The Editorial Team |

Eye of the Emerging-Market Storm May Have Passed the Rand

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The tide may have turned for South Africa’s battered rand. The currency slumped 14 percent in the second quarter, its worst three-month period in more than six years, amid an emerging-market sell-off sparked by rising U.S. rates and escalating trade tensions. It didn’t help that South Africa’s economy is struggling to emerge from a contraction, leaving the central little room for policy tightening. And the euphoria that followed Cyril Ramaphosa’s election…

Dis-Chem Climbs Most in Six Months as Pharmacy Chain Takes Share

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CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Dis-Chem Pharmacies Ltd. rose the most since January after South Africa’s second-biggest pharmacy chain gained market share as sales growth outstripped several local retailers. Retailers in Africa’s most-industrialized economy have struggled as higher taxes and fuel prices curb consumer spending. Dis-Chem’s sales for the four months through June rose 11 percent to 7 billion rand ($520 million), the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Thursday. That compares with Shoprite Holdings…

Emerging-Market Currencies Sink to One-Year Low on Dollar Gains

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Emerging-market currencies deepened their slide to the lowest level in a year and stocks retreated amid a U.S. dollar advance. Every developing-nation currency tracked by Bloomberg fell, and an MSCI gauge of equities extended its selloff from a January peak to 17 percent. South Africa’s rand slipped as the central bank warned of a “challenging” growth outlook, while Chile’s peso joined a slide in copper. The Chinese yuan sank…

Ramaphosa Shine Fades as Reality Bites South African Economy

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Economic and political problems are piling up for Cyril Ramaphosa, dampening the euphoria that accompanied his ascension to the South African presidency. A labor union boss turned business tycoon, Ramaphosa took office in February after the ruling African National Congress forced Jacob Zuma to resign following a scandal-tainted tenure that lasted almost nine years. While Ramaphosa initially won plaudits from investors and the public for instigating a crackdown on graft, sentiment has…

Copper Tumbles Below $6,000 as China Sends Metals Into Freefall

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – A new round of trade war tensions is sending metal markets into a tailspin. Copper crashed through $6,000 a metric ton for the first time in a year and is headed for its biggest monthly drop since 2015. Zinc, lead, nickel and aluminium tumbled as the dollar rose for a third day. An index of copper-mining companies headed for the lowest close since 2016, paced by losses in First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and Freeport-McMoRan Inc. Metals…

Egypt Scraps AOS, Al Wehda as Wheat Suppliers After Cargo Delays

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CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt, one of the world’s largest wheat importers, removed two of its top suppliers from a list of approved sellers after repeated delays in delivering cargoes, according to an official with the state-run buyer. Dubai-based AOS Trading DMCC and its Egyptian sister company Al Wehda will no longer be able to sell to the General Authority for Supply Commodities, said the official, who asked not to be named as…

Billionaire Sawiris Steps In to End Egypt Investors Dispute

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CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt on Wednesday approved a deal settling a land dispute pitting the government against a group of international investors who owned a stake in a company controlled by one of the country’s richest men, a senior government official directly involved in the talks said. Investors including American businessman Sam Zell sued the government in an international arbitration court over the failure to fully honor a 2006 contract with Orascom Housing Communities. OHC is…

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