The Editorial Team |

Ghana to Use $1 Billion of Bond Proceeds for Energy Debt, Google Abandons Plans

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa)- Ghana plans to use as much as $1 billion of the Eurobonds it sold last week to help restructure the country’s obligations to independent power producers, said Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. The West African country is in talks to re-negotiate supply deals with the power companies known as IPPs. The current take-or-pay agreements mean the government is billed even for unused electricity. “We are going to put about $1 billion aside from…

Ghana Is Africa’s Top Candidate for an Economic Leap: Noah Smith

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa)- The country scores high on development metrics; it just needs to break free of dependence on commodities. Every time a region of the world goes from being poor to being rich one country tends to be responsible for getting the process started. In Europe that was the U.K., which was the first to industrialize. In East Asia it was Japan. In West Africa, it could be Ghana. Ghana has a number of big…

Scotland’s Leader Warns Johnson He ‘Can’t Deny Democracy’

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LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa)- Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon vowed to maintain pressure on the U.K. for another referendum on independence and said the standoff with Prime Minister Boris Johnson over the issue is just a “phony battle.” In an interview with Bloomberg Television in Brussels on Monday, she also repeated the possibility of asking the courts to decide whether the Scottish Parliament already has the power to hold a consultative vote. That, though, is not the preferred…

Irish Bank, Property Stocks Lead Slide After Sinn Fein Surge

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LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Irish stocks slid on Monday after polls put Sinn Fein in place for a possible role in government, fueling declines in banks and property shares given that the party’s policies include a wealth tax and a freeze on residential rents. The benchmark ISEQ Index slid as much as 1.4%, with Bank of Ireland Group Plc and AIB Group Plc falling as much as 7.8% and 6%, respectively. Among real estate…

U.S. Could Actually Use More Nigerian Immigrants: Justin Fox

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – A new ban from the White House hits one of the most successfully integrated groups in the country. This column will not render a verdict on whether the White House decision last week to suspend immigration from Nigeria — the world’s seventh most-populous nation — and five other countries was mainly an expression of bigotry from an administration led by a man who once likened African nations to latrines, or if it was…

The Rebel Turned Politician Who Wants to Rule Ivory Coast (

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ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – In Ivory Coast, where big-man personalities dominate and switching allegiances is par for the course, Guillaume Soro — former student leader, rebel chief and prime minister — seems a perfect fit to one day lead the world’s biggest cocoa producer. His loyalties have zigzagged over the years, from being a supporter of Laurent Gbagbo, the man who led Ivory Coast into a civil war, to backing Alassane Ouattara, who defeated Gbagbo in elections…

Seychelles Central Bank to Keep Rate at 5% on Low Inflation Risk

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa)- The Central Bank of Seychelles expects to keep its key interest rate unchanged this year as prices are likely to climb at a slow pace on the Indian Ocean archipelago. “The monetary policy rate is expected to remain at 5% in 2020, a rate that would support an interest-rate level conducive to a level of credit to the private sector that boosts economic activity, but does not introduce inflationary pressure,”…

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