues to mount on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to fire his chief aide, Dominic Cummings, with polls showing voters think he broke lockdown rules and members of Parliament calling for him to go. Johnson will face an hour and a half of sustained questioning from the senior members of Parliament who make up the so-called Liaison Committee on Wednesday from 4 p.m. London time. The subject is his handling of…

Read More

House-Hunters Are Back in Almost Every English City But London

House-Hunters Are Back in Almost Every English City But London

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — England’s house-hunters have raced back after the property industry was released from lockdown. But few of them want to live in London. In what’s likely to be a short-lived rebound, interest in buying homes over the past two weeks has surged 20% compared with the start of March, according to a report from property portal Zoopla Ltd. released Wednesday. For homes in the capital, however, demand was still 14% below the…

Read More

Quest to Offer Employers Virus Tests to Help in Return to Work

Quest to Offer Employers Virus Tests to Help in Return to Work

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — Quest Diagnostics Inc. is offering services to large employers geared at getting their employees back to work safely, including testing for the novel coronavirus, analytics to monitor symptoms and hotspots, and services like temperature monitoring, the company announced Wednesday. The Quest program joins similar ones from Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings and health providers like primary-care clinic One Medical, showing how reopening efforts have created a new way for health-care…

Read More

Dimon Sees Good Chance for a Rapid U.S. Economic Recovery

Dimon Sees Good Chance for a Rapid U.S. Economic Recovery

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — Jamie Dimon sees “pretty good odds” of a fast economic rebound starting in the third quarter thanks to the U.S. government’s stimulus programs and the strength of the consumer going into the pandemic. “You could see a fairly rapid recovery,” the JPMorgan Chase & Co. chief executive officer said Tuesday at a virtual conference hosted by Deutsche Bank AG. “The government has been pretty responsive, large companies have…

Read More
1 169 170 171 172 173 1,073