The Editorial Team |

South African Rand Is Prime Beneficiary of Draghi Stimulus Talk

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African rand posted its best advance in more than two months Tuesday after a trifecta of good news: dovish statements from the European Central Bank, a positive turn in the trade saga, and a pledge further government support for the beleaguered power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. The rand strengthened as much as 1.9%, leading emerging-market currency gains against the dollar. It’s the biggest one-day move since April 1, and has…

Don’t Be in a Rush to Do Business in World’s Top Cobalt Producer

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KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – When a foreign investor with multimillion-dollar projects across Africa was told the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo wanted to see him, he booked a suite at one of the country’s top hotels. After six days of waiting, he left. Since Felix Tshisekedi took the helm of the world’s biggest cobalt producer almost five months ago, private planes jam the main airport in Kinshasa, the capital, and hotel lobbies teem…

Fed More Important for EM Assets Than Trump and Trade

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – That’s the message EM investors can take on board as they weigh up U.S. rate reductions and next week’s G-20 meeting — and a dovish Fed should overcome trade fears. There are opposing forces at play. Donald Trump’s desire for lower interest rates — markets say there’s an 84% chance the Fed cuts by the end of July — is making EM traders giddy about a weaker dollar. But his penchant for trade…

West African Finance Ministers Inch Closer to Single Currency

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – West African finance ministers and central bank governors agreed on technical issues surrounding the creation of a single currency for the Economic Community of West African States next year. “At a ministerial level, we’ve established a roadmap” for the establishment of a new currency, Ivory Coast Finance Minister Adama Kone told reporters Tuesday after the meeting in Abidjan. The 15-member regional organization has set a target to have a…

Morocco Holds Key Interest Rate as Easing Proves Not So Easy

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RABAT Capital Markets in Africa) – Morocco’s central bank held its benchmark rate steady Tuesday, refusing to budge even as the country’s economic prospects took a turn for the worse. The decision, which Bank Al-Maghrib said was linked to bullish inflation projections and monetary conditions, came even as the government presses ahead with measures that will inject billions of dirhams into the economy — steps that also are impeding an easing. The bank’s board said…

IFC to Sell 14% Ecobank Stake to Dutch Investment Company Arise

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The International Finance Corp., a unit of the World Bank Group, agreed with funds managed by IFC Asset Management Co. to sell their 14.1% stake in Ecobank Transnational Inc. to Dutch company Arise BV, the Lome, Benin-based lender said. The transaction will be completed “in the coming months” subject to approval by regulators, Ecobank said in statement published Monday on the website of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The bank, which operates in about 30 African…

Mursi, Who Ruled Egypt Between Two Revolts, Dies in Court

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CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Mohamed Mursi, a bespectacled Muslim Brotherhood foot-soldier elevated from obscurity to become Egypt’s first freely elected civilian president, has died. He was 67. Incarcerated since his ouster in 2013, Mursi collapsed and died during a trial that sought to cast elements of the popular revolt that brought him to power as a foreign conspiracy. His death in a court room, defending his record, symbolized the grubby end of the…

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