The Editorial Team |

Bitcoin’s Deepening Crash Now Approaches Its Worst Bear Markets

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bitcoin broke below $4,000 and extended its 2018 crash to within striking distance of the biggest cryptocurrency’s worst bear markets. The virtual currency conceived just over a decade ago slid as much as 14 percent to $3,675 on Monday, bringing its decline from last December’s record high of almost $20,000 to about 80 percent. All nine of its largest peers tracked in real time by Bloomberg fell, with drops ranging as high as 21…

Democracy Comes to Ethiopia at Breakneck Speed: Balance of Power

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ADDIS ABABA (Capital Markets in Africa) – On a continent where true political reform often seems to be a mirage, Ethiopia is pursuing change at a breathtaking pace. Since taking over as premier in April, Abiy Ahmed has spearheaded a redistribution of power across Africa’s second-most populous nation – and its fastest-growing economy – that’s been under the iron rule of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front for a quarter-century. Vowing a crackdown on the “cancer” of corruption,…

Nigeria’s 9mobile Starts Repaying Debt After Teleology Takeover

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s fourth-biggest wireless carrier 9mobile, formerly known as Etisalat Nigeria, repaid part of a loan taken from a group of banks following its acquisition by Teleology Holdings Ltd. “The money has been distributed to the banks,” Abiola Rasaq, head of investor relations at Lagos-based United Bank for Africa Plc, one of the institutions that received a payment, said by phone. The reimbursement is expected to improve the asset quality of the…

Spare a Thought for Libya’s $67 Billion Fund: Mark Gilbert

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TRIPOLI (Capital Markets in Africa)- It’s probably too soon for the UN to lift the sanctions on the LIA, but it could make a start by letting it invest the proceeds of maturing securities. In a tough environment for asset managers battling with declining stock markets and still ultra-low benchmark bond yields, spare a thought for Libya’s sovereign wealth fund. It also has to contend with militia attacks on its staff, competing claims about who runs…

Cocoa Crisis Hits Top Grower’s Exporters as Banks Curb Loans

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Domestic shippers in the world’s top cocoa producer are losing market share to foreign-backed competitors as exporters become ensnared in the fallout of the liquidation of Saf-Cacao. Cocoa shippers in Ivory Coast are struggling to raise finance for the buying and storing of beans as lenders curb their exposure to the sector. Stung by about 150 billion CFA francs ($261 million) in unpaid debts by Saf-Cacao, formerly one of the biggest cocoa exporters…

While Rand Bulls Toasted the SARB, Stock and Bond Traders Fled

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Currency traders may have taken heart from the South African Reserve Bank’s first interest-rate hike since early 2016 on Thursday, but foreign investors reacted by fleeing the country. Even as the rand strengthened after the rate decision, leaving it poised for its best month this year, outflows from South African markets soared. Foreign investors sold a net 8.6 billion rand ($620 million) of equities and local-currency bonds, the most since May 9, according…

Nigeria’s Base Rate Loses Bite as Stealth Tightening Takes Hold

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s base interest rate is becoming more and more irrelevant. That’s the view of some analysts after the Monetary Policy Committee in Africa’s biggest oil producer held its key rate for the 14th straight meeting on Thursday, despite inflation being above its target range of 6 percent to 9 percent for more than three years. Central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele is instead using money-market instruments to rein in liquidity and protect the naira,…

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