The Editorial Team |

Protesters Loot in Malawi as President Challenge Goes to Court

MALAWI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Hundreds of thousands of Malawians gathered in the streets of the main cities on Tuesday to demand the resignation of Jane Ansah, the head of the southern African nation’s electoral agency that they accuse of helping rig an election to keep Peter Mutharika as president. The disputed May vote has sparked four previous demonstrations and is being challenged in court by the opposition Malawi Congress Party and the United Transformation Movement. Previous protests have…

Nedbank Urges South Africa to Deal With ‘Sick Elephant’ Eskom

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa needs to speed up reforms to save beleaguered state-owned power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. and attract investors back to the country, according to the chief executive officer of Nedbank Group Ltd. “For us, energy policy and Eskom remain the elephant in the room in the South African economy,” Mike Brown said in a phone interview after the lender posted a slight rise in first-half net income. “If the previous…

The Dollar, the Euro, the Yen — and Now the West African Eco

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian trade consultant Bamidele Ayemibo says it’s easier to sell his bean cake snacks to China than to neighboring Benin. Trading with any of the other members of the Economic Community of West African States requires him to find expensive money changers to convert local currencies, adding to costs that are already high due to dilapidated roads. He prefers selling to customers who hold hard currencies in London or…

China Acts to Limit Yuan Plunge, Bringing Some Relief to Markets

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – China took steps to limit weakness in the yuan, providing some stability to global financial markets in the wake of Monday’s rout, and said it won’t depreciate the currency to be competitive. The People’s Bank of China on Tuesday set the daily currency fixing stronger than analysts expected and announced the planned sale of yuan-denominated bonds in Hong Kong. The moves, which came after the U.S. labeled the country…

Dodging Negative Yields Just Got Costlier on Trade Volatility

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Investors looking to escape $15 trillion of negative yielding debt may want to err on the side of caution before buying a dip in emerging-market currencies. In the wake of an escalating trade war and China’s decision to weaken the yuan on Monday, the risk-adjusted carry on five major crosses in the developing world has slumped to the lowest since early January, falling below this year’s average. The gauge is a measure…

South African Banking Union Plans Largest Strike Since 1920

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s biggest financial union is threatening to disrupt the country’s banking industry by leading its 73,000 members on a strike next month, in what would be its largest industrial action in almost a century. The planned two-day walkout will target lenders that have consulted staff over job cuts in recent months and other institutions that employ members of the Sasbo union, according to General Secretary Joe Kokela. Sasbo wants banks…

China’s Central Bank Tells Foreign Firms Yuan Won’t Keep Falling

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Senior People’s Bank of China officials reassured foreign companies that the currency won’t continue to weaken significantly, a day after the yuan fell below 7 per dollar for the first time since 2008. The central bank held a meeting with a number of foreign exporters in Beijing Tuesday, at which officials also said that companies’ ability to buy and sell dollars would remain normal, according to a statement provided to Bloomberg. The yuan…

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