Guinea-Bissau Ruling Party Wins Most Seats in Legislature

Guinea-Bissau Ruling Party Wins Most Seats in Legislature

GUINEA-BISSAU (Capital Markets in Africa) – Guinea-Bissau’s divided ruling party won most seats in a long-delayed legislative vote on March 10, paving the way for a coalition that could ease political tensions in the West African nation. The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, known as the PAIGC and formed as a movement to fight Portuguese colonizers in the 1960s, won 47 of the 102 seats in the National Popular Assembly, according…

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Ethiopia to Send 737’s Black Boxes to Europe in Snub to U.S.

Ethiopia to Send 737’s Black Boxes to Europe in Snub to U.S.

ADDIS ABABA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ethiopia will ask European air-safety experts to analyze black boxes from a crashed Boeing Co. jet in a sign U.S. authorities aren’t trusted to determine the cause of the disaster after ruling that the model is safe to fly. The government hasn’t yet decided exactly where to send the data and voice recorders, though a European body will be approached, Ethiopian Airlines, which operated the crashed 737 Max jet, said Wednesday….

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Jumia Files for New York IPO as African Unicorn Seeks Funds

Jumia Files for New York IPO as African Unicorn Seeks Funds

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – African online retailer Jumia Technologies AG started a plan to sell shares in New York as the fast-growing Nigerian firm seeks to take advantage of rising internet access and increasing smartphone use on the continent. The company is seeking a public listing to raise funds and boost awareness, according to a filing on Tuesday. Bloomberg News reported last month that an IPO would value Jumia at about $1.5 billion, while largest shareholder MTN Group Ltd. is looking…

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Nigerian Oil Region Crisis Threatens Buhari’s Economic Plans

Nigerian Oil Region Crisis Threatens Buhari’s Economic Plans

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Fresh from his comfortable re-election, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari faces a huge hurdle to keep his vow to end the economy’s addiction to oil: win a lasting peace in the crude-rich Niger River delta. The 76-year-old former military ruler will have to score a breakthrough that’s eluded previous governments in an area where armed groups and thieves pose a constant threat to the flow of crude. To carry out his plans…

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Zimbabwe Eases Grip on New Currency in Bid to End Dollar Squeeze

Zimbabwe Eases Grip on New Currency in Bid to End Dollar Squeeze

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – For investors who doubted Zimbabwe would let market forces determine the price of its new currency, there’s some evidence it’s doing just that. The southern African nation’s central bank has allowed the currency, known as RTGS, to slide to 2.6481 per dollar this week, taking its depreciation since trading started on Feb. 22 to 5.6 percent. That marks a change from the previous fortnight, when it was stuck at almost exactly…

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Tunisia Bank Chief Says Unlikely to Hike Rates Again in 2019

Tunisia Bank Chief Says Unlikely to Hike Rates Again in 2019

TUNIS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tunisia’s central bank is unlikely to raise interest rates again in the first half of the year, its governor said Wednesday, arguing that the latest increase was already paying off. The regulator raised the benchmark rate by 100 basis points in February, the first increase since June, as annual inflation rose to 7.4 percent, near the 25-year high of 7.7 percent recorded in mid-2018. “We hope we don’t have…

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FirstRand’s RMB Seeks New Management for Corporate-Finance Unit

FirstRand’s RMB Seeks New Management for Corporate-Finance Unit

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – FirstRand Ltd.’s corporate and investment banking division Rand Merchant Bank is seeking new management for its corporate-finance unit with co-heads Craig Forbes and Puso Manthata stepping down later this year. New leadership will be appointed at the start of the lender’s new financial year in July, RMB said in response to emailed questions. Forbes will be joining his family’s investment office by the end of the calendar year, while…

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