The Editorial Team |

Nigeria’s Fidelity Bank Turns to Digital Lending to Boost Growth

LAGOS (Capital Martkets in Africa) – Nigeria’s Fidelity Bank Plc is seeking to boost customer numbers by 20% this year by pushing its digital channels and offering loans to low-income borrowers via their mobile phones. The bank hopes to increase its clients from 4.5 million in 2018 and expects return on equity to rise to 13% from 11.8%, Executive Director Gbolahan Joshua said in an interview. More than 150,000 customers have applied for digital loans since it started providing…

May Seeks Support for Brexit Plan as Cross-Party Talks Stall

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Prime Minister Theresa May will meet with her cabinet Tuesday as she comes under increasing pressure to pull out of Brexit talks with the opposition Labour Party and set a date for her departure. The latest in a series of cross-party meetings aimed at ending the parliamentary deadlock over leaving the European Union broke up without substantive progress Monday evening, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Monday night’s meeting “took stock…

Trump Seeks to Enlist Fed in His Trade Fight Against China

Posted on by The Editorial Team

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – President Donald Trump pushed the Federal Reserve to “match” what he said China would do to offset economic hardship being caused by tariffs as he sought to draft the U.S. central bank into his simmering trade war. “China will be pumping money into their system and probably reducing interest rates, as always, in order to make up for the business they are, and will be, losing,” the president said in…

U.S. Readies New Tariffs as Trump Says He’ll Meet China’s Xi

Posted on by The Editorial Team

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – The U.S. prepared to hit China with new tariffs even as President Donald Trump said he’ll meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, at next month’s G-20 summit, an encounter that could prove pivotal in a deepening clash over trade. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office Monday released a list of about $300 billion worth of Chinese goods including children’s clothing, toys, mobile phones and laptops that Trump has threatened to hit with a 25%…

Ghana’s Biggest Cocoa Buyer Seeks $100 Million Amid Bond Default

Posted on by The Editorial Team

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – PBC Ltd., Ghana’s biggest cocoa buyer, seeks to raise $100 million from international banks to help pay off cedi debt that matured late December. The transaction, handled by an Accra-based advisory firm, should be completed before the start of the main harvest on Oct. 1, said Deputy Chief Executive Officer Kojo Safo. The company has approached the state-run pension fund and the government, who together own a 75 percent…

Chad Suspends Import Taxes on Food to Avoid Sudan-Style Protests

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Chad scrapped import taxes on staple foods to quell growing anger about rising food prices, a month after protests in neighboring Sudan over high costs of living forced President Omar al-Bashir to step down. The decision comes amid regular, days-long power outages in the capital, N’Djamena, and after almost four months of an acute cooking-gas shortage that forced the poorest residents to use cow dung as fuel. Last year,…

Assange Rape Probe Reopened, Complicating U.S. Extradition

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Swedish prosecutors will reopen a probe into rape allegations against Julian Assange, potentially derailing U.S. attempts to extradite the WikiLeaks founder for hacking military computers and distributing secrets. Authorities want to question Assange over nine-year-old accusations that were shelved when he skipped bail and sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Sweden’s interest opens a legal dilemma for Britain, which is also considering his extradition to the U.S. “There…

« 1 … 308 309 310 311 312 … 1,072 »