Author: The Editorial Team

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt is the world’s best carry trade. It may stay that way for a while longer if the government gets its wish and strikes another deal with the International Monetary Fund. The Arab nation’s local-currency bonds have handed investors a 23% return this year, five times the emerging-market average. And the Egyptian pound’s 7.3% gain against the dollar is the most globally after Russia’s ruble. Demand has been strong in large…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Citigroup Inc. is seeing increased demand from Nigerian companies planning to raise cash in international capital markets to expand amid renewed investor interest in West Africa. “The major concern for most corporates as well as potential investors last year was the elections and the possible implications for policy direction, especially from an exchange-rate perspective,” Akin Dawodu, the lender’s Nigerian head, said in the commercial hub of Lagos. With the vote…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – A meltdown at some of South Africa’s biggest state companies is intensifying, placing the nation’s finances at risk and frustrating President Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to attract new investment and resuscitate a moribund economy. While monolithic power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., which is tottering on the brink of insolvency, has dominated recent headlines, arms manufacturer Denel SOC Ltd., the South African Broadcasting Corp. and South African Airways have joined the list of…