The Editorial Team |

A $40 Billion Plan to Cash Out Of Bitcoin: Lionel Laurent

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – A rumoured IPO of the world’s biggest crypto-miner might end up as a play on advanced AI chips. The 1980s cyberpunk novels that predicted today’s internet failed to conceive of anything as outlandish or contradictory as Bitcoin: A digital currency that’s spent nowhere, a commodity that’s used for nothing, and a libertarian dream that’s effectively run by elites. Now, after its 66-percent price drop from December highs, comes yet another fantastical…

What Could We Do With So Much Free Electricity?:

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Curtailment of renewables, disconnecting wind and solar when there’s too much electricity entering the grid, will be a common feature of Europe’s power system as more intermittent generation is added. That much is clear. Yet this excess electricity is probably going to create new opportunities rather than simply go to waste. Some new openings are already familiar – such as battery storage or demand response – and newer activities…

Standing Pat, Central Bank Says Rand Drop Is Blip Due to Turkey

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – A jump in South Africa’s interest-rate bets may be little more than a reflection of the turmoil in Turkey. Forward-rate agreements, used to speculate on interest rates, increased on Monday after the rand sagged — at one point dropping the most since the 2008 financial crisis — as Turkey’s crisis sapped demand for emerging-market assets. But the South African Reserve Bank has ignored bouts of rand weakness in the past,…

Congo Opposition Will Back Single Presidential Candidate in Vote

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KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Opposition politicians in the Democratic Republic of Congo said they’ll back a single presidential candidate in this year’s election to maximize their chances of defeating the long-serving head of state’s chosen successor. Such an outcome would increase the prospect of opponents of President Joseph Kabila defeating his anointed replacement. The Dec. 23 vote is a one-round contest and multiple candidates would split the opposition vote. “The leaders of the opposition are…

Powell to Keep Hiking as U.S. Growth Overshadows Turkey Turmoil

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – That’s the message seasoned watchers of the Federal Reserve have for any investors hoping that turmoil in Turkey and the wider emerging-market selloff would stay the hand of Chairman Jerome Powell from raising interest rates. While international developments did cause the U.S. central bank to hold back in 2015 and 2016, there are big differences between now and then. U.S. unemployment was higher and underlying inflation was lower. But perhaps more importantly, the…

ARM Kenya in Talks to Hire New CEO as Management Reorganized

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – ARM Cement Ltd., a debt-laden Kenyan manufacturer of the building material, said it’s identified a potential new chief executive officer as it named a former director of rival Lafarge Africa Plc among new board members. The management shake-up comes 10 months after ARM began a search for a strategic investor. The company is struggling under the weight of debt that ballooned to 14.4 billion Kenya shillings ($142.9 million) last…

Rand Traders Brace for Turmoil as Turkey Saps Risk Appetite

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Traders are positioning for more turmoil for the rand as Turkey’s financial crisis damps risk appetite among emerging-market investors. The rand’s one-month implied volatility against the dollar soared by the most since December 2015 on Monday. The South African currency plunged by the most in about a decade during Asian trading hours, but has since pared its decline. The yield on benchmark government bonds climbed above 9 percent for…

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