The Editorial Team |

Birth Control for Tanzanians? President Says `No Thanks’

DAR ES SALAAM (Capital Markets in Africa) – President John Magufuli said Tanzanians have no need for birth control and only those who are lazy and can’t feed their children should use contraception. The 58-year-old leader has embarked on a nationwide anti-corruption drive and cut wasteful government spending since winning elections in 2015, but criticism of his administration is growing amid a clampdown on the media and the opposition. In a speech to citizens in Simiyu, northern…

Kenya Rate-Cap Retention Dents Policy Credibility, Moody’s Says

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan lawmakers’ move to postpone a value-added tax on fuel and their failure to repeal a cap on commercial lending rates weakens the government’s fiscal-policy credibility, Moody’s Investors Service said. While President Uhuru Kenyatta can still reject the proposed amendments to legislation, they could exacerbate Kenya’s “sizeable financing needs in light of the government’s recurring fiscal deficits and growing debt burden,” Moody’s Vice President Lucie Villa said in an emailed report Monday. The 16 percent…

Zimbabwe Will Accelerate Debt Plan, Finance Minister

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HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwe will fast-track plans to settle its debt arrears, a key step needed to restore investor confidence in the country’s economy, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said. The government needs funds to rebuild an economy battered by almost two decades of misrule under former President Robert Mugabe that’s left infrastructure crumbling and crippling cash shortages. Emmerson Mnangagwa, who won a disputed presidential election last month, has said his government plans to prioritize the repayment of…

Rebellion Boils as Cameroon President Seeks to Extend Rule

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YAOUNDE (Capital Markets in Africa) – While President Paul Biya appears to be a shoo-in to extend his 36-year rule in elections next month, he’s had no success in stifling a rebellion in Anglophone regions that’s threatening to split the mainly French-speaking central African nation. Africa’s second-longest serving head of state, Biya, 85, is facing eight candidates in an Oct. 7 vote that will be overshadowed by insurgent attacks, a violent clampdown by the security forces and…

World Hunger Rises as Climate Change, Conflict Curb Food Access

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The number of people suffering from hunger climbed to an eight-year high in 2017 as extreme and erratic weather, conflicts and economic slowdowns limited food availability. Those categorized as hungry increased by 16.6 million to 821 million, the highest since 2009, according to the United Nations. It warned of the alarming signs of rising food insecurity and high levels of malnutrition as more people go undernourished in Africa and Latin America. “Climate…

The Black Grit That Beat Bitcoin’s Rally and Didn’t Slump

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – China’s push for blue skies has caused an obscure steelmaking ingredient to fuel gains of as much as 2,600 percent since the start of 2017 for the few companies that supply it, minting at least one new billionaire. The material is graphite, a form of carbon that has seen demand soar because of its use in electric-vehicle batteries and the lower-pollution steel mills that China is favoring to clean up its…

Speculative Danish Bitcoin Loss Eligible for Tax Subsidy

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bitcoin isn’t treated as currency by the Danish tax authority. Danish tax subsidies can be applied to losses from speculation on bitcoin, Denmark’s tax authority told a taxpayer who lost nearly 24,000 kroner ($3,722) trading the cryptocurrency. That means bitcoin investments are covered by laws on speculation and assumed to be a commodity purchased for the purposes of speculation only, and therefore aren’t treated as currency, the tax authority…

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