The Editorial Team |

Ghana’s Cedi Eyes Record Low as Bank Cuts Rate to 2013 Low

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana’s central bank unexpectedly cut its benchmark interest rate to a six-year low, bucking the worldwide trend toward tightening and pushing the local currency close to the weakest on record. The Bank of Ghana reduced the rate by 100 basis points to 16 percent, Governor Ernest Addison told reporters Monday in the capital, Accra. All eight economists surveyed by Bloomberg said the rate would be held. “The bank’s latest…

Ex-South Africa President Zuma Linked to New Bribes Scandal

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Jacob Zuma, who quit as South African president last year after being implicated in a string of scandals, is facing fresh allegations that he took bribes from services company Bosasa to shield it from prosecution and advance its business interests. Angelo Agrizzi, Bosasa’s chief operating officer from 1999 to 2016, told a judicial inquiry that’s probing graft during Zuma’s rule how the company agreed to pay 300,000 rand ($22,000)…

Absa’s Ramos Sees Confidence Returning to South African Economy

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Absa Group Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Maria Ramos is betting that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is on the right track with rebuilding the continent’s most-industrialized economy. Almost a year since taking over from his corruption-tainted predecessor, Ramaphosa started commissions of inquiry to determine how graft became so entrenched and to prevent it in future. He also set in motion plans to reinvigorate economic growth through an investment conference that raised billions in…

Goldman Cheers as Rand Heads for Best-Ever Start to a Year

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The rand’s flying start to 2019 may be just the beginning, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The South African currency is heading for its biggest January gain against the dollar since Bloomberg started compiling the data in 1999. And with expected volatility near an eight-month low, traders are discounting local stumbling blocks in coming months, including a budget speech, ratings review and election. The rand has been buoyed by a more dovish Federal Reserve…

Macron: Egypt’s Human Rights Abuses Threaten Country’s Stability

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CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that Egypt’s stability is threatened by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s crackdown against political opponents, and that he’ll seek a “balance” by denouncing abuses while not cutting off dialogue. On the first day of a three-day visit to Egypt, Macron said El-Sisi’s regime has become more repressive than under the government of Hosni Mubarak that was overthrown in 2011. “I believe in both stability and respect for sovereignty, but…

What to Watch in Commodities: Big Oil, Venezuela, Gold, Glencore

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa~) – Investors face a week packed with market-moving events: earnings season brings results from Big Oil; the U.S. and China resume trade talks; and the Federal Reserve embarks on a new era of openness. On top of that, iron ore investors are absorbing the impact of a second deadly mine disaster for Vale SA, and the U.S. just lifted sanctions on United Co. Rusal. Among companies reporting, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil…

Civilians Trapped as Cameroon Army Battles Separatists

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YAOUNDE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Cyprain fled his home when separatist fighters in Cameroon’s Northwest region threatened to kill him after he served government soldiers at his roadside bar. He’s one of a growing number of civilians trapped between the army and roaming gangs of English-speaking insurgents fighting to break away from the majority-Francophone nation. The conflict has decimated the local economy in the conflict zone, and according to the United Nations, left hundreds…

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