It’s Trump Versus Greta in ‘Prophets of Doom’ Climate Showdown

It’s Trump Versus Greta in ‘Prophets of Doom’ Climate Showdown

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – They are the two highest-profile attendees at this year’s annual World Economic Forum, but their respective recipes for global salvation couldn’t be further apart. President Donald Trump and climate activist Greta Thunberg talked past each other in dueling speeches at Davos on Tuesday that underscored the difficulty in achieving any kind of consensus on the urgency of the environmental challenges facing the planet. Trump, addressing the annual meeting of the…

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AFSIC – Investing in Africa” 2020 set to have huge momentum

AFSIC – Investing in Africa” 2020 set to have huge momentum

The 8th Annual AFSIC – Investing in Africa Forum, scheduled for May 5th -7th 2020 in London, has already confirmed over 300 top-level speakers and panelists including a huge range of Africa’s most important investors, dealmakers and business leaders, who will unpack the increasing global investment momentum into Africa’s growing public and private sectors and highlight new growth opportunities across the continent. The AFSIC 2020 agenda is specifically investment-focused, with several of the most experienced…

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Nowhere to Hide for South Africa’s Rand as Trade Tensions Ease

Nowhere to Hide for South Africa’s Rand as Trade Tensions Ease

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The ink drying on the phase-one U.S.-China trade deal may be good for emerging-markets generally — but it bodes ill for the rand as investors return their gaze to South Africa’s domestic challenges. The South African currency has slumped 3.6% versus the dollar this year, the worst performance among emerging-market peers after Brazil’s real, even as easing trade tensions and an improving global economy fuel demand for riskier assets. A gauge…

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Amethis Seeks 30% Stake in Kenya Retailer on Expansion Spree

Amethis Seeks 30% Stake in Kenya Retailer on Expansion Spree

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Amethis Finance plans to acquire a minority stake in Naivas, a Kenyan retailer looking to expand amid competition from new entrants including Carrefour SA. The Africa-focused investment company’s unit Amethis Fund II agreed to buy 30% of the retailer, subject to regulatory approval, Naivas Chief Commercial Officer Willy Kimani said, declining to disclose the value of the deal. Naivas plans to open as many as eight stores in Kenya annually for the next…

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CDC Group Seeks to Double Africa Investments With Energy Bet

CDC Group Seeks to Double Africa Investments With Energy Bet

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa)  – CDC Group to invest 2 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) in African businesses over the next two years as the U.K.-owned investor looks to double its portfolio on the continent. This is in addition to $400 million of deals already signed off, CDC Group Chief Executive Officer Nick O’Donohoe said in a statement. Those approved transactions include a $100 million trade-finance loan to Johannesburg-based Absa Group Ltd. and an agreement to provide $100…

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Isabel dos Santos Diverted Funds from State Firms, ICIJ Says

Isabel dos Santos Diverted Funds from State Firms, ICIJ Says

LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Isabel dos Santos, Africa’s richest woman, built her multi-billion dollar business empire via a series of questionable deals involving Angolan state assets during her father’s 38-year rule of the resource-rich nation, according to a report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Dos Santos got access to lucrative deals involving state-owned oil company Sonangol, diamonds, land and telecommunications and funds were diverted to offshore bank accounts linked to her and her…

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Free Markets Made Davos. Now Governments Are Crashing the Party

Free Markets Made Davos. Now Governments Are Crashing the Party

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – In a memorable exchange at Davos last year, tech billionaire Michael Dell was explaining how higher taxes on the rich had never done much good anywhere, when he was contradicted. Actually, said Erik Brynjolfsson, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, they’d worked pretty well within living memory in his own country, the U.S. For an executive crowd that’s thrived under 40 years or more of policies based…

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